Solomon Islands
Act for Peace in Solomon Islands
“I am a pastor’s wife and felt so inadequate not being able to read and write. I really wanted to help out in the Church Ministry but being illiterate was a great barrier for me. Now for the first time in my life I am able to take Children’s talk and read in Church. These tears that are falling from my eyes are tears of joy, as I thank God for the opportunity to learn to read and write.”
Sarah Rika, South Sea Evangelical Church
Act for Peace’s project partner, The Solomon Islands Christian Association’s (SICA) vision is to promote Christian values and to work towards a just, compassionate, prosperous and equitable
society that improves the quality of life for all Solomon Islanders.
Due to the deep involvement of churches in their communities, SICA has a key role in coordinating member churches to actively participate in community development activities such as:
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Humanitarian, disaster preparedness |
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Education and health development relief work and assistance |
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Women and youth development |
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Ethical leadership and good governance |
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Social justice and welfare services |
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Institutional development and literacy courses
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strengthening and capacity building |
Act for Peace helps SICA provide structured ways of engaging communities in these vital areas and in giving important feedback for improvement to education, health and other authorities.
Act for Peace is also working with the SICA in order to help solve the problems generated by the violence and natural disaster. In order to accomplish this, we are working to educate and train communities to prepare for and deal with natural and man made disasters. By educating citizens on the importance of planning for these issues, they are not only more prepared to deal with the current crisis, but also have the tools and skills that they need to plan for any future conflicts in their region.
Act for Peace and the SICA will advocate for social justice and welfare within the country in order to decrease conflict in the region. We have already seen success in the region through our ‘Training of Trainers’ program, which teaches individuals to be community educators and train others to be teachers and community leaders. Programs such as these give the Solomon Islanders the ability to create a stable foundation from which to rebuild their lives.
“For the first time they realise that communities have the power to demand accountability from education authorities.”
From the students:
“All I want to see is teachers show up at schools and deliver lessons.”
“I’m very happy to know that our views are being taken into account.”
Act for Peace is also involved in a Disaster Risk Reduction project which has been rolled out in Fiji, Tonga, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands. One of the goals of this program is to develop plans for extreme weather events in order to minimise destruction and loss of life, while simultaneously teaching villages how to plan for and find solutions to the issues that they face. When people can learn the process of community problem solving, they can better adjust to risky situations and increase the stability of their situation. By increasing leadership in all sectors of society, including women and youth, communities will be able to deal with structural, economic and social barriers to development and help one another toward success.
This project involves educating and developing vulnerable communities so that they are better equipped to cope with natural disasters. Working with community volunteers, this project aims to encourage village communities to take control of their situation by planning how to respond to a disaster, building on their existing capacities and developing a positive plan for the future that will help save lives. Since each village is uniquely different with different challenges, the project will focus on one village at a time to address individual issues. Field Project Officers will spend up to 10 days in each village during the life of the project (four years).
6,240 individuals will be given this training and 468 villages will benefit from this project. 3,000 school children provided will also be provided with education materials and given training so they can become future advocates for reducing disasters due to intensifying climate patters in the Pacific Islands.
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can improve education for one child
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can teach an individual how to train others to be community educators.
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