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| Elder Thomson and Fe'ao walking up the path to the village |
The water needs in Lofanga are even more troublesome than Ha'afeve. They had a bore hole but now it has failed; the water is too salty to use and muddy as well. There used to be a solar system provided by another aid group which has failed. About a quarter of the homes in Lofanga have rain catchment systems to provide water. The people share the water from these systems with the others on the island. During the drought system, the need is great.
We came on a fact-finding visit. Lofanga will require a new bore hole. We were told a government survey was done a while back and the location for a new bore hole was determined. We are now trying to locate that survey and verify the information. We have a letter of the owner of the land stating it can be used for a bore hole. We have much research to do in order to get a project for this island. It will be a challenge to get equipment to drill the bore hole. We will be working on this possible project for a while.
We loved the little village. All the people were friendly. We visited with one family and were given bananas while we waited for the water chairman, who it turned out is also the town officer. We hope we will be able to help with their water needs.
It's always amazing to me to hear these stories. We take so much for granted. I'm so glad the two of you are there to help the people of Tonga.
ReplyDeleteWe were surprised to learn of the great need for water projects in the islands and the Church is working to help solve them. We were wondering if like other projects there is someone trained to take care of the bore holes and the solar systems so that if something goes wrong they can fix the problem and get things up and running again. Thanks for sharing you experiences. Unlike sister Thomson I would not be happy about riding in a boat on turbulent seas.
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