Auckland engineer Victoria Fray has just returned to New Zealand after a mission as a water and sanitation aid worker in Samoa following September's tsunami and earthquake.
Her job, in an international team that supported the Samoa Red Cross Society, was to help 420 families whose normal water supplies and sanitation were disrupted by the disaster.
"Following the tsunami, people moved inland, staying on their own properties, because a lot of people have coastal properties but also garden plots inland or "upstairs" as they say. The garden plots are away from their houses, their traditional water supplies, their traditional latrines," says Ms Fray.
On one steamy day just before she left Samoa for New Zealand, Ms Fray checked the water supply system at Ti'aveatai village.
Water seeps out of rocks above the village and is fed through a series of pipes and tanks down to the settlement, which is morphing from tents into permanent houses with schools and other facilities.
Ms Fray and her Samoa Red Cross Society colleagues, such as water and sanitation coordinator Opetaia Opetaia, have set up the water supply to cope with peaks and troughs.
"There is enough water for a 24 hour period but to make sure there's enough for the peak times like the morning when everyone jumps out of bed and turns on the tap at the same time, or in the evenings when everyone's cooking dinner, this tank provides water for the peak times."
The system is low tech. It relies not on generators or pumps, but on gravity. Ms Fray turns the tap and the water gushes out, filling her water bottle.
"It's nice and cool. My hand's hot. It's really hot today." Ms Fray takes a long slug out of her bottle. "That's really nice. I actually wish I could pour it on my head and use it to cool down," she jokes.
Nearby lives Siatia Faletagoai, who is expecting her second child. Her family moved "upstairs" after the tsunami. Rainwater from her roof is collected into a tank next to the kitchen. She is glad she doesn't have to lug heavy buckets to a tank in the centre of the village any more.
"When we came here after the tsunami, the truck from the government brought the water here but now we get the water from the rain and catch it in the tank and use it for the food and so on. It's easy for us," she says.
What are Ms Fray's impressions about leaving Samoa?
"When I first came, one of the things that really struck me was the debris. You could see it, you could feel it, you could smell it. Within a few short weeks of me being here you could see vegetation, greenery start to grow.
"People were busy. They weren't waiting for anyone to give them a handout. They were rolling up their sleeves, getting stuck in, just pitching in, clearing debris, building fale, doing what they could to help themselves.
"I thought they were really resilient, they were bouncing back. Sure, there were scars and there were gaps. That's why the Red Cross is there - we're there to help those people because there are limits to what they can possibly do themselves. But one of the biggest impressions I got was resilience and the bravery that people had in putting back the pieces of their lives."
Ms Fray's legacy will live on in Samoa. People like Mr Obetaia now have the skills to make sure the water keeps flowing to thirsty people.