Project in the Solomon Islands
A few months ago, the Foundation participated in the Malaita project in the Solomon Islands. A non-profit, solidarity project of development in 2010 in the South Pacific – Oceania.
One of our first actions as a foundation that we participated in to develop two fundamental points of our aid programme: Social development through the acquisition and installation of water tanks for storing rainwater, and education thanks to free courses in basic silkscreen and sarong dyeing to groups of women.
In many parts of Malaita, access to drinking water is complicated and is very restricted, particularly in periods of drought. In some towns, it is necessary to walk about 6km every day carrying buckets to get the drinking water to cover the basic daily needs.
The installation of a water tank that collects rainwater is a substantial improvement in the living conditions of the families that can benefit from its use, both for food and for hygiene.
Installed and Operating: 2011: 3000L water tank in the town of Fote (centre of the island). 2013/2014: 3000L water tank in the town of Sindu (north of the island).
The basic silkscreen and sarong dyeing courses are an initiative by Wally Faleka (teacher, local artist and member of the project) and they are aimed at women from the different island communities that request the course. They are carried out in the town of the community that has requested them and they last for 2 to 4 days. In the courses, the women learn silkscreen and dyeing techniques that they can use in the future to sell their own designs in the market in the island capital.
This way, they can earn money to cover the basis needs of their families and become motivated enough to organise themselves to start up other initiatives. Furthermore, each group receives an initial donation of sufficient paint and material to continue the activity once the course has finished. We also offered sunglasses to help the people to tackle the burning sun on the island in the towns of Er er suli , Fo’ondo and One One.
The Malaita Project is financed only through donations and volunteer aid, and is open to any type of contribution that is destined fully to the objectives marked for each edition. We are very happy with the results obtained and we hope to continue helping in this pleasant, necessary task.