Isabel is one of the 9 provinces in Solomon Islands with approximate population of 20,000. During my 5-day stay in Buala, capital of the province, I had a chance to see the real situation in the Solomons. It was a shocking, but interesting and inspiring experience for me.
I heard that flight schedule between the provinces are not reliable, but we took off Honiara airport on time. The flight was about 40-min long. Although I was used to flying with a small airplane, I was very surprised when we were approaching to the airport in Isabel. Or, I wasn't sure if it should be called "airport". It was a just a field (not paved) on a small island, with a run-down remain of a building, which I heard is a "terminal". In any case, we arrived safely and then we were asked to jump in one of the boats to get to Buala. There was no wharf, so that we had to step in the water.
The Mothers' Union Guesthouse had 7 or 8 rooms, one shared bathroom and one kitchen. Each room has 2 single beds and nothing else. I was lucky to borrow a mosquito net which was supposed to help me to prevent Malaria. Although the facility was basic, we were happy to have electricity. In other parts of the province, there usually is no electricity. I especially liked their garden which had lots of flowers.
During the weekend, I got a chance to visit Guguha Community High School and Guguha Clinic, which is about 15-min boat ride from Buala. (The province doesn't have roads outside of Buala and boat is the major way of transportation.) After getting off the boat, we walked through the pine tree plantation for about 20 min. The school building looked kind of nice, although of course there were no air conditioners nor fans. I was shocked to see the teachers' room. There was no modern equipment such as a photo-copy machine and computer, but just some desks and chairs. They had several stuck of papers, which were probably used as textbooks, but they all looked quite old. I was also shocked to see a dormitory. In a small leaf house, there lived about 40 high-school girls, lying on the double-story beds. I have seen the similar dormitories in Viet Nam, but it was still shocking. Principal of the school told me that they haven't received any funding from the provincial government for the past 5 years.
The situation of Guguha Clinic was even more shocking. The building was almost collapsing and they have no modern equipments. I only saw a couple of old beds, an old scale and some empty bottles of medicine. A registered-nurse who works there (there is no doctor in Isabel) told me that they don't even have a water-supply system. On the door of the clinic, there was a big sign saying "PLEASE BRING FOOD OR MONEY WHENEVER YOU COME TO THE CLINIC". Apparently, nobody is willing to pay for the services they receive there. Later, I heard from the Ministry of Health that people in villages usually think the health issue should be taken care of by the government, which may be the reason why people don't contribute to the clinic.
OK, it all sounds so depressing, but I was actually very happy to be there because people in Isabel were so sincere and friendly. Also, people I talked to were so committed to the future of the province. Even when they talked about the miserable situation they are facing, they still have a positive attitude. Despite the difficult conditions in the province, I could feel a positive air among people, which inspired me a lot. I really hope to visit there again and see how they make Isabel a better place.
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