By the time the sun rises over the quiet hills of Yadua in Nadroga, Sevutia Finau Gonelevu is already at work.
Most days, on her wooden porch, the mother, grandmother and family matriarch carefully hand rinses clothes in a basin filled with rainwater she collects through the night.
For Sevutia, mornings begin long before the rest of the household wakes.
Originally from Burebasaga in Rewa and married into Cuvu, she now calls Yadua home.
It is a place she has grown to love for its peace, its scenery and the privacy it offers her family. But beneath that beauty lies a daily struggle.
“Our biggest problem here is the water cuts,” she told this newspaper, wringing out a piece of garment.
“Sometimes the water disappears from our tap for a whole week.”
When that happens, life slows down to survival mode.
“We just pray that it rains,” she said.
“If the rain comes, at least we can collect water for cooking, bathing, washing and drinking.”
As the woman who keeps the household running, the burden falls squarely on her shoulders.
Washing clothes, preparing meals, cleaning the house and maintaining hygiene for the family all depend on something many people take for granted – running water.
“I can face power cuts,” she said.
“But when there’s no water in the tap, that’s when the real struggle begins. Water is life.”
The uncertainty has changed how the family lives. Sevutia rises before dawn most days, quietly moving through the house filling bottles, basins and buckets while the taps still run.
“Sometimes we even bathe at four in the morning,” she said.
“We try to beat the water cuts before they happen.”
Her dream is simple. She needs a water tank beside her home where rainwater can be harvested and stored for difficult days.
Because when the skies stay dry and the taps fall silent, the family must travel kilometres to the village to collect water. That can be costly and labour-intensive.
“When water becomes scarce, everyone suffers,” Sevutia said.
“But women feel it the most because our daily work depends on it.”
Yet despite her daily struggle, Sevutia carries on.
Being responsible for the health and wellbeing of her family, giving up is never an option.
Each day she rises, works, and renews her hopes, believing that one day the water will flow steadily again.
Until then, she presses on, because for her family, life must go on.
Sevutia Gonelevu and her granddaughter, Sereana, help wash the family’s pile of laundry using rainwater. Picture: JOHN KAMEA
