Women Supporting Women in Post-Floods Solomon Islands

Women Friendly Spaces are providing hundreds of women privacy and support as they recover from severe flooding that swept through Guadalcanal Plains, Solomon Islands in April. For many women, the spaces provide them with the opportunity to share experiences and skills and form new friendships.   Catherine Vuria, 21, says that the Women Friendly Space in Binu community brings women of all ages together and provides young women the opportunity to learn from their elders.

“The Women Friendly Space is helping young girls learn about their culture and customs.  The older women have been teaching kastom (traditional) dances,” she says.  “And we all laugh and have fun together. We had a spoon race; young verses old and the older women won!”

Some 60 women from Binu community participate in activities at the Women Friendly Space. The women formed a working committee to plan activities such as cooking lessons, health awareness talks, sports, dancing and weaving.  The women also hope to have life-skills training such as sewing machine repair, cloth dying and financial literacy training. 

Madlyn Gere, 32, says that before the Women Friendly Space, women from Suaghi community never had the opportunity to come together.

“Before this, women never came together. Maybe we got together at church but we never had an opportunity to spend time with each other, to learn from each other,” she says.  “It’s really good to have this space, now we do a lot of activities together.”

More than 1,200 women are benefitting from World Vision’s Women Friendly Spaces in 10 communities in Guadalcanal Plains.  Child Friendly Spaces have also been established alongside Women Friendly Spaces, to allow women the opportunity to enjoy the Women Friendly Space while knowing their children are having fun close by. Child Friendly Spaces provide a safe place for children to regain a sense of normalcy and participate in early childhood education activities. Some 900 children are benefitting from World Vision’s Child Friendly Spaces that were set up after the floods.

There is wide support for both the Women Friendly Spaces and Child Friendly Spaces to continue long term.  Joe Lovi, World Vision Community Facilitator, says that many communities are making plans and taking steps to continue the projects.

“In a few communities, parents have built leaf huts for the Child Friendly Spaces so that they can continue and some of the teachers have asked World Vision for reference letters as part of their application to university because they want to get qualifications in early childhood education,” he says. “The men are supportive of the Women Friendly Spaces and the women are making plans for future activities.”

On 3 April 2014 flash flooding swept through Honiara and Guadalcanal Plains affecting 52,000 people.  Twenty three people lost their lives and thousands of homes and livelihoods were destroyed.  World Vision quickly dispatched emergency aid and distributed essential items such as food, water and hygiene kits.  World Vision is also assisting with water supply, sanitation and hygiene support, livelihoods and shelter assistance and the provision of women and child friendly spaces.