TREATING young girls with care and patience are skills Lyn Subai learnt as a mentor of the Girls Rise Up! project in Solomon Islands.

Lyn is one of many trained community mentors in the Girls Rise Up! project, led by the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) in partnership with CARE International, supported by Australia through the Pacific Girl program, managed by Pacific Women Shaping Pacific Development (Pacific Women).

Girls Rise Up! aims to develop the confidence, skills and knowledge of over 200 at-risk girls to help them establish supportive peer networks and the opportunity to safely advocate for issues that affect them.

As explained by YWCA Project Manager, Kristina Saueha, the project’s participants “are community women trained to be mentors and the project is targeting girls who are most vulnerable, ensuring that they have confidence, awareness and access to services to make the right life choices. The most important components of the project is the inclusion of girls with disabilities and safeguarding for adolescent girls.”

Lyn Subai is proud to join other Girls Rise Up! mentors to “teach young girls about safeguarding themselves.”

“It’s up to me as a mentor to really engage with the young girls in teaching them about their safety,” said Lyn who, through Girls Rise Up!, has been taught to mentor young girls aged 13 to 18 years about life skills and safeguarding practices.

She said engaging young girls to be interested in her mentoring is always tough. So she learnt that, in order for them to be interested in what she wanted them to know, she had to treat them with care “so that they understand you.”

“We are not all the same and they [girls] may not be interested in what you are teaching them,” she said, adding that her priority is ensuring adolescent girls in Solomon Islands grow up in a safe and empowering environment.

“As mentors [we] work hard and to have [to be] humble minded and soft thinking… in teaching them life skills. [We] make sure [to] be kind to them and they will understand. Patience and hope to do my best.”

“What can I do to get more girls to join this Girls Rise Up program? To encourage more girls who do not have hope in their future, [especially] in my community, to join this program.”

Lyn’s training as a mentor has equipped her with skills to teach young girls, but it has also benefited her personally as she has seen some positive changes in her own family and community of Seven Up in Honiara.

“As a mentor in this program, it gives me more skills.”

Another mentor Bethlyn Nieng said young people in her Rock Valley community in Honiara are mainly those who do not go to school and are always left out inside the community.

“So the life skills program is one of the activities that can bring them together and be kept busy.”

“When they joined this program, they learn life skills like sewing, dying lavala, and so forth, so they are now engaging in these activities that will be helpful for them in their own lives.”

Lyn said many of the young girls joining the program have learnt advocacy and life skills including skills to earn money, which is important to many of the girls who otherwise may be “doing nothing or not attending schools because they themselves or their parents don’t have money to send them to school.”

“This program is free for them to attend and will support them in their lives, so the Girls Rise Up! project is very useful for our young girls.”

Lyn explained it also provides opportunities for “housewives in our community who rely on the salaries of their partners for their survival – they even learn sewing from our youths.”

“My community is happy that YWCA is providing this program for us free. It is really helping us as mentors to reach out to our communities to engage with our youths and empower them financially,” Lyn said.

The Girls Rise Up! project is based in Honiara and expects to soon expand to reach further out to the provinces. Additionally, more government and non-government organisation are becoming stakeholders and partners such as Solomon Islands Planned Parenthood Association (SIPPA) and Family Support Centre.

YWCA Project Manager, Kristina Saueha, thanked partners and stakeholders who are supporting YWCA and Care International for recognising the importance and the changes this project is bringing to adolescent girls in Honiara.

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For media interviews or more details contact: YWCA Project Manager, Kristina Saueha, email: [email protected]

Background

Girls Rise Up! is a Pacific Girl project led by the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) of Solomon Islands in partnership with CARE International. It is supported by Australia through the Pacific Girl program, managed by Pacific Women Shaping Pacific Development (Pacific Women). Girls Rise Up! aims to develop the confidence, skills and knowledge of 200 at-risk girls and establish supportive peer networks in Solomon Islands. Providing girls with the opportunity to safely advocate on issues that affect them, while engaging service providers to support the needs and priorities of the girls.

