Well we are back from our 2 week project in the Solomon Islands and I can report that everything went extremely well.

The project was in Noro, a small township on New Georgia Island, 25kms from Munda which is the main town on this Island. The project was requested by , and partly funded by Soltuna, a large tuna processing plant which is the only industry in Noro. We planned to teach 30 women to sew and craft, and all the equipment we needed was shipped up to Noro last December.

We shipped:
14 new sewing machines
4 overlockers
Large qtys of fabrics, haberdashery, craft items etc.

In addition we also carried in about 150kgs of extra supplies with us on the plane.
We few into Munda on February 23rd , and we were greeted by Lemu and other Soltuna staff and taken to our accommodation in Noro. Our team of teachers were all pleased with the comfortable and spacious accommodation although no air conditioning and only cold showers did prove to be a bit of challenge at first. The days were extremely hot and muggy and we didn’t have air conditioning at the Hostel where we taught each day either.

Sunday we set up all the machines and spread out all the fabrics, haberdashery, craft etc. ready for a 9am start on Monday. We had in the planning requested a maximum of 30 students but on Monday morning about 45 turned up! After some sorting out, we ended up with 36, in the following classes:

7 in the Novice Sewing – taught by Vera Liondas
10 in the Intermediate – taught by Glenda Bones and Lea Palij
5 in the Advanced Sewing – taught by Judy Jones
14 in the Craft , taught by Julie Walsh and Cheryl Nelson

We then taught these students every day from 9am to 4.30pm for the nine days and the progress they made was most rewarding. On the Thursday evening of the 2nd week, some 100 garments adorned the walls, plus a table of craft items which were truly remarkable, all thanks to the fantastic work of our teachers. As always the students were very keen to learn all they could, and it was a struggle to get them to stop for lunch and at the end of the day. I also taught a young man from the engineering department of Soltuna, how to repair and service machines and overlockers and we practiced on some 12 machines which the students brought in- most of them being old hand machines in poor condition.

Thursday night the 7th we had a farewell function and presented them all with their certificates. The students dressed us up in one of their cultural outfits and there was much fun and frivolity. Our students were selected for their low economic situations, but they sure know how to party and have a good time !

Friday was the International Women’s Day, and Julie, Glenda and Judy joined the 2km dawn march and yours truly spoke at the celebrations held at the community centre. Saturday for our journey home we had some interesting aircraft changes, ending up flying the Munda Horiana leg in an interesting 16 seater Twin Otter , with fantastic views of the Islands and reefs.

Going forward we are fairly confident in the sustainability of this project. The sewing room will remain established in the Soltuna Hostel, so that when the ladies are off shift they can use this facility to continue their sewing and craft. We have also made arrangements so they will be able to get fabrics and other supplies. Additionally Soltuna will send the young engineer up to check and service the machines every two weeks.

I want to once again sincerely thank our wonderful teachers for their fantastic preparation, and very dedicated teaching. The skills they taught will surely improve the lives and opportunities of the 36 women we taught.

Thanks too to Sandra who helped me with the management and servicing of the machines, as well as being our photographer, and again many thanks to Soltuna’s General Manager Jim, Lemu, Gloria, staff at the boarding house, and all the other staff that assisted us.
Regards
Tony Castley

Photos: Here are few of our photos. Sorry they are not sharp, his program seems to only load them if they are very low resolution. Got to look into that !
1. Craft class with their macrame’
2. Fancy bags with the Novice Class
3. Smart dress with the Advanced class
4. Craft Class at work
5. Busy time with the sewing machines
6. TC watching the students on the over-lockers
7. Lea and Glenda with the Intermediate Class
8. Our fabulous teachers, from left Vera,Judy,Lea,Julie,Cheryl and Glenda.
9. Our students on presentation night, with their sewing all on the walls behind!
10. Crazy patchwork from the Craft Class
11. Advance Class skirts and tops

TC watching the students on the four over-lockers

Lea and Glenda ( rear) with their Intermediate Class and some of their garments on the wall behind.

Crazy Patchwork cushions an Soft Balls made by the Craft Class

Judy’s Advanced Class with their skirts and tops. .

Other new projects we are investigating.
East Timor:
Judith Charnaud who is a member of my Rotary club, has lived in East Timor for the past 14 years, in a very remote area called Oecusse . This is a small part of East Timor which is not actually attached to East Timor but rather it is situated in Indonesian West Timor ! . It is an very poor area, but also a very pretty area in parts. For some time now we have been talking to Judy and John Corney from the Epping Rotary Club, about a SewAID project in Oecusse, and planning is progressing for this to be in April/May 2019. This project will be teaching a variety of sewing skills, including school uniforms, dressmaking, school curriculums, and perhaps some Days for Girls. Suitable basic accommodation and working rooms are available and everything will be arranged for this project. This will be a very interesting trip, and I have great memories of our visit there a few years ago. We will need 4 to 6 volunteer teachers , and so we invite volunteers from our data base to register their interest now.

Solomons
The small group of women that we taught in March are very anxious for us to go back with a larger team of teachers in March next year. This trip is to be at the time of the International Women’s Day as they are planning to have a big celebration there at that time. Vera taught Days for Girls sewing last time, but this time they want to learn dressmaking and other items which they would like to sell. Similar to what we have taught in Cambodia. The project is on Noro , and there is good accommodation and support provided by Soltuna , the large tuna factory there, which is supporting our project. So again we are interested to hear from our volunteers who would like to go on this trip
Photo is from Vera’s classroom in Noro in March.

Other Countries
We have also been asked to teach in Kirabati and Tavalu , which are both small Pacific island countries. Tavalu is north of Fiji, and Kirabati is North from Vanuatu – and near to the Somomons.
We are just gathering details on these projects and more information will be available soon

Then we have also been invited to do teaching project in The Congo in Africa. This is a more challenging project due to the high costs of getting there. We are working with Lucy Hobgood-Brown who is also in my Rotary Club and Lucy has several active projects in the Congo which she visits every year; and for more details of Lucy’s projects please visit her website www.handupcongo.org

So lots of interesting projects in the melting pot. Do keep checking our website from time to time for updated information.
regards Tony
tonyc@sewgroup.com
Ph. 0414 801 888

This map shows where East Timor lies just Northwest of Australia and the insert shows East Timor in purple and you can see the little enclave of Oecusse situated in what is Indonesian West Timor and separated from the main East Timor.