By ELLEN STOLZ

Since 2007, Rotary Pacific Water for Life Foundation has provided clean, safe drinking water to 193 communities and schools all over Fiji and their contribution was recognised on National Hand-Washing Day.
Vodafone chief executive and Rotary Pacific Water for Life chairman, Aslam Khan, said the organisation has helped tremendously.
“There is an old Fijian saying, Sega na wai, sega na bula. Without water, there is no life.
“We know this to be true, but it is worth noting today, on National Hand-washing Day, that water alone is not enough to ensure healthy communities,” Mr Khan said.
Rotary Pacific Water is funded by Vodafone Fiji Foundation, the FIJI Water Foundation, NZAid and Rotary International.
He said that with support from the Ministry of Health and the Department of Water and Sewerage, the organisation has been increasingly taking on the challenge of addressing sanitation and hygiene in the communities in which they work.
“In many rural communities and schools, old or improperly constructed septic systems, pit toilets located near water sources, inadequate drainage and untreated water mean that sanitation and hygiene are compromised.
“Rotary Pacific Water For Life is one of a few organisations in Fiji promoting proper wastewater treatment,” he said.
Last month the Rotary Pacific Water funded a $40,000 project featuring toilet blocks and wastewater treatment in Vurevure Settlement on Taveuni.
The project consisted of building 6 community toilet blocks and sinks with six individual septic tanks and leaching trenches.
Designed by California Engineer, Norman Hantzsche, the project was one of the first village-level sanitation projects to properly treat and dispose of wastewater in Fiji.
The foundation recently began two more sanitation projects on the Coral Coast. These projects will help update and improve the wastewater treatment at Navutulevu Village and Tagaqe Primary School.