A land of contrasts

When we first arrived in the Solomons I commented to Geoff on how much smoke there was around. The problem is that there is little or no rubbish collection here, so everyone burns their rubbish. Every time we drive anywhere, there are always fires smoldering on the sides of the road. The rubbish piles and smoldering fires that line the main road are in stark contrast to the beautiful coastline and gorgeous flowering trees. It seems that the Solomons is a place of contrasts.

After a busy weekend, there was plenty of washing to get done this morning. I surveyed the sky to try and guess if it would rain or not - not an easy thing to do because it always looks and feels as if it will rain! I decided to risk it, and hung two loads on the line, but within minutes the whole line was covered in smoke. The rubbish pit on the base had been lit, and was busy smoldering and smoking away! I told myself that smokey, clean clothes were better than sweaty, dirty clothes!

The base rubbish pit. At least this has been dug into the ground. Most of the rubbish we see around Honiara is just piled up on the side of the road.

Speaking of contrasts, the rubbish pit is right next to this beautiful creek! It is so picturesque, with gorgeous water lilies flowering and wild ducks swimming around.

Music, markets and munchies

It was another busy weekend - with three musical practises, trips to the market, choreography planning, baking, visiting potential venues for the musical (Machi has been doing all the leg-work for that, and we think we've found a good one) and church.

Yesterday Geoff had two helpers at the markets - Millie and Sophie.


The thought of being out of the house by 8 am on Saturday doesn't really thrill me, but thankfully Geoff is willing to go! He likes to beat the heat and crowds by heading out early. Geoff often will stop in at the markets after dropping the girls at school, and has found some hard-to-find items like rockmelon, honey-dew melon, and best of all, passionfruit. (Machi was amazed he found passionfruit - she's only seen it four times in ten years!) The girls are far more comfortable in the markets now than at first, and the possibility of a can of drink or an icecream is very appealing to them!

Sophie wanted to pay for the casava chips (everyone's favourite!) They are only available at the markets on the weekends, so Geoff always brings home a couple of packets. You can see little pieces of cardboard with the prices written on them - $10 for a bunch of bok choy. Everything is sold in a bunch, or little bundle.

We eat plenty of fruit here - a bunch of bananas can be as cheap as $1 or $2 (Solomon), and they are great for freezing and making banana smoothies, or banana cake, like we had today.

The girls love to crunch on star fruit (called 5 corner over here), and eat them just like an apple.

We saw dolphins at church today! 'Staka dolfin' as all the kids were saying. We had to do our best not to be distracted by them as the service started! Church was great again - it is quite a long service, but no one seems in a hurry - Solomon Time, as they say over here.

Arriving and leaving church in the back of a truck!
The truck is full by the time we pick up people along the way.

Every Sunday after church we've been having a lovely morning tea 'up top' - at Kevin and Machi's place. There are always some visitors there, and it is really enjoyable to chat and laugh together over an ice coffee and whatever food Machi and I have cooked. Geoff and I can relax for half an hour or so before the musical practise begins. It is nice having people over on a Sunday, and maybe we can do that more often when we get home.

We have another busy week ahead of us, with ministry at the hospital school, the jail, working with the band and more musical practises on the weekend. The girls are going well at school, although the early morning starts and very hot days mean they are really tired. We are considering letting them have a break when Mum and Dad arrive (which is in two weeks). We'll just go with the flow and see what happens.

Technology is a wonderful thing - the fact that I can sit here each night, sharing our experiences, and friends and family can read them immediately - it's great. I would find it so much harder living here for three months if there was no email or internet access. But it only goes to show how well off we are - many of the youth group members who are in the musical have no electricity in their homes, let alone internet access! Yet as we get to know them, we can see they are 'rich' in so many other ways ...

Half way

Tomorrow is exactly half way through our 11 week stay and a good opportunity for some personal reflections:

Are things what I thought they would be like?
Hard to say really, I'm not sure what I thought things would be like. Geoff had certainly talked a lot about the Solomons, but its hard to visualise until you get here. I wasn't prepared for how dirty Honiara is - so much dust and rubbish everywhere, and so many old, run-down buildings.

