Accessing water is an everyday struggle for the Pili family in Savai’i, but the family-of-five refuses to let the challenge mar the many blessings of the simple life. 

For Pili and Tausaga Mamea and their three children, life's challenges include limited access to water but they are thankful for their blessings.

"We are appreciative of God's blessings upon our family," Pili told the Samoa Observer. 

"We understand that the going gets tough sometimes, but such is life, we have good and bad days.

"However, the main problem we continue to face as a family is the limited water supply.”

Though there are some days when continuous rain enables them to store and collect water.

"We enjoy the rainy days as we get to store and collect water using buckets and empty gallons,” added Mr Mamea.

“But when it comes to the dry season, then we have to make the trip further inland to our other family to get water for our daily needs.

"We have been praying and waiting for the water supply to reach our family, but up to now, there is no luck."

Outside of the family's house, one can see a few buckets that the family uses to store rainwater. 

Mr Mamea says they need water in order to survive including to bathe, eat and drink.

"As you know, we all need water in order to survive, we need it for food, drinking, showers, and [other things]," he said. 

"So it's very difficult during sunny days, we have a family further inland and that's where we go to get water, my son and I would go there to collect water for our family.

"Sometimes, we make a trip twice a day to our other house and family living near the road.”

But that is not the only challenge the family faces as their increased water consumption can also translate to a rise in the water bill.

"Another problem with that is, the water bill for our family goes up as we keep collecting water from them.

"We have made a request to the Mormon Church in the other village nearby for a water tank, but we still have not heard back from them.

"Life would be so much easier for us if we owned a water tank."

At the end of the day, the family says it is still happy despite their numerous day-to-day challenges and are thankful for the generosity shown to them by various people.

"We enjoy life in Samoa," said Mr. Mamea. 

"We can't imagine living elsewhere and here in Samoa, we live on our own lands and get to do whatever we want on our land. 

"You will never starve if you live in Samoa. The other beauty of life in Samoa is the love of our people. 

"Even if we are not related by blood, people will still welcome you in their homes with open arms and serve you with the best they have. 

"That's why I say that you can never starve in Samoa, also we get our blessings from serving our elders and serving God. 

"And that's the foundation of the life that I build with my family, we may be poor, but we strive and do our best to serve our elders and serve God. 

"We have a plantation and I am also a carpenter, we are so blessed and we are thankful."

Anyone interested in helping the Pili family access a water tank can make contact with them on 7641723.