A Lesson from Kinoya

Kasa (far left) and some members of the MBBS III class.
 Photo: Harold Maesulia

Ask any of the MBBS III (Bachelor of Medicine, and Bachelor of Surgery) students at the Fiji School of Medicine how they feel about Community Public Health classes on Wednesdays and you’ll get a mixed reaction. Besides the loyal who always turn up as early as 8 am each Wednesday to catch the school bus to Tamavua, you’ll surely find a group of students who remain uninterested in joining the fun of bus riding up and down the hills.

While concentration was perhaps a battle I fought to win during each class, it turned out after all that my attendance record for these classes was good because I enjoyed what was supposed not to be the whole point of each Wednesday morning. Well, I couldn’t help it but I was so hooked on the euphoria that comes with the morning bus rides.

By Harold Maesulia
Follow me on twitter.

So when one of those classes was replaced by a field trip to the Tamavua Water Treatment Plant and the Sewage Treatment Plant at Kinoya, I headed to the Chinese Shop a few yards from home to load my camera with some Energizer Batteries. Because I was so sure that this time the bus ride would be longer.

With the camera diagonally strapped across my body, I headed to Pasifika (our school campus) quite early with Mathew and Maria. We were quite excited and perhaps the excitement hit me more than my two colleagues because within minutes after living the comfort of our flat, I popped into an Indian Eatery to get us some sandwiches for lunch.

The trip up to Tamavua was refreshing. With the beautiful tunes from Legend FM’s breakfast show hitting me from my ear phones plus the busy but beautiful Suva traffic building up massively along the way, I sat back in awe as if I was on a holiday.

What awaits us at the Water Treatment Plant was a story told to us by actually walking us through the amazing plant. Segmented into areas where water takes time to go through each cleaning process, we were shown what actually happens at each stage.


The final filter before the water actually goes for chlorination was the bit I found to be quite puzzling. “What?” I whispered to myself after our tour guard told us that it’s the final filter. Well, it was the color of the water that alarmed me. It was like mud. “This stage uses a specially imported sand to clean the water-even bacteria are removed here,” our tour guard emphasized.

It was not long after that when I settled down to agree with the gentle man. The end product of the filter was so crystal clear. My camera agreed so I allowed it to do its job. Its shutter clicked and went the FLASH!

We headed up the building to see where chlorination occurs. It was breath taking from the top of the building. The whole plant from up there looked like a park of ferry wheels.



We were supposed to bag the whole lot of information imparted on us by the friendly tour guard, but most of us didn’t. I was so carried away with my photographing endeavor that I later disliked myself for acting like a photographer who had to cover an event for a paper. Well, blame photo fanatics like Kasanita and Maria who followed the camera like it’s their bread and butter. Boy, these beings just want to be in every photo…Kasa would probably be given some mercy, because while in Fiji, that’s my Tau.



Only at Kinoya...The sewage is
 turned into harmless forms before they’re disposed
 into the sea. Photo: Harold Maesulia.

When we came down, we were made to have lunch before heading for Kinoya. I overheard from someone that we have to eat before heading to Kinoya because that’s where whatever is deposited when one visits the toilet ends up to be turned into harmless forms before they’re disposed into the sea.

The smell was kind of different when we arrived there. I opted not to cover my nose although the methane seemed to touch the nerves that are responsible for bringing one’s hands to his nose to keep them out of the smell’s reach.



Everything appeared to be functioning the usual way for the guys at the sewage treatment plant. A man in overalls was cutting the grass outside the main office with all smiles. He didn’t wear any masks.



The security officer at the front gate looked just like the ones at Pasifika. He too was without a mask.

Well, I said to myself, why worry, let’s enjoy the environment! I followed nothing whatsoever that was said during that time because I was either taking photos or enjoying the fun of getting use to the smell.



I whispered to myself “boy if I can handle this smell, I can handle anything!”