6th May, 2006

DAVID ADAMS

The Solomon Islands recently made headlines around the world when hundreds of people went on a destructive rampage through the capital of Honiara in a two-day orgy of burning and looting in mid-April.

A HEALTHY FUTURE? Children in the village of 'Fera Kabi Kabi' which translates to 'The Digging Village', built three years ago after years of violence kept its residents on the run. PICTURE: Kaylea Fearn   “Most of the kids I spoke to didn’t even know what a doctor was - they’d never seen a doctor," says Kaylea Fearn.

What generally doesn’t make headlines is the ongoing struggle residents of the South Pacific island nation - made up of about 1,000 islands - have against diseases like malaria as well as in getting access to basic essentials like fresh water.

Now comes a new bid to help turn the struggle around with a campaign to raise awareness about health issues and increase practical assistance to the country of more than 500,000 people.

Simply Sharing Week, a joint initiative of Christian World Service - an arm of the National Council of Churches in Australia, and the Catholic aid agency Caritas Australia, is being from the 14th to 21st May. Held annually, the week takes on a different issue within a different country. Last year, it focused on human trafficking in Nepal and Thailand. This year it’s looking at health in the Solomon Islands.

Kaylea Fearn, Simply Sharing Week co-ordinator, says that main aim of the week is about raising awareness about the issue “and understanding how Australians, by living a bit more simply, particularly for that week, can make a difference”.

“The slogan is ‘Live simply so others may simply live’ and so it educating about what can we do here in Australia to make life better overseas,” she says.

The Solomon Islands is the ranked below all but one nation in the Oceania region when compared against the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals (which address issues such as poverty, education, health and environmental sustainability). Fearn, who went to the Solomon Islands on a fact-finding mission in November last year, says that many people still suffer from limited access to fresh water and live in unsanitary conditions.

“Malaria is a huge issue,” she adds. “Nearly everybody I met when I was over there late last year had been struck down by malaria at some stage in their life, particularly when I was in the villages - pretty much everybody there had had malaria.”

Fearn says the Solomon Islands still lacks an “official healthcare system for the everyday person in the villages”.

“Most of the kids I spoke to didn’t even know what a doctor was - they’d never seen a doctor. They have a community health worker that may be a 40 or 50 minute walk (away) that they could see if they were really bad, but other than that there’s not a lot in terms of healthcare.”

Fearn, who also spent time visiting local churches which are partnering in the Simply Sharing Week initiative during her visit to the Solomons, says she was surprised by the rioting which took place in Honiara last month.

“The feeling when I was there was positive - there were a lot of people from a lot of different organisations making this a fair election - and there were some wonderful programs that were taking place at the time when I was there to send young people our into the villages to teach local people what it is to vote responsibly and not to take bribes and that sort of thing and that program was going really well. Everybody was really excited about having the opportunity to have an election because it had been so long...it was heartbreaking to see the riots breaking out on the news.”

Alistair Gee, director of Christian World Service, says the violence seen in Honiara last month showed that support for Solomon Islanders was now needed more than ever.

“Solomon Islanders are frustrated by the lack of health, education and other essential services available to them,” he says. “Without healthy and happy people, it is difficult for the community to feel empowered enough to realise their potential.”

“Simply Sharing health programs in the Solomon Islands have a focus on rehabilitation.  Whilst people are still disturbed, they will continue to launch into violent behaviour.  By offering the people the opportunity for healing, we can be instrumental in bringing peace in the region.”

Gee says that while RAMSI has an important role in restoring order, “the church community needs to follow this up by providing basic health education services, rehabilitation and trauma counselling as well as supporting the long term projects, which will facilitate peaceful solutions to conflict.”

Fearn agrees that the recent violence underlined the importance of the Simply Sharing Week initiative going ahead.

“I think this shows us here in Australia that things are bad and things do need improvement,” she says. “I think Australians , whenever they see anything like this on the telly, they want to say ‘What can I do, how can I be of help’. Particularly Christians are coming to me and saying that now and I can say, ‘Well, politics aside, we have this really special opportunity now to raise awareness about our Pacific island neighbours and do something good for them?’.”

While fundraising is important, Fearn says that so too is prayer support and just showing you care.

“Just being in solidarity with people there, taking to them about the situation, it can make a huge difference”.

• Resources for churches and practical tips on how you can help are available on the Simply Sharing Week website at www.simplysharingweek.org.au.