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Rebuilding in the Solomons 
World Vision New Zealand’s development writer Catherine Healy recently went to the Solomon Islands, where a very special shelter project is beginning.Just after 7:30am on the morning of Monday, April 2, 2007, an earthquake measuring 8.1 struck 45 km off the coast of Ghizo Island, in the Western Province of the Solomon Islands. Fifteen minutes later, a localised tsunami destroyed more than 500 houses on coastal land around Western Province. Fifty-two people were killed and thousands left homeless. New Zealander Stephen Harries is World Vision’s Country Programme Manager in the Solomon Islands. Normally based in Honiara, Stephen spent a month in Gizo township after the disaster, coordinating World Vision’s emergency response from there. One year later, the rebuilding work is ongoing. World Vision is running a shelter project in Western Province, which is receiving $1.5 million in NZAID funding over two years. The project also received almost $140,000 in donations in response to an appeal to World Vision New Zealand supporters in April 2007. NZAID and World Vision are working together to supply the building materials people can’t get locally and equipment such as chainsaws and fuel as well as any necessary training. “This project is quite special in terms of the level of community involvement. We have asked each community to tell us what materials they already have and what materials they still need to build housing appropriate to the areas they live in,” says Stephen. “It’s not about World Vision building houses for people. Solomon Islanders have the skills to build the houses they need. We just facilitate the process, make sure they’ve got the materials and provide training in how to brace their houses against future earthquakes.” Photo caption: In Mondo, a community on the island of Ranongga that suffered severe landslides as a result of the earthquake, World Vision has worked in conjunction with Emergency Architects to design a house that’s appropriate for this setting and will withstand future earthquake activity. |
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