For the past two years Vavunatheevu villagers have been taking water from our water tank at Shalampailkerny. The tank there was built for the use of the villagers of that village, which has only half the population of Vavunatheevu, and as a result they are sometimes unable to access water for drinking and cooking. Therefore it is reasonable to install water tanks in Vavunatheevu itself. In fact, the local RDS (Rural Development Society – a sort of self-help organization which each village has) made just such a request to ABDF.

Right now the people only have access to water either through a deep hole about a foot wide drilled near the road, or the river that flows through the area. The hole near the road can only bring up a bucket at a time, a very slow process. So most villagers take their water – including drinking water – directly from the river, which is not only problematic in itself (river water being highly unhealthy in general) but there is the wee little fact that parts of the river are also the home to crocodiles, which can make bathing and laundry an exciting proposition.