There was dancing in the streets of Popondetta on Sunday when an International Federation team produced the first drinking water in the flood-hit provincial capital for more than two weeks.
“They were coming up with containers, pots and pans, and all sorts of things to fill with water,” says Australian water and sanitation engineer Peter O’Keeffe. “The initial response was they were not sure but when they tasted it, everyone was so happy.”
Peter used the opportunity of changing the water pressure to cool off some children. “The kids were dancing under the spray and everyone was having a great time. We joined in too.”
The wet celebration was the result of a week’s hard work for Peter, his Australian colleague Bob Handby and a team of Papua New Guinea Red Cross Society volunteers who dug a 180-metre trench to lay a pipe from the river to Popondetta hospital.
Popondetta’s water supply had been out of action since the floods which killed more than 150 people and left an estimated 13,000 homeless. What remains of the town’s water plant perches perilously close to a sandy cliff above the river. It looks as though a decent shove would send it over.
The town’s 150-bed hospital, serving the whole province’s population, was running perilously low on water. The director talked about scaling down services or even closing wards.
“Our ultimate goal is to provide water to the hospital,” says Peter. “The patients are the most likely to suffer if they get poor water. It’s a pretty good effort, I reckon.”
After filtering water for the hospital and its 50 live-in staff, the next priority for the Nomad portable pumping and filtration system is about 200 people who have camped near the hospital since their homes were washed away or destroyed in the floods.
Peter, Bob and their team of Red Cross volunteers filtered more than 15,000 litres of water on Sunday and 30,000 on Monday. “That’s a lot of drinking water,” says Peter.
Bob says the achievement was only possible because of the backing of the local community.
“When we went through the fence we had to destroy someone’s cassava and pineapple garden. We had to drive our truck over their garden.
“The owner told us, “Water is vital to us. It doesn’t matter if you destroy our crops. We have to have water”.”
One man walked from far away because he’d heard there was fresh drinking water available. After watching him waiting at the tap stand that the volunteers had constructed, Bob and Peter asked why the man did not fill his water container to the top. “Because it will be too heavy for the long walk home,” he told them.
Bob tried to make it clear the precious water was only for drinking.
“They know the water is for drinking, not washing their clothes,” says Bob. “I was making a point of getting a cup and showing them it’s for drinking, but they know. They can go to the river any time to wash their clothes. But they haven’t had any alternative for drinking water.”
The portable purification system, which can produce 50,000 litres of potable water a day, will help quench the thirst of some of the most vulnerable people while local authorities restore the usual system or dig new bore holes. At the same time, the International Federation team will look into water supplies in other parts of flood-affected Oro Province.
Popondetta’s gratitude was obvious, says Bob.
“There was no pushing or shoving. Everyone was extremely polite and waited for the taps. I was very impressed by them as a community.”
“One thing that I thought was nice was that so many of them came up and thanked us. They were so grateful.”
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