Am I glad we came?
Definitely! This has been a wonderful time for our family. I certainly am pleased we are here!

Do I want to go home sooner?
Sometimes when I look up and see a plane flying overhead, I ask myself if I would like to be flying home on that plane. So far I have always said no! I think I prepared myself for an 11 week stay, so it hasn't been a problem. I think the problem will be having to say goodbye ...

Has it been worth it?
Yes. Without a doubt!

What have been some of the best things about coming?
Seeing the girls experience a completely different way of living.
Meeting some of the beautiful people who live here.
Participating in the most beautiful praise and worship times.

What has been the hardest?
Knowing that there are so many needy people, and not being able to help them.

What has God been teaching me?
That God has His precious people all over the world,
That I can be an encouragement to others when I serve them with the love of Jesus in my heart.
That God will equip and sustain me for whatever task He asks me to do.
That it is a wonderful thing to praise our God in song (well, I already knew that, but I'm enjoying it so much over here!)

What would I do differently to prepare for this visit? (Thanks Lauren for the question!)
I would bring over more children's books, especially early readers. There is just not enough books available for the children to help them learn to read.
I would bring more sunglasses - we've already broken or lost a few pairs, and it is hard on the back of the truck without them (mind you, none of the locals wear them for that reason!)
I would bring one tube of Banana Boat Ultra suncream per month. We use it for the girls faces because it lasts for four hours, but you can't buy anything like that over here. We will run out soon, but thankfully Mum is bringing us over another tube!

Bri, Lovelyn, Felicity and Cynthia making a cubby house this afternoon!

We take the good with the bad

Geoff had his first day at the prison today. He's doing a morning and afternoon session every Wednesday, teaching a group of 20 men how to read and understand music. After a stack of paperwork to fill in, he had an orientation day last week - cameras and mobile phones are strictly forbidden, so no photos just yet! Geoff was quite impressed with the level of enthusiasm, ability and commitment coming from the men. He'll be there for 5 more weeks.

In order for Geoff to go to the prison twice today, I had to do all the running around in the car that Geoff normally does. Thankfully I had the Pajero - I still haven't driven the two other utes/small trucks yet - that will be coming soon no doubt! Today I drove all over Honiara - the prison is on the other side of town and the girls' school is up the mountain.

After dropping Geoff at the prison for his second session at 1:30pm, I picked up the girls from school at 2pm, then took them to Frangapini Ice for a delicious icecream (only $5 each - approx. 85c AU). Then we went to the only playground in town to wait for Geoff. It was across the road from the prison and police station, and right next to the ocean. It looked nice, and the girls raced out from the car to have a play, but it was fairly disappointing. There was rubbish everywhere, all over the coastline, and people loitering around who made me feel slightly uncomfortable. (I am finding that things are not as easy when I'm on my own here. Last week, on my first trip to the markets by myself, I was proposed to TWICE. Not something I really enjoyed!) A couple of times Brianna ran over to me because someone was behaving in a way that scared her. We had to wait for Geoff for over an hour, and that was too long. I was ready to go after 15 minutes! Between the two drunk men sleeping on top of some of the play equipment and the unsavoury deposits left around, it wasn't the enjoyable experience we'd hoped for. Ah, we live and learn - next week I'll take the kids back to the SWIM base before picking Geoff up!

Tonight was an enjoyable experience though. We had a lovely farewell dinner for Grace, who has been working here for the past two years as the administrator. She heads back to NZ on Friday. Once again, I saw the impact people have on each other, and how hard it is for those who are always left behind.

We had our usual Wednesday night Base Fellowship, and instead of singing, sermon and prayer, we had singing and a DVD. Word got out that we were watching a movie, because the place was packed! I loved watching all the kids as they were absorbed in the movie (the first episode of Little House On The Prairie). We finished the night singing 'I Love You With The Love Of The Lord', shaking everyone's hands as we sang it. It isn't hard to love these kids, that's for sure!

Up, up and away

We said farewell to Aunty Gery today. We've loved spending three weeks with her here in the Solomons, and look forward to catching up with her again when we get home. It gave us a taste of what it is like for Kevin and Machi, and all the staff here, who are forever having to say goodbye to the teams of people that come and go through the SWIM base.

