Clean Up Honiara Day

Today was Officially Clean up Honiara Day!!!
Now you have to have been to Honiara to truely appreciate the magnitude of such a challenge. Honiara is a dirty, dusty, smokey kind of place. There is rubbish everywhere.....and very few services for getting rid of it. On average most Solomon Islanders would create a hang of a lot less rubbish than the average Kiwi or Aussie but with no regular rubbish collection it piles up everywhere. To make matters worse for just about everyone who lives in Honiara they don't call it home or have a heart connection with the place so don't care much about looking after it.

Well today was a mass of action. Lead by the local and RAMSI police forces hundreds of people were out picking up rubbish, clearing drains, cutting grass. Even those of us who work at the Minstry of Finance were out clearing up around our office.

Is amazing to see the transformation. The main drag through town is remarkably clean as are the surrounding areas. Of course there are now little fires everywhere burning the rubbish so is all the more smokey. But for once walking down town you don't have to watch out for piles of awful rubbish.

Will be interesting to see how long it lasts...suspect in a week you may not even be able to remember the day Honiara was clean...but it was fun and great to see so many people getting involved and caring for the city

4 Wheel Drive Fun

The beaches are off limits at the moment due to serious stingers (larvae of jelly fish) so today we went off exploring to find the Lunga River. Not convinced rivers are necesarily any safer as crocodiles live in many but apparently no one has seen one at this spot for a while!! (A 12 foot croc was shot by the police in the last couple of weeks in the next creek over but hey when you're hot and the water is cold!!!!!)

Was a serious 4 wheel drive adventure to get there. What was once a tarsealed road is now totally destroyed and is very rugged track. Got stuck a good few times and took some careful negotiating to get through. Tried to get some good photos but was so hot and muggy in the bush that the camera kept fogging up. All great fun.

Went with our friends Steve and Christa. Their son Noah and Tobias and great little mates.

Boyz Adventure in Brisbane

Tobias and Oscar hang out

Carl and Tobias have just got back from a week in Brisbane. Carl had to see an ENT about a reoccuring ear infection and TO just went for the adventure and to catch up with Bubu and Chapul (my parents). Tobias got to play with his cousin Oscar and also meet his newest cousin Jack. Was good for him to spend some time with grandparents without the distraction of noisy full on sisters.

But don't let anyone tell you men don't like shopping. Carl went crazy (lots of boy things like bits for the car etc and also groceries items that are hugely expensive here!!). A serious denting to the bank account and $200 in excess luggage charges he came home laden with lots of goodies for us all

Dolphins for Sale!!

If you've ever wanted a pet dolphin for the back yard pool the Solomon Islands is the place to come. This is supposedly the only country in the world that is prepared to risk international sanction and outcry by exporting live dolphins.

This week 2 large Emirates planes arrived to transport 28 live dolphins to Dubai. As you can imagine the money involved is significant and for a country with very few exports is all too attractive.

Solomon Islanders don't seem to view dolphins the same way we do. They are extremely plentiful here - I often see dolphins out my window at work playing along the coastline and we've seen them on trips away at the weekend. Dolphin massacres of 100-200 dolphins at a time are a somewhat common and sporting event particularly in Malaita. After a massacre you will often see an abundance of dolphin teeth necklaces for sale at the market - very fashionable items!!!

So while its not likely to be much fun for 28 little dolphins on route to Dubai - those that make the journey are perhaps the lucky ones avoiding massacre for the sake of their teeth!!!!!

Shopping Solomon Style

Anyone who knows me will know that I am somewhat passionate about secondhand shopping.....and Honiara is the place for that. Except for a little bit of synthetic rubbish in the Chinese stores 2nd hand clothes shopping is the only way to go here. They bring in hundreds of bales, cut them open and its a free for all.
If you can bear the temperatures and the competing crowds the stuff you can buy is awesome. Amongst the rubbish you can get fabulous labels for kids and adults. Today Poppy and Millie got into it ploughing through a pile to find the gems - so I think it might become a girls weekly outing!!!

Shopping also takes on the ridiculous at times. Today we found Muslim Barbie merchandise. Yes you can buy a "Barbie in full Burkha" backpack here in the Solomon Islands where 95% of people are church attending Christians. So if you would like one for your "odd and bizzare" collection let me know - they are unlikely to fly out of the shop - but then maybe they will!!!!

On the market front Mango season is in full swing. Gorgeous big juicy mangoes for 60cNZ. Millie scored a free one today - something about being small and cute with straight blondey hair wondering through a busy market!!!!Unfortunately limes are on the decline with the price doubling to 15cNZ each. Still cheap enough for a Lemon Lime and Bitters & for the Gin & Tonic though!!! The G & T is purely medicinal - the quinine keeps the malaria at bay!!

Nothing however softens the blow of having to spend $10NZ on a block of Cadbury!!

Our New Pool

Mum and Dad organised the buying and sending up of this great little pool.
The kids love it and are spending hrs in it. Great way to cool off for the big people too!!!

Induction Weekend

Millie @ the Village Meeting


A Kastom Dance from the Village women



Little "Ken" - who I could have happily stolen (perhaps if I was Madonna!!!)


The girls and their friend Bridget out spotting dolphins!!


We have just come back from a great family RAMSI inductin weekend with others who are reasonably new here. Was a fabulous time of meeting people, learning a whole pile of stuff and a bit of recreation.

The kids favourite activity of course was going out to view the dolphins but I loved visiting a local village and having a "RAMSI outreach" where we get to exchange our news and their thoughts on RAMSI. Was awesome to hear first hand from the grass roots how the work of RAMSI was having a positive impact on the lives of villagers and women etc. Got to meet and chat with some great locals. Ben the old guy in the previous photo was a local chief and although they live remote from Honiara, with no power he is very well informed about issues that effect his country and community. The SI foreign minister has recently delivered a somewhat controversial speech to the UN about RAMSI and Ben knew all about it from listening to BBC World Service. They are a very well informed and politically astute population.

There is a regular RAMSI outreach programme where they move around the country visiting communities and villages talking about the work. I love meeting and hearing the views of the people on the ground so hope to be able join the team from time to time.

RAMSI

A bit about who I work for
RAMSI - Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Island - is a partnership between the Solomon Island government and fifteen contributing nations of the Pacific. RAMSI's mandate is to help Solomon Islands lay the foundation for long term stability, security and prosperity. Initially this meant restoring saftey and security to local communities. Now the focus is on repairing, reforming and improving the machinery of government and economic governance so that services can be delivered and business can prosper. The results so far have been very successful.

RAMSI receives overwhelming support from the people who had a terrible time through the ethnic tensions. The relationship between RAMSI and the current government is at times strained however, mainly due to the ongoing tension between Australia and Solomons foreign relations. Because of the political sensitivities around at present I can't write too much about things but will let you know what's happening on my work front over the next few weeks

If you're keen to know more about RAMSI - they have a great website www.ramsi.org