Just as Mary cared for the Holy Family, women in Fiji are the ones who ensure the “daily bread” (and water) is available for their families.” Columban Fr. Teakare stands at the Sacred Heart Cathedral Grotto with the important women in his ordained life. Photo: St Columbans Mission Society
In commemorating World Water Day on March 22nd, with this year's theme, Water and Gender, we are reminded that freshwater is not just a utility for many; in the Pacific, it is a source of life - vurevure ni bula. This year’s theme calls us to recognise that where access to safe drinking water and sanitation is lacking, inequalities take root, with women often bearing the greatest burden.
In Catholic tradition, we often look to Mother Mary as a model of nurturing grace. She is frequently associated with "Living Water" - the one through which the life of the world was delivered. Water is life-giving, and it refreshes our bodies and replenishes our farms. In Fiji and the Pacific, this spiritual image finds a physical form in our mothers, aunts, and sisters, who are often responsible for water collection. Just as Mary cared for the Holy Family, women in Fiji are the ones who ensure the “daily bread” (and water) is available for their families. Following this example, our faith calls us to be like Mother Mary and our mothers, to be a wellspring of stewardship for life-giving water.
With climate change and infrastructure strained in Fiji and across Oceania, the sacred gift of water has become too often a situation of struggle, especially for women. In a recent 2025 UNESCO study in Fiji, it found that while over 80% of women report experiencing water shortages, only 12% were represented on local water committees. This reality is not unique to Fiji, across Oceania, an estimated three million people still lack access to safe drinking water and these issues will only worsen with rising sea levels and the growing threat of saltwater intrusion, which is already a reality for many rural communities in Fiji. We must act to protect our freshwater sources and ensure that women are included in decision-making processes that shape sustainable water management as a holistic response to protecting this sacred gift.
Progress must never come at the expense of the "voices of the victims"- when our ancestral lands and freshwater systems are threatened. Photo: St Columbans Mission Society
Within our local church, the Archbishop of Suva, Archbishop Peter Loy Chong, has been guiding the faithful towards a deeper commitment to integral ecology—a call to internalize creation’s interconnectivity as we exist in relationship with the natural world around us. We see this theology in action through the Archbishop's recent solidarity with the villagers of Navunikabi in Namosi, Fiji. By supporting and being the face of their petition against the proposed Wainikoroiluva Hydro Dam, he sent a clear message: Progress must never come at the expense of the "voices of the victims"— when our ancestral lands and freshwater systems are threatened. As the Archbishop stated, “Caring for Creation is a moral imperative that the government and industry must treat with the same seriousness as a commandment.” For the villagers of Navunikabi, who are already experiencing flooding in their village, the halt on the construction of the hydro dam will mean that their water reserves are preserved and their cultural sites protected.
Archbishop Peter Loy Chong is accompanied by Columban Fr. Taaremon (left) in the ordination of Fr. Teakare in Rabi Island where their families settled after Ocean Island was destroyed by Phosphate mining. Photo: St Columbans Mission Society
The urgency of this mission is embodied in the lives of Columbans Fr. Taaremon Matauea and Fr. Teakare Betero, Columban priests whose stories reflect the resilience of Pacific peoples. Both are from Rabi Island and are descendants of the Banaban people, who were displaced from Ocean Island - Kiribati after their ancestral homeland was rendered uninhabitable by extractive phosphate mining.
For the Banaban people, the loss of land also meant the loss of natural resources that sustained life, including access to clean and reliable water. Inspired by the Columbans’ ministry among climate-vulnerable communities in the northern parts of Fiji, Fr. Teakare now carries this Pacific wisdom to the Philippines, while Fr. Taaremon continues his ministry at Holy Family Parish in Labasa, serving rural Fijian communities within the parish.
The stories of Fr. Teakare, Fr. Taaremon, the people of Namosi, and women across Oceania remind us that the struggle to protect land and water is not new for our peoples, but it is still very necessary to rise up and protect it. It is a struggle rooted in memory and hope for future generations. Protecting our water sources means listening to the voices of women, safeguarding our ecosystems, and ensuring that development does not come at the cost of our communities.
Noa Tuivunilagi is the Columban Justice Peace & Integrity of Creation (JPIC) Coordinator in Fiji.
Related links
- Read more from the current Columban eBulletin
