The FIJI Water Foundation and Give Clean Water are bringing life-saving filters to the poorest villages in the Ba area in an effort to help eradicate water borne diseases including typhoid.
 

FIJI Water recently organized a volunteer day devoted to the installation of clean water filters with the Give Clean Water team in Votua Village, Ba. Votua Village was one of the many communities that were completely flooded during the January 2009 floods. In addition, this particular village suffers from frequent water shortages and during times of water supply disruption residents rely on rain and river water, resulting in high levels of water-borne disease. Villagers noted that even a few hours before the volunteers arrived, water out of their taps was murky and muddy.
 

 The filters used by GCW are portable and long-lasting. Highly effective, they are equipped with the same technology used in kidney dialysis. The device removes 99.99% of all bacteria and protozoa from virtually any dirty water source. The filter kit is small, attaches to a five-gallon bucket, installs in minutes, requires no electricity, is easy to clean, and comes with a one million gallon (close to 4 million liters) guarantee – essentially for the recipients lifetime. Each filter can produce five gallons of clean drinking water in 15 minutes.
 

 For many FIJI Water employees, participating in the hands-on installation process is a joy. More than 15 volunteers teamed up on Friday the 30th of July to install 126 water filters in Votua and while installing filters in the homes, volunteers instructed the residents on use and maintenance as well as basic hygiene and sanitation.
 

 GCW has installed 1700 water filters in Fiji homes since 2008, 300 of which were sponsored by the FIJI Water Foundation. FIJI Water volunteers were also part of the team to give clean safe water to the 10,000th person in Fiji. As GCW Founder, Darryl Larson, said, "Just 80 more projects such as these and everyone in Fiji will have safe, clean drinking water". FIJI Water is proud to be part of such a monumental initiative!
 

A group of FIJI Water staff members were awarded a trip to Fiji in early August for their commendable work performance and contribution to the company. As part of the trip they visited the FIJI Water bottling plant and experienced a visit to Naseyani and Nananu villages, where they were treated to a traditional welcoming kava ceremony by the locals.
 

 The group expressed their appreciation and honour at being treated to a kava ceremony in the village. As group member, Gigi Li said, “People in Fiji are very nice and their warm smiles are like eternal sunshines! I can never forget my visit to the village”.
 

 Lluvia Arras also expressed her gratitude to the village for hosting them, “I had seen pictures of such ceremonies from colleagues who have visited Fiji before but I never thought it would be such a moving experience. My heart ached as we said goodbye with hugs and kisses to the villagers. This experience alone could have summed up my visit to Fiji and I would have been happy.”
 

 However, this wasn't all that the organizers had in store for the team, with a morning of painting organized at the Drauniivi Primary School, a local school sponsored by the FIJI Water Trust and situated a few kilometers from the Yaqara Plant. The team was met by a group of very excited students and quickly got down and dirty painting the classrooms pink in between bowls of kava with the school head teacher. In addition, the team enjoyed an afternoon at Volivoli Beach Resort and a day cruise out to the gorgeous Mamanuca Islands.

Tom Bablekis articulated his experience by saying, “The great importance of this trip to myself and to many others is that it allowed us to have a greater view of what this company is all about. Even though we all believe in the same core values, now I could say that I believe in it in a different and greater way. It gives me much greater pride experiencing first hand what FIJI does accomplish for all these people that live there.”
 

 This experience was an opportunity for members of the FIJI Water family to learn first hand where FIJI Water comes from and to meet the people and stake holders that are directly involved with our work here in Fiji. As Ms. Li so aptly put it, “I’m truly proud to be a part of the FIJI Water family”.

 

250 villagers, students and teachers in Nadakuni Village, Naitasiri, Fiji now have safe drinking water thanks to the Fiji Water Foundation sponsored Rotary Pacific Water for Life Foundation.

The project, which included sourcing water from a natural spring located almost 2kms up a mountain, securing and sealing the spring, pumping water into holding tanks and installing piping into the village school, teachers quarters and village homes cost approximately FJD$12,000 and was commissioned by the new FIJI Water Foundation Manager Fane Niumataiwalu in a ceremony organized by the students of Nadakuni District School.

Local students explained how they were excited at the prospect of being able to attend school every day as the lack of water had previously meant that their school would shut down frequently and students would have to be sent home for health and safety reasons.
 

The RPWFL Foundation was established in 2007 as an initiative for corporate social responsibility and since then has completed over 100 water projects throughout Fiji benefitting over 46,000 individuals.