We picked up the girls from school this afternoon and raced to the airport to hopefully wave to Aunty Gery as she got on the plane, but we needn't have rushed - the plane hadn't even landed yet! After about an hour, the plane arrived, then we went up onto the roof to watch Aunty Gery hop on the plane. It was fun to be so close to all the action - we could even see Aunty Gery waving to us from her seat in the plane!

We are very excited about our next trip to the airport, because we'll be picking up my Mum and Dad, who are coming for a two week visit. The girls have been counting down the weeks since we arrived! Only three weeks to go now!

After a long day, Kevin decided a trip to the local beach was in order, so the kids all piled in, (about 15 of them) and off we went. It was the roughest I'd seen it, but that didn't stop the kids from jumping out of the truck and running straight into the surf. It is such a different culture over here -I was the only parent of any of the kids, but the older siblings did a great job of looking after the little ones.

Singing and dancing

It's the end of a busy weekend, so just a quick post before I go to bed!

We've had three musical practises this weekend, and we've been teaching the choreography. Before I could teach it though, I had to come up with the choreography - and that's no easy thing for me (movement and dancing isn't really my forte, or Geoff's!) But with a bit of help from Brianna and Florrie, Geoff and I came up with enough to keep us busy for the weekend, so I was happy with that. What surprised me was how much the youth enjoyed the choreography - it has added a real element of fun, and everyone is really getting into it (stacks of laughing and cheering at the end of each song!) We were supposed to have only one practise next weekend, but they have cancelled their other things, and we're having three practises instead. It is hard to believe we have only been working at this for three weeks - I'm really impressed with how much everyone has accomplished, and am hopeful we will get it all together before we leave!

Learning the steps to 'Get Real'

The photo doesn't really show the sweat dripping off me, but the t.shirt gives you some kind of indication!

The band! Geoff has been practising with them two extra nights each week, and they are starting to sound really tight on the songs they know. Not sure if we'll have time to learn all the songs though. No one reads music - they are essentially learning it all off by heart with lots of new concepts.

We had the computer set up for the musical, and when we were finished, the kids all came in to look at the photos scrolling through on the screen (they were fascinated and stayed there for well over half an hour!)

We decided to put a movie on for everyone to watch, and Annie was a big hit! It went too late though, so we'll put the rest on tomorrow afternoon!

Geckos galore!

I admit to knowing very little about geckos before arriving in the Solomons. Since then, and it has only been one month, my learning curve has been a steep one! And it's not just me - all of us are really getting 'hands on' lessons about geckos, literally!

When we first arrived, the girls were a little apprehensive about seeing geckos on the walls inside our house each night. But soon they were used to them, and even named a few recognisable ones - Tiny: the cute, almost clear baby gecko; Cream: the large, light coloured gecko; and Ginger: the VERY large, dark coloured gecko.

Cream and Ginger seem to have the run of the house, and can be heard having territorial hissing fights, among other things. Geoff has now declared war on the large geckos, after countless sleep disturbances, and can now be seen stalking them with a broom or mop each night! Last night he killed a largish one, but it wasn't Ginger - the one we really want to get. Ginger is way too clever - he seems to know we are after him, so does just enough to make sure we can't get him. As Geoff says, "The war is on!"

Over the last few weeks, the kids have been finding gecko eggs under the house. Yesterday, their curiosity got the better of them, and they cracked one of the eggs open. They came racing inside to show me the baby gecko - not fully formed yet. Pretty interesting stuff, although I wasn't thrilled when Elora came in later on, with the gecko embryo (or whatever it's called) in her hand. "Look Mummy, it's stuck to my hand!", she said as she was waving it around everywhere. Yuk! And just before dinner too!

This morning the kids were thrilled to discover one of the eggs had hatched. They cracked a second one, and out crawled a very cute little baby gecko. Everyone wanted to have a hold, so I'm not sure how well they'll survive, but this is learning at its best!

Sophie does her best to catch them, but they are so fast, so it's hard work. A few weeks ago we caught one on the floor in the house, which Sophie immediately wanted to hold. I grabbed my camera and snapped away as the gecko ran up her arm, right up to her shoulder. Unfortunately I accidently deleted the photos - very annoying!

