Tasi Aiulu’s struggles for water

By Aruna Lolani 04 May 2017, 12:00AM

They say water is life.

But the question is, what is life without water?

Speaking to the Village Voice yesterday, 45-year-old Tasi Aiulu from Faleasiu-uta said that is the challenge for him and his family every day.

 “What is life without water? I tell you it’s hard,” he said.

“Of everything that we ever need to survive, the most difficult thing to get in Samoa is water and most people find it hard to believe, even myself sometimes but it’s really happening.

“Life without water makes you appreciate every bit of water you get. 

“It makes you appreciate and thankful for the rainy weather.

“And when you don’t have enough water, you cannot sleep at night properly because your mind is too busy thinking where you can fetch water the next day.

Mr. Aiulu said all the people that are staying in the same area are experiencing the same thing

“We haven’t had any water of our own for a very long time. None of our taps are on anymore. 

“Not only the fact that we cannot afford to pay our water bills because it was too expensive but the authorities also said that it’s impossible for the water to reach our area.

“I must admit it’s our fault for not being able to afford the bills but what can I say, we’re just people who work in our own lands, we don’t own much and we don’t have savings accounts that can pay for everything that we need.

“We fetch water and we store them in containers for our daily use.

“Sometimes, months just pass by so fast without rain so what we do is to try and chip in for the water truck to deliver water.

“I guess it’s the only way we can do things just so we can survive a life without water.”

By Aruna Lolani 04 May 2017, 12:00AM
Samoa Observer

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