Fiji

Yasawa Hub Achievement Report

April 2014

Objective: Water Security and Hygeine

GVI Delivers a new WASH initiative in Yaqeta Village

GVI have completed a month long Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) initiative which
involved the installation of new hand washing stations and the delivery of basic hygiene
education. To date this initiative has increased the village of Yaqetas potable rainwater
holding capacity by an additional 42,000L.
This project run has been run in close collaboration with the community of Yaqeta village,
formally known as Matayalevu. Yaqeta is one of the largest villages in the Northern
Yasawas. Like many of the villages within the district, water security continues to be a major
issue for the community. This is fundamentally caused by a lack of rainwater in the dry
season
but
exacerbated
by
inadequate
water
infrastructure, a lack
of maintenance on
existing
rainwater
harvesting
systems
and a general lack of
education
and
knowledge on the best
ways to collect and
store water. In line
with GVIs goal to
promote
water
security throughout
the
central
and
northern regions of
1 A NEW TANK BASE IS CREATED
the
Yasawas,
the GVI community team felt that it was imperative to work to address water scarcity issues
within this village as part of a comprehensive water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH)
initiative.
Central to GVI methodology is the undertaking of the in-depth assessment of project sites in
order to properly inform and implement sustainable and effective projects which benefit
the maximum number of people within a community. An essential part of this assessment is
the initial data collection, including household surveys and village mapping exercises. This
focus on data collection ensures a greater understanding of potential issues and a thorough
assessment of the specific needs of the village. Working alongside communities in this way
also increases knowledge sharing between local communities and GVI. Furthermore, it
1

ensures community involvement and increases ownership so that communities become

empowered to create solutions to ongoing problems. Consequently, GVI volunteers spent
one week collecting and analysing data to get an in-depth understanding of issues affecting
Yaqeta, with a specific focus on water, sanitation and hygiene.
Based on this data, it was clear that there was in general, inadequate water infrastructure to
meet the needs of the community, especially during the dry season. The ability to ensure
basic hygiene was also a highlighted concern, due to a lack of hand wash facilities and some
indication of generally poor hygiene practice. To address these issues, a multi-pronged
approach of installing rainwater harvesting systems, constructing hand washing stations and
delivering hygiene and tank maintenance education workshops was conducted.

Tank installation and maintenance

The provision, installation and maintenance of rainwater tanks has significantly improved
the capacity for fresh drinking water within Yaqeta village. This project has worked directly
towards Millennium Development Goal Target 7.C which is to halve, by 2015, the
proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic
sanitation (United Nations, 2013). GVI has ensured that a further 42,000L of fresh rainwater
can now be collected throughout the village. This was achieved through the provision
additional water tanks and also through basic improvements the performance of existing
collection infrastructure through repairs and general improvements. The process of
installing a rainwater harvesting system includes attaching the guttering to suitable houses;
this requires a basic assessment checking for issues such as rust. A concrete base is then
required to ensure the tank is not damaged by the ground and remains on a flat, secure
surface. Finally the tank is placed on the concrete base and attached to the guttering via
down pipe. Members of the community were eager to assist and the importance of regular
maintenance of water tanks was emphasised during village meetings. GVI helped to ensure
that specific members of the village were tasked with the maintenance of each tank, in an
effort to ensure that the community collectively arranged ways for individuals to take
ownership of the installed tanks.

Hand washing stations and hygiene education

To address the issue of the lack of hygiene facilities, GVI have completed the construction of
basic hand washing stations referred to as tippy taps (the design originating from India)
within Yaqeta village. Seven Tippy taps stations (5 in the village, 2 at Yaqeta School) were
been built, equating to 175L of available hand washing water. This simple structure uses
materials which can be found around the village to produce a tipping container controlled
by a foot lever. This creates a hands-free washing station which can be easily reproduced by
all families within the village. Practical workshops on how to construct tippy taps were also
delivered, and the GVI team helped individual households to build hand washing facilities.

GVI would like to thank Navuto Stars; a holiday resort located a short walk away from
Yaqeta Village for supporting the WASH Initiative in Yaqeta by providing soap for each tippy
2

tap built and pledging to replenish supplies when they are required. To ensure these
supplies are maintained, GVI has worked with the Turaga ni Koro (village headman) of
Yaqeta village to assign members of the community who will be responsible for
maintenance and soap resupply.

Children in Yaqeta show off their clean hands during a hygiene workshop

To ensure hand washing and basic hygiene becomes daily practice, the GVI community
project team worked alongside GVI primary school education support volunteers to deliver
hand washing workshops with children as part of their holiday club. The newly constructed
tippy taps formed a central part to this education and the workshop combined question and
answer sessions with hand washing songs, games and practical activities.

GVI Fiji will continue monitor water security and hygiene facilities within Yaqeta over the
coming months. A follow up tank maintenance workshop will also be held to ensure the
rainwater harvesting systems are being correctly cleaned and maintained. Hygiene
awareness will also be integrated into the primary school curriculum in the new term and
the newly installed hand washing stations will continue to be maintained and their use
encouraged by school teachers. This new WASH initiative has been highly successful and
well received in Yaqeta and will provide the basis for our future community projects within
the area.

GVI Fiji

For more information on GVIs projects in Fiji please visit www.gvi.co.uk
For more information on our global impact visit www.gviworld.com
To make a donation to our water security projects in Fiji please visit www.gvi.org for more details.