I like watching the silhouetted geckos crawling on the flyscreens at night, attracted there by the large amount of moths and bugs congregating near the lights. As long as they are not too big, they're very cute and they do a good job of keeping the bugs under control.

The eggs are the size of a large pea.

The 'embryo'

Everyone wanted a look in!

Newly hatched baby geckos

Sophie caught this little one.

I like the light coloured ones the best.

Ginger is similar to this one, only much bigger! Geoff insists his days are numbered!

Playing, playing, playing ...

Yesterday was a full day of playing for the girls.

Brianna showed some of the girls how to weave using leaves from a banana tree that fell over the other day. I was surprised that no one else knew how to weave.


Millie and Sophie spent ages under the transit house with Felicity, playing in the dirt.

Ah, the girls clothes are now covered in stains! I'm not sure what is in the dirt, but their clothes come out of the wash with small, very dark (oil-like) stains on them that no amount of scrubbing will remove.

Aunty Gery told a story to some of the kids using a paper plane. She talked about the different places you could get to in an aeroplane, then asked them what were some of the places a plane could never get to. She said if you wanted to get to heaven, a plane could never get you there, then she tore off the wings, opened up the paper and revealed a cross. Jesus is the only way to heaven! Aunty Gery taught all the kids how to make the plane, then the cross. Brianna was very impressed, and demonstrated to Geoff and I later on how it all worked.

Aunty Gery is the origami expert! Last week she taught our girls how to make houses and pianos, which they loved!

Elora spent the day wandering around the base playing with different kids. A few times I went looking for her, just to know where she was, and she would wave at me to let me know she was fine, and be off again!

Elora popped in to show us a flower she picked! Beautiful as it was, I made sure she knew not to pick any more without asking!

At about 3pm she came home crying, having scraped her knee on something under someone's house. I put her in the shower and made a tiny bath for her, gave her a few LPS to play with and let her have a quiet play. Then I patched up all her sores, put her in clean clothes and stuck a DVD on for her to watch on the computer! Doesn't happen all that often, but it's great to pull out the DVD card when needed!

After dinner we had our usual Base Fellowship, but this time I took Sophie and Elora home after the singing. The night doesn't finish till about 8:30pm, and it is just too late for them, considering we have to get up by 6:30am at the latest. Millie and Bri cope better with less sleep, so they stayed with Geoff.

Frogs and things

The cane toads are not as big as the ones I've seen in QLD, but just as ugly. They come in several colours, ranging from mustard yellow, creamy beige, to muddy brown.

As I write this, it is steadily raining, and all the cane toads have come out to play. There are way too many cane toads - disgusting, ugly pests that were introduced to this country, and just like in Australia, have taken over. A few weeks ago we had a huge down pour that made little rivers all over the SWIM base. We stood on our little verandah out the back of our house and watched as cane toads appeared from everywhere and started swimming in the flooded sections. Amelia and Sophie counted over 100. When it isn't raining, they only come out at night time, which makes walking anywhere very annoying. The locals just step on them, but I'm not quite there yet - I don't like the thought of the squelching, slippery feeling underneath my thongs!

But yesterday I was delighted when a group of kids (mine included) came running up to our house to show us a red-eyed tree frog they had found. It was only little, and not the same brilliant green that we have, but still very cute. Lovelyn found it on her shorts when they were playing in the bushes.

You can't see it very well in the photo, but underneath the frog is all light green.

Sophie was desperate to have a hold, and she did, but it jumped from her hand right onto her neck and gave her a bit of a shock! Later on she brought it inside on a stick to show me the 'home' they had made for it!

Geoff and I were commenting yesterday at how much fun our girls are having. They have so much more freedom here - they wander around all over the base after school, playing all sorts of games with the local kids. They are interacting with so many people, and learning so many new things. By the end of the day the girls are absolutely filthy (especially if they've been playing under the house), and they are always exhausted. Not surprisingly, they have been sleeping pretty well at night!


Geoff has just arrived back home from the school drop off with all the girls! School was cancelled today because of all the rain. Our girls are pretty pleased with the prospect of a full day to play around here!

