Tavita Maunifo is one of many people in Samoa who face an acute groundwater shortfall because the water pipes don’t reach his house. 

Speaking to village voice team, the 30-year-old is desperately in need of water. 

“I spend most of my day thinking whether we will get enough water to get by each day. 

“It’s been three years since we moved to the mountains and this is still the problem. 

“The water pipes don’t reach our house and I walk kilometers every day to get water. 

“To be honest, life has become hell. It’s an everyday challenge now. 

“We used up all our water stored so I brought many bottles today to try and cover for the whole weekend. 

The father admits that living life without a regular supply of water at hand is hard. 

“Do you know what it’s like to walk miles down the hill and then up again to fetch water?

“And the only time we get a break, is when it’s raining.   

Tavita said that while most people take it lightly and take water for granted, there are many other people who understand. 

“Like I said before, we hadn’t had any taps since we moved to our house at the mountain, fetching water from inland is a normal routine. 

“I was happy when we had water on Monday morning because it was raining, so it saved going down the village to fetch water from Monday till today. 

“As you can see, we’re out of water again and we are on the hunt to get some. 

“I just hope it’s rainy season soon so that we don’t have to look for water.”

Furthermore Tavita said he and some of the families in the area are trying to find a way to solve the problem. 

“It’s been years now and this needs to be fixed. 

“Some families up here are also going through the same thing so we have all tried to contact the Water Authority to help us out. 

“We can’t carry on living fetching water every day, we have kids.” 

Aside from fetching water, the father is also trying to feed his family. 

“If you have water right beside your house, be thankful because to me I not only fetch water from a long distance but I also try to feed my family. 

“So every day is a struggle for us. 

“I have to find ways to get on with our daily routine of fetching water and working on our plantation.”