The Brief

Tama and Esther are used to making a journey for water. Down the mountain, fill the containers, back up again. Water for their animals. Water for survival. Living at Jungle Farm, thirty metres above sea level in the Cook Islands, meant living beyond the reach of the public water network. Rainwater wasn't a choice. It was the only option. On customary land passed down through generations, where Tama's great-grandfather once farmed and his father carved roads from jungle, they're now building something of their own. A 12,000-litre rainwater system. A home for their boys. A small apiary business. A life shaped entirely by what falls from the sky. This is the first story in Rain Harvesting Stories, celebrating the connection between people, place and water.