FOR Sione Finefeuiaki, his clean water project for Tonga flows from a pipe dream towards reality this week.
The former rugby league player and head of a charity called Sione's Foundation is leading a team of Hunter-based water experts to the island nation of his birth on Thursday. The team, including representatives from plumbing firm H.L Mullane and water industry consultants from Beca-Hunter H2O, will be on a planning mission for the water quality improvement project on the island of 'Eua.
"It means everything," said Sione Finefeuiaki. "This is going to change so many lives back in Tonga. They have three or four days without water sometimes."
For five years, through his foundation, Mr Finefeuiaki has been helping the people of Tonga with a range of projects, but he increased his involvement following the eruption of a volcano and the subsequent tsunami that hit the Pacific nation in January.
This water project came about after property developer and former Newcastle lord mayor Jeff McCloy offered a donation of up to $1 million in February to help the Tongan people recover from the natural disaster.
"To go back and do something with a bigger volume like this is humongous," said Mr Finefeuiaki. "If you asked me 10 years ago whether I'm going to do something like this, I'd say I was dreaming about it."
The project's financial backer was away, but the McCloy Group's Newcastle office was the meeting place on Monday for Mr Finefeuiaki and other supporters, including those who would be travelling with him to Tonga to work out what was needed to build the water system, and to talk with government officials.
Just as it was when Mr Finefeuiaki was a footy player, H.L. Mullane boss Tony Rhodes pointed out this project was about teamwork.
"We're the boots and hands," Mr Rhodes said, before pointing across the table at the Beca-Hunter H2O representatives. "They're the brains and [know] international authorities, Sione [knows] the local people and culture, and Jeff McCloy is the enabler."
Dean Taylor and Chris Conway, from Beca-Hunter H2O, said they would help with government liaison, as their firm had extensive experience in the Pacific.
"It's about giving back," said Mr Taylor, as to why they were involved. "We're passionate about working in the Pacific, and this is a great opportunity."
Chris Conway, the firm's technical director of water, estimated it could be about six months before the system was installed on the island.
"It's not something you can get off the shelf, go to Bunnings and pick it up," he said.
Sione Finefeuiaki said the island of 'Eua was chosen because it was smaller. However, demand for water on the island had grown since the eruption and tsunami, as hundreds had moved to 'Eua from areas closer to the volcano.
"It's a good exercise, I think, for us to start somewhere little," Mr Finefeuiaki said. "So we know the system from scratch to finish."
Once the system is installed on 'Eua, the plan is to take the project to other areas in Tonga.
"I want to put the same system [in] from island to island to island, to the main island as well," he said. "I just want to give them clean water."
