By Charles Bennett

We’ve now arrived in Bougainville and are settling into our new house and office in Arawa. While we wait for the ship to arrive from the mainland with most of our equipment and possessions, Everlyn and myself have headed into four of the villages we are working with in the hills around Arawa.

It’s great to get into the villages and meet the people we are working with. I’m starting to understand some of the technical, logistical and social issues that we’ll have to consider in designing and constructing water supply systems that are appropriate and sustainable.

My first task has been to walk with members of each community to assess potential water sources that we can use. It is important that we use a source that will not run dry during periods of drought. The water also has to be clean enough to drink and it’s important to make sure that there are no social or cultural issues relating to the use of the source, such as land rights disputes.

Because we are relying on gravity to convey the water from the source to the village, surveying potential sources means trekking up high into the hills above the villages. It’s great fun – splashing through streams, scrambling over rocks and scraping through bush. But fun as it is, it’s still pretty exhausting, with temperatures reaching 35 degrees and humidity sitting at 95 percent.

[With Felix, village volunteer for Poma, at the head of the proposed new water source]

As we visit the villages one thing is very clear - there is plenty of water. Annual rainfall is around 4m a year, forming large streams with fast flowing water. However people in the villages, typically women and children, often have to walk long distances to get to sources that are clean enough for drinking. There is a real need for improved water supply in these villages and Oxfam’s work here will make a major difference to people’s lives.

In the village of Donsiro, the chief presented me and Everlyn with gifts to express their happiness that we are working with them. Everlyn was given a necklace made from scented beads, and I was given a bow and arrow! Not sure how I’ll get that through airport security…

[Gifts from the chief of Donsiro village]

In researching about gravity water supply systems, a lot is said about how often these systems are not maintained and fall into disuse after a couple of years. This is something we really want to avoid in our projects, and in the village of Monkontoro it was great to find evidence that some systems are in fact very well looked after.

The current water supply for the village was built in the mid 1960’s, around 45 years ago. It has been maintained over the years by the village and was even rebuilt after being destroyed during the Bougainville Crisis, using materials donated by the Red Cross.

We will be working with the village to improve and extend this system so that it benefits more of the community and hopefully can be used for another 45 years.

[Dam at Monkontoro constructed in the 1960s, still in use]