Solomon Islands District - Territorial Leaders Visit (Day 4)

Workshops, Cultural Tour & Fellowship

Tuesday, 15th November 2022

The day started with two skills-based workshops to provide the Colonels with an experiential insight into a new social enterprise project and sewing group that are having an impact on the livelihood and well-being of Solomon Islanders. Colonel Patti joined with a group of expat women who meet weekly to make reusable sanitary kits that are distributed to disadvantaged local women around the Solomon Islands. Colonel Garth joined with a group of local men for a session of melting aluminium cans and a lesson on different aluminium casting techniques. Unfortunately, the charcoal used to fuel the foundry didn’t burn hot enough to bring the cans to melting point, so the Colonel missed out on seeing this part of the process. The working theory behind this disappointing outcome to the workshop is that the charcoal contained too much moisture from exposure to recent heavy rain. 

Following the two workshops, the Colonels were taken out for lunch before embarking on a cultural tour around Honiara CBD. The tour commenced at the Arts/Craft Market and Art Gallery, where they were treated to the creativity of Solomon Islanders through wood carvings, shell jewellery and paintings. The next stop was the “Pride of Our Nation” memorial to the indigenous Scouts & Coast Watchers who played a pivotal role in supporting the Allied Forces during World War Two. The memorial is a reminder to all Solomon Islanders to feel pride in the selfless sacrifices that their ancestors made. Finally, the Colonels were taken to the Guadalcanal American War Memorial, situated on top of the Skyline ridge, offering panoramic views of Honiara. 

The scheduled evening Prayer Meeting was relocated from the usual location at the ‘Prayer Mountain’ to Festus brother’s home, where another Fellowship Service was held with the grieving family. A group from Honiara Corps gathered together for this time of worship and prayer. During the evening people were invited to share words of encouragement with the Ganiomea family. Auxiliary Captain Wency, Major Robert and Colonel Garth spoke into this space from Scriptures that brought comfort and support. A powerful time of prayer followed in the Solomon way, creating a collective chorus of a heartfelt cry out to the “God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).