Christmas eve

Christmas eve was a night of mixed emotions. I had dinner with some colleagues at the King Solomon hotel followed by a display of traditional dancing. We've been quite busy right up to christmas, and in reality its just another day - the hospital remains active and retrievals are just as likely. It seemed to hit all of us with family and loved ones at home that we were going to miss them on christmas day which was a bit sobering. Fortunately we managed to find ways to reverse the sobering effect of isolation.

The dinner was very nice, particularly for those who enjoy seafood. As well as lobster, crab, sevral kinds of oyster and five different fish there were several sea creatures I don't think I've ever seen. After dinner the dancers came out. In the three weeks I've been here I have only learned so much about the Solomons, but it struck me that neither the dancers nor their costumes were from the Solomons. Having seen (and I have to admit joined in) some traditional Solomons dancing I was quite sure that the dance style was foreign. To me it looked like something from Hawaii.


I asked one of our local employees, Tina, who found this very amusing. The dancers, their costumes and their dance (and Tina for that matter) were Gilbertese. I pride myself on geography, but I drew a complete blank on that one. It means they are from Kiribati (pronounced Kiribas) which is the local word for the Gilbert Islands. These are a series of tiny coral atols that sit on the equator north of the Solomons.





Kiribati holds the dubious distinction of being one of the first nations to begin complete evacuation as a result of rising sea levels associated with climate change (though our recent Prime Minister might contend they are just faking it for sympathy - really, who would want to live on a palm fringed Pacific atol in peace and harmony?) The rising sea level causes the precious ground water to become saline thus making all agriculture impossible. In this way low lying nations become uninhabitable well before they are completly inundataed.

Although these people are being forced against their will from their country by environmental factors Australia does not yet recognise the concept of an Environmental refugee. In an infinitely more generous and community minded gesture the Solomons has donated an entire island to the Gilbertese for their repopulation. The Solomon Islands is a country that itself needs assistance to reestablish its courts, police and general stability and it appears to be showing more understanding and generosity than the country assisting it.