Access to clean water is essential and a big challenge for rural communities in PNG. Added with the occasional drought and the situation can easily become a disaster.
Herman Valvalu an agriculturalist by profession and a passionate farmer residing at Tobere, Ramale village in East New Britain’s Vunamami LLG has come up with a simple yet brilliant innovation that ensures his crops and family have easy access to water.
Herman initially dug up a 6 metre well within his residence and would use a manually operated pump to fetch the water. It was a laboring task and at times the manual pump didn’t work properly. Being in the village where electricity is also a luxury he had to think outside the box.
VIDEO: Herman talks us through his innovation:
Herman who is working in partnership with Kokopo District office will be looking at ensuring this innovation can be adopted by other communities to provide an economical solution to safe drinking water.