Psalm 104:24

These are today's finds.

The water lillies are so spectacular - the photos don't do them justice. They grow in the creek just behind the SWIM base, opening each day to reveal a glorious centre of rich yellow contrasting with the white petals, and both highlighted with purple tips.



Sophie is the animal lover in the family! She is always coming in with something she's found. Yesterday she caught a baby gecko, today she found this beautiful butterfly. It was alive, but couldn't fly. Sophie wanted to keep it inside, but I disagreed. It stayed inside long enough for me to capture the moment though!



PS 104:24 How many are your works, O LORD!
In wisdom you made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.

A night off

Andrew (on the left) and Michael (on the right) are both burnt from their latest fishing trip!

We just got home from a lovely night out at the local Chinese Restaurant. It seems to be the custom here to go out for chinese when it is someone's last night here. Andrew (my second cousin) has been here for the last two weeks, staying out with Michael and Salome at Henderson. He's been very busy (being a qualified brick layer), helping to make a significant start on the shower and toilet block for the Disability Centre. It's hard work in the heat and sun, and everyone was very thankful for Andrew's contribution.

Florrie and the girls.

So we asked Florrie and Leonia, who live at SWIM if they could look after our girls, (much to our girls delight), and we had the night off! When we came home the kitchen was done, Sophie, Millie and Elora were alseep, and Brianna and Lovelyn were watching the end of a DVD on our computer. Now that's a real night off and a special treat!

A day of rest

Kukum Christian Church. It's pretty hot, sitting in a tin shed, but occasionally you get a nice sea breeze. If you look closely you can see the ocean just across the road. Quite distracting if the dolphins are playing nearby!

I thoroughly enjoyed church again today, and am pleased to be understanding nearly everything in Pigin - I understood the sermon, including the three very funny examples the preacher used. It is nice to be able to laugh along with everyone else, without needing an interpretation first! Speaking Pigin is another thing altogether, and I certainly haven't mastered that one, but that's OK. These things take time! In Honiara most people can understand English, so I generally speak in English, and others respond in Pigin, and we get along just fine!

I've noticed the kids that the girls play with around the base are speaking more and more English as they learn from our girls. It's not a bad thing, because they all have to learn English at school, and their final Year 6 exams are all in English, so I guess it all helps. It is at school that our girls are learning quite a bit of Pigin. It's all part of the experience.

Brianna had quite a spring in her step on Friday! We came home from school to find a parcel on our table, addressed to Brianna. She was delighted to receive a large bundle of letters from her class at SHCS. Everyone had written to her, letting her know what they had done in the holidays and asking her several questions each. (Thanks to Mrs Abbey!) Brianna spent the afternoon happily reading through all the letters and was very pleased to catch up with friends from home. She has spent the weekend typing a reply email, answering everyone's questions and letting them all know about how life is going in the Solomons. It was sent off tonight, along with a few photos, for her class to receive tomorrow - isn't email great! So fast.

We enjoyed another swim at Honiara Hotel this afternoon, (Machi was given some free pool passes). The kids had a ball of course, and we all were thankful for a nice cool off and for a lovely place to sit and relax. When we arrived, there was a small parrot on the ground, near the entrance to the hotel. It's leg looked broken, so Salome picked it up. She thought she would take it home and look after it while it healed. I whipped out my camera and took a couple of photos, fascinated that she could just pick up a wild bird so easily. Machi gave the bird some water, and then it surprised us all by flying off! So obviously it's leg wasn't broken - maybe it was just stunned or something. Machi looked it up in her bird book later on and found out it was a Rainbow Lorikeet, (different to the ones I've seen in Australia.)


On the way home Millie and Elora wanted to have a go standing up with Geoff in the back of the truck. Geoff hardly ever sits down in the back because he isn't flexible enough - he prefers to stand. The girls are not allowed to stand unless Geoff is with them, and that isn't very often because Geoff is nearly always driving! So today they made the most of it!

You can't even see Elora - she's right in-front of Geoff. She has to stand on the little lip to be able to see over the top of the truck.

Geoff held the camera out for a front-on view! I think it is going to be difficult to get used to the five point harness seat belt system when we get home!

