My wife got me to drive one of the local maids employed in the compound where we live so that we could go take photos of some of the local houses. We’ve already visited this area previously but we didn’t take any photos then, and since there is a slight possibility that we might not be returning to the Solomon Islands after we go back to Malaysia on Thursday, my wife especially wanted some photos as a memento.

This particular house is where Helen, a maid who has worked for us for many years now is currently renting. She is currently building her own house nearby, basically just appropriating the land without any formal paperwork, buying the building materials and having her family members help out with the construction. It’s haphazard, unregulated and messy, but that’s how things work in the Solomon Islands. It also contributes to the tribal tensions here in Honiara. Honiara is located on Guadalcanal Island, while Helen and everyone else who stays in this area are from Malaita Island. Complaints from Guales about Malaitans taking over their land and their attempts to form a militia to drive out the Malaitans were what prompted the Malaitans to mount a coup-d’état in 2000.

This is the interior of the house with Helen on my left and some of her children. The eldest hopes to win a government scholarship to go to the University of the South Pacific in Suva, Fiji to study environmental science. Everyone understands that the family’s only hope to escape poverty is to have someone in the family get a good education and good job. The house doesn’t have electricity, of course, and they use kerosene lanterns at night.

This is where they shower. There’s a toilet in shed a bit further down the path. The house itself doesn’t have running water so this is where the residents of the several nearby houses come to get water. They pool their money to pay for the water every month, though it’s very cheap and the water supply is unmetered.

Finally, here’s a shot of the village. There are children running around and playing all over the place, and we had a small group sucking on sugar canes looking at us curiously as we took photos. The place really isn’t that far from the main road running through Honiara in a car, but some of these people need to walk a fair distance to get to a bus stop to get to work and the roads are really rough. But that’s life for you in a country as poor as the Solomon Islands.