Road Trip!

Savusavu is the second largest city on the second largest island in Fiji. A booming metropolis of about 2,000 people, Savusavu is THE Friday getaway for the residents of southern Vanua Levu, and we decided to see firsthand just how crazy this town could get. We actually had been to the town for a brief hour or so when we flew in a couple weeks back, but not for any extended amount of time. Funny how word gets around when people with transport are going to town. Within two hours of announcing our departure for the following day, we were asked for rides by four people. Luckily, one decided to stay back the day of. This morning we set off to pickup our quarry along the route: Daniel at the MNC house, then Meline at Loa (oh and could her friend have a ride too??), a hitchhiker about 20 km down the road, and finally Steve, a Peace Corps volunteer that we had gotten in contact with after hearing recently that he was nearby. By the time we rolled in to Savusavu at 10:00am, we had a truck load of all sorts.

Our purpose, actually, was mostly business. We heard that the regional Health Department had an office there, as did the District Officer, and these two agencies are likely good entities to be on one’s side if one is implementing a water project within their jurisdictional area. We were met at the Health Department by the three regional health inspectors, all who seemed relatively excited that we were doing work in the area. They provided us water testing results for a handful of communities around the island (similar to what we have been doing here) and standard design plans (circa 1964) for the septic systems they are currently providing the village of Buca. They gave us their blessing and escorted us to the District Officer from whom we would also need authorization. About 5 minutes into our pitch, he says his first words:

“So, do you have funding FOR us?”
“No,” we explain. “We’re a volunteer organization and any funds that we raise would go directly to implementing our project.”
“Do you want money FROM us?”
“No.”

We sensed that he did not understand our reason for interrupting his “busy” Friday afternoon, but after a few more “we’re volunteers”ses and “no money goes to you or from you”ses we felt he was on board.

We were supposed to talk to another state official, but apparently he was at a birthday party and could not be reached. The health inspector agreed to update him on our behalf.

After the morning activities we met with Jeff Stone, an American ex-pat and the current President of the Savusavu Rotary Club as well as the incoming president, Steve. Jeff and Steve were a wealth of information about how the process works for working on projects such as ours in Fiji. Jeff, a retired engineer with the Army Corps, has lived in Fiji since 1997 and has implemented a handful of water projects in the area in the name of the Rotary chapter, and provided us with close-out reports on those projects which detail design schematics and itemized construction costs. We feel that the local Rotary club will be a good technical partner and resource for us as we head into the design and construction phases of the project.

Before heading back to Natuvu, we shared a tasty beverage with Steve (the Peace Corps fellow we picked up on the way in) and Brett, another PC bloke, who are both working in villages close to ours on projects related to sanitation and health. They also added their two cents about working with local government agencies and shared with us some of their successes and frustrations working in rural Fiji. They may not be a technical resource for the project, but they can certainly help us understand some of the cultural issues we may face along the way.

At the end of the day, we were excited about the progress we were making in developing the connections and relationships necessary for a successful project.

Aside note: The road from Savusavu to Natuvu is predominantly unpaved and riddled with cobbles and deep potholes. Kudos to Deborah who, on the first trip two weeks ago, traversed the 70 km in 2 hours, 45 mins, and today drove the same distance in 1 hour, 45 mins! She is getting mighty comfortable behind the wheel.