In March 2016, Radio New Zealand relayed an appeal made by the Hearts of Hope Charity on Malaita when the Founder of HOH, Janet Justice Aihari, said there were virtually no welfare services in the Solomons and traditional cultural support models were no longer a substitute in getting aid for HOH.
Now five years on from that appeal HOH still works with orphans, widows, people with disabilities and the elderly in Malaita Province and covers 29 communities there, caring for close to 1,200 children and more than many elderly widows.
Back in 2016, Justice Aihari said, "Like we have big families in the Solomon Islands and then they try to look after these orphaned children but then sometimes they get left over [miss out] on things. And it is very hard here until parents or those that look after the orphans have a job.”
As a result of the coronavirus pandemic many people have been laid off work in the Solomon Islands and how much harder will it have become for HOH to carry on?
Ms Aihari’s volunteer workers do their best to serve the needs of their members, even going out to the villages to provide live-in care for families but she has said there was only so much they could do with their limited resources.
Will humanitarian agencies help HOH to carry on its charity work? I do hope so, and would especially request USA AID to render humanitarian and financial help to the struggling charity organization with its ongoing social welfare assistance.
Yours sincerely
Frank Short
