21 December 2022
Today, I have been reading what Prime Minister Sogavare had to say in Parliament in response to the Opposition Leader when he was winding down the sine die motion in Parliament on Monday this week.
Prime Minister Sogavare admitted that the Solomon Islands is an aid-dependent country.
As a private person still trying to get financial support for the many causes and needs I have in the past been able to help, but now face difficult in getting outside monetary support or help in kind from potential donors, I keep on trying and only last week a substantial monetary donation from a donor in Turkey was held in a suspense account by the Central Bank of Turkey, subject to my sending more money than my age pension would allow to facilitate the transfer of the “suspended” funds to my own bank account for the purpose of giving further assistance to the Solomon Islands.
I had been in touch with the potential donor over a period of time and, by way of something as a wish list had explained how I considered the promised donation would be used in the Solomon Islands once successfully received.
I had set out the following concerns I wished to assist in a letter to the potential donor, which I quote.
To further aid the NRH with one or more mammogram machines in the Cancer Unit to begin a program of breast screening of women for early signs of cancer in the breast.
“Also at the NRH, there is very often a lack of money to transfer patients with rheumatic heart disease to hospitals offshore in Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines and possibly India for heart treatment, especially those patients that have been assessed as possibly making a recovery with heart surgery, usually heart valve surgery, subject to a potential hospital willing to accept a patient with RH disease from the NRH. A case in point relates to the case of local girl, 16 yrs old Linta Mabo, who last year, when on the eve of her transfer to a Sydney hospital for cardiac surgery died before the paper work relating to her visa was finalised by the AHC in Honiara. The child had been in and out of the NRH for at least four years before. At my request, the Solomon Forest Association (SFA) said it would cover her hospital medical expenses at St George’s Hospital in Sydney.
The NRH does not have its own independent budget and often has to rely on donations to allow for the hospital’s transfer team, headed by the Medical Superintendent, to make arrangement for a RH patient to be evacuated offshore, subject to the availability of a hospital and a cardiologist willing to do the examination and surgical procedure.
A donation on a regular basis could give the hospital’s transfer team a better opportunity to facilitate offshore transfers for whatever medical condition a patient might be suffering from, subject to an assessment of the patient’s condition and the likelihood of recovery in a hospital having the right conditions and staff.
Also there are several hundred former patients of the NRH who had a leg or foot amputated as a result of succumbing to diabetes. It is my understanding, also, that six or more NRH patients undergo amputations every week from diabetes.
For all amputees there is no help other than perhaps giving them crutches when they are discharged from the hospital.
At my request now 3 yrs ago, the SFA provided the NRH with a modular building complete with air conditioner and insulation. The gift was intended to replace the once rehabilitation workshop which had been demolished due to termite and white ant damage over many years.
The old workshop had two trained workers capable of making prosthetic or artificial limbs but were both laid off when the workshop became too old to be used.
I helped, again through the FSA with 300 metal crutches as temporary walking/support aids for the amputees until the donated modular structure could be made suitable for the making and custom fitting of artificial limbs.
The work on making the replacement workshop reportedly fell through and this was confirmed to me by Dr. Janella Solomon, the NRHs Medical Superintended, quite recently. The fact is the two technicians, trained in artificial limb manufacture in India, have not been re-engaged, no artificial limbs are being made and the number of limbless ex-patients of the NRH is getting longer as each month/year passes by.
I want to see the restoration of a manufacturing rehabilitation workshop and amputees given artificial limbs to restore their mobility and give them a chance to get a job when they can perhaps earn an income to support their families again
I want to help those children that attend the Red Cross Special Disability Centre in Honiara with furthering their education and in overcoming physical disability
I want to help the children and adults with disability at the Catholic Centre for the handicapped at Arilego.
I want to help the special school for handicapped children at the school situated next or close to the International Airport, but don’t recall the name of the school.
I want to help the young musicians in the care of Mr. Willie Ato at the SI Piano Association SIPA) to get musical instruments and for the continuation of their instrument learning teaching/playing and for their advancement to qualifications in music (awarded by existing Australia institutions).
It would also be my wish to ensure the re-commencement of the work of the Hearts of Hope (HoH) charity mission on the island of Malaita, where previously volunteer lady charity workers took care of thousands of orphan children and elderly widows in their daily care.
So, having read the PM’s remarks about dependency I can appreciate his clear frustration about aid dependency at the national level, leaving little chance for an individual like myself to make little, or not much headway, in seeing to the collection of causes I feel compelled to assist by purely donor sources and especially when limitations are imposed by foreign exchange controls on overseas remittances.
On quite a separate subject, but yet linked in a way to aid, I told the story yesterday in another of my daily letters to the media about a young disabled 16 year old girl, by the name of Rhoda who had dropped out of school because her mother wasn’t able to afford her school fees, but her siblings who were not disabled had continued with their school tuition.
Once Rhoda’s story was published in the media by the Island Sun newspaper, I recall, the head teacher of the Alota’a Primary school stepped up to Rhoda’s delight and covered her school fees to enable her, once more to attend school.
Why do I say this particular story involving Rhoda has as any linkage to aid?
Well, the truth is that in some countries and particularly in the United States, children with disabilities, which are assessed by the authorities can be given grants by several private charity institutions and by way of Federal government agencies, to attend school and their school fees covered by the grants they receive
I don’t know the situation relating to school fee grants in Australia or in New Zealand, but suggest the SIG explore the situation in the hope donor aid from one or both existing diplomatic partners might in future make financial provision for school fee grants to cover the attendance of persons with disability in the Solomon Islands continuing their education at schools, colleges and even at SINU or maybe in Fiji at University,
I think it is highly likely, as in the USA, Australia does have its own school fees grants programme and I say this knowing, according to national statistics, there are estimated 1 in 10 (10% orv380,000 school students in Australia that have a disability, and almost 1in 18 (5.4% or 206,000) have a severe of profound disability.
Yours sincerely
Frank Short
