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I've only been to Fiji twice and yet it feels like home to me, a second home but home all the same.
A year ago at this time my sons Ben and Scott where making plans to come back to Utah but before they left Fiji they wanted to leave something from them to the people who had treated them so well. Treated them as family.
We decided a library for the community would be a good idea, Heinz having thousands of books in storage and all. Great a library it was, draw up the plans, box up the books...
Our friends in the Navautu village on Kadavu Island were very happy that we wanted to leave something for them to remember us by. But. They really needed fresh spring water in their village... really!?
We knew that but we didn't know how to do it, we knew how to build a library. Floor, 4 walls, a roof, windows, doors and shelves. Easy. Bring fresh spring water to a rural village on the other side of the world, not so easy. What did we know about water, nothing really just that in our home we turned on the tap. Hot or cold. All we wanted.
As my sons talked with their friends they assured them it could be done and they knew how to do it, they just needed support and supplies. We talked about what a great idea it was and why hadn't we thought about this since I had been in Fiji and my sons were living there. We knew not to drink the water but we did at times.
It was decided we would work with our friends in the Navautu village to bring water to their families, that was an easy decision, now how do we start. The plan was one water tank then back home for Ben and Scott.
Unseen problems kept us from starting our first project in the village our dream started, so our first Water Project would be in the Nuku Settlement on Kadavu Island. This project had been started but had ran out of funds after the damn was built, working with our dear friend Kami, Salote and others the Nuku Project was our first project for Wananavu Kadavu. That it wasn't our first choice didn't make it any less important, we had great support here and fell in love with the area and people. After Nuku other locations come to mind but our heart was still in Navautu village...
In December 2009 Wananvu Kadavu became a International Nonprofit, 501c3.
Today we are finishing up our second project 3rd tank on the island of Kadavu, we have started plans for our 3rd project on the other side of the island. With each project our hearts will grow, like with a child you always have room for more.
One village at a time, together we can...