Palm trees

Sophie took the opportunity to spend some time with her two aunties today - Machi and Gery (both Geoff's aunties actually), as they went to pick up some palm tree husks for the pineapple plantation here at the base. Soph loves helping out, and has been spending lots of time at Machi's place after school in the afternoons, helping collect the eggs, and just chatting with Machi, Aunty Gery, or whoever is around. She loves having one on one time, and over an hour each way in the truck with TWO aunties, plus being allowed to take the digital camera was something she just couldn't pass up!

They took the big blue truck to fill it up with husks to use as mulch for the pineapples.

We drove through one of many palm tree plantations earlier in the week on our way to Bemuta Village.

From what I understand, they did A LOT of standing around and waiting for their truck to be able to be filled. Flies were everywhere, and the only positive thing was that it was overcast today, so they didn't fry in the hot sun. While they were waiting, a lady offered to take them on a tour of the factory - something that would never be done in OZ without much paperwork I'm sure! The factory runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and produces large amounts of palm oil.

I was surprised to see how bright and colourful the palm seeds are.

The empty husks look just like echindas!

Sophie came back this afternoon tired and hot from the trip, but quite pleased with herself with all the photos she took (nearly 100!)

While Sophie was gone, Geoff and I continued with more musical practise with the youth group, and the other girls played under the house with the kids from the base (as they do nearly every day). We had quite a heavy down pour this afternoon, and everyone is pleased because the water tanks are just about full.

We enjoyed a delicious dinner tonight of home made hamburgers. The fresh bread shop in Honiara provides lovely fresh bread every day, but it is always a bit of a lottery as to what you will be able to buy. It was a small miracle to discover hamburger buns there today, having never seen them before! (We were planning on having our hamburgers on just normal bread!)

Tomorrow is Sunday, and we are looking forward to church in the morning, followed by a quiet afternoon (no musical practise). It is good to look forward to a bit of a break in this hot and tiring weather (although today hasn't been too bad at all, and the other night I found myself getting a little bit cool with just the sheet on - first time though!)

I'm thinking of everyone back home, and hoping all is well.

Little lives, big impact

It is the people I meet and get to know who have the most impact on me in the Solomon's.

Margaret

Yesterday I said goodbye to a young girl I had met at the hospital school only a few weeks ago. Margaret is about 10 years old, (although she looks much younger) and has been at the hospital for over 18 months. From what I understand, she broke her leg and needed it operated on. Because her family comes from a remote village on the island of Malata, they all travelled to the hospital for her operation. They stayed for quite a while, waiting for her leg to heal, but a visiting surgeon from Australia discovered that the first operation had not been done properly. So Margaret had another operation to fix her broken leg. Eighteen months in a hospital seems like an awfully long time, but it gave Margaret the chance to attend school for the first time. She is a bright child, with a beautiful smile, but I'm sad to say she will not be going to school when she gets home. The walk to school is too long for her.

So I went into the hospital yesterday with my camera and took some photos of Margaret with her teachers. Then Geoff and I found a place to get the photos developed and we went straight back and gave them to Margaret. She was very pleased to have some pictures to help her remember her teachers. I wished I could do so much more for her than just a few photos - I wanted to send her home with books and learning materials, but resources are so scare, it simply wasn't possible.

Ivan

Ivan lives next door to the SWIM base. He has albinism (his skin has no pigmentation), and he suffers terribly from sunburn. Geoff says whenever teams from Australia leave to go back home, they always give their left over suncream to Ivan. He has been given hats and sunglasses, but he doesn't wear them very often. No one else does, and I guess he doesn't want to be any more different than he already is.

Ivan is clinically blind, (although you would never know it when you see him running around with the other boys playing soccer), and the local school has simply refused to let him go there. So Ivan has never been to school yet. Machi is trying to work something out for Ivan at another school.

Lucy

Lucy is Ivan's sister. I have been treating her eyes for conjunctivitis, and have grown very fond of her. She is so sweet. Each week I give her a book to take home and read, then she brings it back (on base fellowship night) and we swap it for another one. I wish I had hundreds of books to give out to everyone!