Here’s what it looks like traveling around Ranongga Island by canoe.

We use a very dry mortar mix to trowel on to the inside and outside of the tank.

The sand is sourced at the beach—so its full of chlorides. This is a bad mix for the steel reinforced tank’s durability. So all the sand (after being carried up from the beach) is hand washed in fresh water.

Here our team is batching concrete for the tank base. No ReadyMix available here!

This is the first time we've chartered a small ship to take our construction materials to the outer islands.

Buri School Water Supply Extension

Buri School has about 300 students and would like to add a two new year groups to educate more young people.

But there isn’t enough water.

So, here is our team getting everything ready for a new water supply before school starts next year!

My short interview with Grace.

Ian’s rough translation:

My name is Grace Esovale. I’m 64 years old.

I have to carry water about 40mins each way It’s really hard for me. Sometimes I spend the whole day.

No time for garden, too busy with water.

So I’m really grateful for the chance to have a new water supply. A lot.

Grace explains what a new water supply means for her at Kongu

This coming December is a 100 year celebration for Ranongga. About 6,000 visitors are expected at Buri Village.

And they’ll need a lot of extra water.

Here is Ferris, from our water crack squad, calculating the available hydraulic head. Is there enough to make it to the new header tank location?

We still don’t know!

But we do know how big the tank has to be. And there' should be enough water to keep everyone clean and healthy over the Christmas and New Year festival

Ferris makes a rough assessment of the available pressure.

Fire that baby up

 

A very special moment 9 years in the making!

A big thank you from Giloe School Principal, Reuben Pae, for the new water supply saving staff and students many hours of walking during the school day.

The installation of the water system become part of a physics lesson

Burying the pipe — very important to protect from gardening tools (machetes!)

First water!

Theophilus is a senior teacher at the Giloe Language School, near Obobalu.

 

Herrick talks about how big of an impact a clean water system has had on his family and his whole community.

Herrick Ragoso is our Program Manager. Here is speaking to our Sydney University Humanitarian Engineering students.

An island from a dream

One of my side projects is to help get a simple water supply to this island.

It has a little hut, a perfect beach and lagoon (full of fish).

And even a little surf break.

This is a video on how to build and install a hand pump. Useful for situations were a gravity supply isn't available or needs supplementing.

We built 4 of these at the beach at Sambora Village, Vella Lavella.

The design developed by a friend of mine, Peter Wopereis.

 

Amazing meals delivered right to the construction site.

The ladies benefit most from the new system.

Here the guys at Kongu Village are diverting the stream around/over the proposed dam position to allow construction to start. They've created a temporary dam feeding to a PVC pipe. Which is supported by a timber brace.

Now the team has diverted the water from the main stream, has assembled the steel cage and is pouring concrete (cement, stones and water) in the formwork to create the dam.

Here the guys are preparing the steel reinforcing cage before the formwork is placed. Each bar is embeded into the rock to "key" the dam in. The hole are made by hammering out with a crowbar by hand.

Here Tony and Ambrose are building the standpipe base. Placing formwork and steel reinforcing.

Here Tony and Isana are adding nails to run the string lines from. These will help position the incoming fittings and finished concrete levels.

These ladies are doing the clothes washing for their families. The lower tap is pretty handy for this.

This multitasking mum is washing clothes, dishes and her son! A clothes and dish rack would be the perfect improvement.

Josephine Thomas, Head Teacher at Pange Primary School talks about the impact of the water supply system on her students and women.

A convenient and safe place to drink and wash can save a woman or girl up to 40 hours a week.

Josephine talks about how student absenteeism has gone down, what the water supply means for her

And how it keeps the ladies safe.

She’s a professional women of standing in the community and was the first woman I’d met who was able to share with me fairly openly about the impact of the water projects on women.

She speaks in a mix of English and pidgin, but listen closely and you’ll get the gist of it.

While hacking through the jungle looking for a water supply spring, my friend Ferris showed me this skull shrine. The skulls date back a few generations to the head hunting days for which parts of the Solomon Islands were famous.

Mary tells her story of the impact of water on her life and what it means to have convenient clean water, near her village home.

Ian’s rough Pidgin translation!

Since I was born until now, it’s been hard to collect water.

I go to the river and carry the water in buckets back to the garden (to grow food).

I get the water, come back, and repeat, even into the night.

It’s really difficult for me.

In the wet season, the river runs very dirty. And I can’t use it.

It’s a big problem. For my whole life.

We have had nobody to help with the water supply.

So I would love if you can come and help us with the water supply

Cathie talks about how hard it is during the wet season to get water;

Especially with the impact the logging company has had in the upper catchment;

She talks about the little government help to solve the water supply problem;

And she thanks us for considering her village to be part of the program.