The community of Fatunero, a village in the mountain slope of Suco Leorema in Liquiça, Timor-Leste, rejoiced over a new water facility installed with the help of Jesuit Mission Australia and Jesuit Social Service-Timor-Leste (JSS).
What many people take for granted is a dream come true for the villagers of Fatunero. Agostinho da Costa shares that during the Portuguese and Indonesian occupation, they had to walk three to four hours every day to fetch water from the streams. Not much changed after the country gained independence. The community still had no access to a nearby water facility. Today, they can enjoy a steady supply of water from the water cluster tanks just a few steps away from their homes.
With technical expertise and resources provided by JSS, the community worked with the JSS team to gather water from several spring channels into one huge tank donated by RMS Construction Company. From the reservoir, the water is pumped 530 metres up the slope until it reaches the central tank in the middle of the village. From there, the water is distributed to 10 cluster tanks that supply the various households.
The water facility was inaugurated on May 30 with guests from Jesuit Mission Australia: Paul Levins, Helen Forde and Siobhan Jordan, JSS Executive Director Fr Erik John Gerilla SJ and Timor-Leste Jesuit Regional Superior Fr Joaquim Sarmento SJ.
Currently, the facility serves 93 households, who use the water to cook, wash, shower, and water their plants and crops. The children, relieved of the heavy duty of fetching water, can now focus on their studies.
The villagers are grateful to benefactors and friends who have helped bring safe, clean water closer to their homes. To them, these friends are like small channels of spring water, a life-giving resource in their journey to a better life. [Jesuit Social Service-Timor Leste]