In my last posting, I shared with you an overview of the work FIJI Water is doing to bring clean safe drinking water to our neighbors in Fiji. Today I’d like to share a little bit more about one of the many projects we’ve completed.

Malolo Lailai Island is a 620-acre island that is part of the Mamanuca Islands, in the Western Division of Fiji. Along with having a pretty name, it is home to two villages – Yaro and Solevu – and five settlements (Cubi, Kawalevu, Vuya, Nawaikama and Yako) with a total population of about 1,300.

The Malolo Lailai Island residents have not had access to running water in the past, so they would use rainwater catchments and wells to get water. Since the island receives rainfall for only three months of the year, island residents would spend the other nine months trying to get water from the mainland or sporadic rainfall. The well water was used for washing only, since it was not fit to drink.

This all changed in December 2007, when the Rotary Pacific Water for Life Trust, which FIJI Water has funded, brought clean running water to every house in the villages. We were delighted to help make this happen. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again – we believe that Fiji is home to the best water on the planet, and the people of Fiji should be able to enjoy it as much as the rest of the world does.