Schools, Clinics and Churches in the Solomons
In the Solomons (much like Vanuatu), the whole place is 99% Christian. Most of the time, a single village is just one religion with 99% of the villagers belonging. In the Solomons, there are United Church, Church of Melanesia (Anglican), Catholic, Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) and a few smaller religions. We have been to villages of all these denominations (plus a couple more)! We have been to a small number of villages which are multi-faith. Usually, such villages have a "line" down the middle with (for example) one part being SDA and the other part United. Despite the separation of living space, the people still freely mix except for Church services (which will sometimes be daily). Many villages have a daily church service with wonderful singing and then a bigger celebration on Sunday (or Saturday for SDA). Many times we have enjoyed beautiful singing wafting across the water in the evenings. Most schools here are run by the Government, though they are trying to get the churches to take them back (they were originally started by the churches). As the government is doing this to try and save money, the plan is unlikely to be acceptable to the churches. Often, children walk or paddle an hour and a half to and from Primary School. Sometimes, they are billetted by families as the distances are too great. We have often been in villages where school is abandoned for a week because (a) the teacher is very sick or (b) high seas make travel dangerous or (c) high winds mean there is a high risk of being injured by falling coconuts. High school is beyond the financial capability of many families. Because there are fewer High Schools, the children invariably board. We have worked out that a subsistance family needs to sell thousands of pineapples or banana bunches a year to support a child at school. When they finish school, the prospects of a job are remote. Despite this, the people crave a good education for the children and sacrifice the little they have to make it happen. There has been a big improvement in clinics in the 10yrs we have been coming here. The improvement is due to more aid money (much of it from AUSAID with some from Japan). Now that RAMSI (The Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon ISlands) has stabilised the government somewhat, medicines are a little more available. Many clinics have been built out of bush materials by villagers. Many villagers help their clinics with free labour and other donations. Despite the clinics, many people die young. For instance, only a few very fortunate people get airlifted or taken by canoe to a hospital for serious illness or disease. Just last week, we were at a clinic where a mother with Malaria delivered a baby which also was prem. and had malaria. The clinic had requested small catheter needles (I think that's the right word) but they never arrived. So the poor staff had to try and get a drip into the baby using a full size needle. The baby died on the fourth da y. The previous week, a woman died of cerebral malaria (malaria is bad in a number of parts of the Solomons). After this educational BLOG, we'll return to our travels through the Western Province. The CREW
