TOKIO villagers in Ra now access safe and clean water for drinking, cooking, bathing and cleaning purposes thanks to the Rotary Pacific Water for Life Foundation.

The 170 villagers are grateful for water sourced from a natural spring catchment channeled to their individual homes at a cost of $15,000.

The facility was commissioned at the weekend by Ambalika Kutty, foundation executive of the Vodafone ATH Fiji Foundation.

The other two local donors that provide annual funding for the projects are Fiji Water Foundation and the Westpac Fiji enabling disadvantaged and impoverished settlements safe water.

Mrs Kutty told villagers: "We know that this project will ease the burden from our mothers who prepare food for their family, our children who can in turn divert their precious time of fetching water to acquiring knowledge and also the fathers to do more planting and focus on the wellbeing of the family".

For 40 years, villagers walked several metres uphill to collect and bring back containers of water to their homes for cooking, bathing and washing.

Since 2007, the foundation has helped rural communities by providing sustainable and safe drinking water.

It has since then completed 91 projects costing just over a $1m and benefiting around 34,950 people.

The foundation has 140 more developing projects on Viti Levu, Vanua Levu and other islands in Fiji.

These projects are partnerships between the foundation and the settlement or village. The foundation provides the funding while the villagers provide the labour.

Offshore funding for projects is provided by the Rotary International Foundation.

Source: FIJI Times. Thursday, 3 June 2010