CARE International is a global confederation of 14 member and 6 candidate and 1 affiliate organisations working together to end poverty. CARE International puts women and girls in the centre because poverty cannot be overcome until all people have equal rights and opportunities.

Pacific Girl is a multi-country program to support adolescent girls in Pacific Island countries achieve their full potential. Pacific Girl partners are working to equip adolescent girls to make informed decisions, while engaging with the boys, parents, carers and communities in their lives to build more supportive environments. Managed by Pacific Women Shaping Pacific Development (Pacific Women), the $4.5 million Pacific Girl program funds projects, including Girls Rise Up!, with selected civil society organisations in Pacific Island countries.

Pacific Women Shaping Pacific Development (Pacific Women) connects more than 170 gender equality initiatives supported by Australia and implemented by over 160 partners across 14 Pacific Island countries. Providing technical, knowledge sharing and convening support to the portfolio of partners is the Pacific Women’s Support Unit.

BY JENNIFER KUSAPA

A POLICE exhibit officer has been suspended after more than $300,000 of cash exhibit kept in their custody went missing.

Commissioner of Police Mostyn Mangau revealed this yesterday, although the incident is believed to have occurred October last year.

“I am very upset at the action of one of our officers,” Mangau told reporters during his weekly press conference.

“Such behaviour and attitude will tarnish the integrity and trust the community placed on the police,” he added.

The money in question were seized from the director of One-Link Pacifica, an illegal pyramid scheme, early last year.

Thousands of Solomon Islands invested their money in the scheme in anticipation of high returns.

But when their promised returns were not paid, they reported the case to police, who acted and seized a huge amount of cash from the director.

Mangau said this is the first time a large amount of cash of cash was stolen from their exhibit storage.

He said the matter is now with the Professional Standard Internal Investigation.

“An exhibit officer has been suspended while investigations are underway.

“I am taking this matter seriously and condemned the action by the particular officer.

Mangau said the exhibit cash was transferred from the Honiara Central exhibit storage to the Rove exhibit facility for safe storage when they realized in October last year that the whole amount of money had gone missing.

As a result of this case, he said he said they would be reviewing and re-look into their standard operating procedures to fully secure exhibits collected as evidence during investigations.

Mangau said this case is a priority investigation and he himself will wait on the PSII to quickly progress the matter, as it is of public interest.

He said it would be a thorough investigation, looking at all avenues how the money went missing or stolen from the exhibit facility and will also look at possible recovery of the missing cash.

Last May when the media queried whether the large amount of cash confiscated from the director of One Link is safe, Mangau gave assurance that the cash has been safely kept at their Rove exhibit facility.

Island Sun was informed police only knew of the missing cash when they were cross-checking the exhibits last October at the Rove facility.

When the suspended officer was queried about the missing cash exhibits, he started avoiding questions put to him.

BY ALFRED PAGEPITU

CUSTOMERS will have to dig deeper into their pockets for fish as the bad weather continues.

Fishermen are saying they are spending more and risking their lives trying to get fish to sell in the current heavy rains and rough seas.

Stevenson, a young fisherman from White River (fish market) said, “During these months, fishermen catch less fish as compared to past months as the bad weather affects many fishermen.

“Fish prices are now rocket as we predict that the highest level of fish price this week will reach $100 dollars and $20 pound price for 1 kg, compared to normal days.

“The prices could be up to $50 to $100. Usually the prices go upwards last week before the bad weather affects our country.

“But other fishermen went out to sea over the weekend, so supply should be a little bit normal again but our fish price will remain the same.”

Another fishman, who declined to be named, said fish supply is being impacted by bad weather this week.

“It all depends on the weather. Last week, the sea was rough and continued until this week. But usually the price hike is only temporary,” he said.

He said that the reef fish price now is around $20 per kg, compared to the usual days when weather was normal.

“If the heavy rains continue a week more, some of us will continue to increase the prices of fish.

“Many fishermen are fearful over the continued heavy rainfall and tropical cyclone warning because this is the only source of income to earn money out of fish so we are concerned about how many will manage to survive during the coming weeks.”