On Sunday the Archbishop Honiara, Adrian Smith reported that Brother Joris had been isolated from the centre, stranded between two damaged bridges.

Joris eventually managed to return to the Society of Mary's Regional House at Tanagai, but he had to leave his truck behind.

Smith said the good news was the centre, which is to the west of Honiara, is not damaged by the floods.

In an interview with the Catholic Reporter PNG, on Sunday afternoon April 6th Archbishop Smith thanked people for their concern. He said it not was possible as yet to give not a comprehensive report on the serious floods in Guadalcanal.

"This is just an attempt to share with you the bits of information I have been gathering since the floods started."

He said information about the situation of the church's communities and institutions was very scant because institutions were without power and even the mobile phone connections were not working well.

"On April 2nd it was already clear that we were going to have problems as we had a lot of heavy rain. It would seem that the flooding problem is on the lee side of Guadalcanal and not on the weather coast. "

Going towards Visale, Sacred Heart Parish, "which is over 20 kilometers west of Honiara a number of the bridges have been spoiled. It may not be the actual bridge that has been spoiled but the approach to the bridges as the rivers in flood when they are obstructed by the bridges they eat away the approach to the bridges on both sides."

Smith said that the situation to the east of Honiara has been the cause of much worry for him.

• "The some of the bridges on the road to Tetere, Christ the King Parish, have been spoiled; again I am not sure of the details."
• The Good Samaritan Hospital at Tetere lost their ambulance, it seems that it was on a rescue mission and got taken away by the flood and is now useless.
• St. Joseph's Catholic Secondary School had to evacuate many if not all their students. The flooding waters covered the school area and went into the girls' dormitory. With difficulty they were able to get a high truck that could wade its way to reach the school and evacuate the students. Many of them are in Honiara with relatives and others are sheltered in Kukum parish hall.
• St. Martin's a Rural Training Centre close to St. Joseph's Catholic Secondary school had also to evacuate their students, "some of them are with us here at Holy Cross."
• Nazareth Apostolic Centre Tenaru has been under water, but there are no reports of buildings being destroyed.
• Holy Name of Mary Interdiocesan Seminary also in the Tenaru area has been under water, again there have been no reports of damage of building.

Smith said, "Of course in all three places the food gardens have been destroyed."

Read more firsthand reports from the Solomon Islands
Source

• Supplied by Fr Giorgio Licini Catholic Reporter PNG
• Image: Radio New Zealand

During their time here the volunteers did alot of renovation work at the Visale secondary school and the Visale clinic which was built way back in 1960 and was named St Vincent clinic.

The renovation work included painting, repair of window frames with the replacement of new louver glasses.

They also trained the Visale youths how to do community work.

A total of 30 local youths were involved with the Australian volunteers. Read More

As the country enters a new phase with the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI) withdrawing military personnel this year, many Solomon Islanders acknowledge progress toward reconciliation, but also the need to continue addressing issues of land ownership, development and restoration of a healthy society.

"People have been reconciled and you can see there is healing when there is acceptance, restoration of relationships and communal activities slowly come back," Rev Graham Mark, Secretary of the Anglican Church of Melanesia's (ACOM) Commission on Justice, Reconciliation and Peace, said. "All those things tell us we have achieved something, but the challenge is to sustain what has been achieved."

Resentment by the indigenous Gwales of Guadalcanal towards Malaitan settlers on their island escalated as unemployment and hardship worsened during the 1997-98 Asian economic downturn.

The island of Malaita, 100km east of Guadalcanal Island, is heavily populated and, from the early 1900s, Malaitans dominated migrant labour on Guadalcanal's plantations and then urban jobs as Honiara became the hub of services and employment.

The local Isatabu Freedom Movement (IFM) evicted Malaitan settlers, accusing them of taking land and jobs, before taking up arms against rival resistance group Malaita Eagle Force (MEF). By 2002, 35,000 people, or 9 per cent of the population, were displaced, several hundred had died or disappeared and many more experienced or witnessed human rights violations.

The National Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) began hearing people's testimonies in 2010 and delivered its final report to the government last year, although it is yet to be passed through Cabinet before public scrutiny.

Reuben Lilo, director of peace and reconciliation in the Ministry of National Unity, says the TRC programme captured the experiences of many people, but more attention is needed to support this occurring in rural areas where there are limited government services. Continue reading

Sources

• The New Zealand Herald
• Image: Commonwealth Secretariat