Research Focus Groups & Interviews

The second research trip by Major Robert to North Malaita, Fataleka and West Kwara’ae in Malaita Province was cancelled due to unrest between two tribes over a killing incident, resulting in road blocks along the planned route of travel. As the situation was escalated by a retaliation killing, the decision was made to conduct the remaining focus groups and interviews in Honiara with representatives from the target language groupslivinginthecapital. The Kwara’ae focus group was conducted at Envoy Alick and Esther’s home in Gilbert Camp, the Fataleka focus group at Adrian and Webster’s home in Green Valley and the

North Malaita focus group (Mbaelelea & Baegu languages)atAuxCapt Wencyand Fostina’s home in Burns Creek. Concurrent political unrest in Malaita within the Provincial Assembly also meant a change of plan for the proposed interviews, resulting in a diverse source of information being obtained from key leaders in the education, political, public service and business sectors. With all focus groups and interviews completed, Major Robert now has the task of collating and analyzing all the insightful information he has gathered and reviewing existing literature already writtenabouthisresearchtopic.

Rauai Home League Sewing Project

During the District Officer’s & Candidates Retreat in November last year, four of the village-based Home Leagues received a hand-cranked sewing machine and starterkitofmaterialandcottontoequip the women in the village to make and sell clothing. The Rauai Fellowship Home League in West Kwara’ae, Malaita were very excited to receive their sewing machine and put it to work during the Christmas holiday period. The older women in the village taught sewing skills to the young girls in the Junior Miss program and, together, they made shirts andskirts,whichtheysoldintheirvillage, making $233 from the materials that wereprovided. TheRauaichurchleaders reported that eleven women directly benefittedfromtheirfirstsewingproject. The money raised will be used to replenish the materials they used and any funds left over will contribute to other Home League activities. The dual benefit of skills development and income generation will empower these women and girls to serve their community and support their families. Major Vanessa will visit Rauai this year with women from the Honiara Corps to teach new skillsandexploreotherprojectideas.

Fouele New Opening Fuel Depot

Another social enterprise established at the end of last year was a fuel depot at Fouele New Opening so the church could provide mixed fuel to OBM (outboard motor) users around Port Adam. The churchleadersawanopportunityforThe Salvation Army to provide lower cost fuel to their community who depend on sea travel to commute between villages, to schoolsandhealthoutposts. Whileother local providers are selling mixed fuel at $150/gallon, The Salvation Army is selling at $120/gallon as a community service and is still making a healthy profit to financially support local mission and ministry initiatives in Fouele village. The church leaders are now working towards using initialprofits to purchase additional drums of fuel to expand their capacity and reach, which in turn will increase their income potential. This simple community-driven social enterprise is a game-changer for this small, but growing congregation. While visiting Fouele during his research trip, Major Robert was excited to witness the impact of this initiative and receive from the leaders a large amount of cash from the profits to replenish their stock of fuel upon his returntoHoniara.