Working in The Province of Melanesia

(Includes the Solomon Islands andVanuatu)

The Province of the Church of Melanesia was formed in 1975, and has eight dioceses, six in the Solomon Islands and two in Vanuatu. 70% of the population is under 30.

Mothers' Union undertakes various programmes with other organisations, both secular and religious. Only 20% of women are literate, and education is not compulsory, so Mothers' Union run literacy schools in each diocese. The courses often include life skill training also.

Although difficulties of travel and communication hamper the work of Mothers' Union in this region -Vanuatu alone is made up of 83 islands - membership is growing rapidly! Members are active in Sunday schools, youth programmes visiting the elderly, the bereaved and new mothers. Mothers' Union here host leaders workshops on a variety of subjects including nutrition, child abuse and sexually transmitted diseases enabling members to impact their community and encourage further education on these topics.

In Ysabel diocese, Solomon Islands one main focus is their workshops looking at parenting and marriage issues among many of the parishes, with husbands as well as wives attending these. With teenage marriages on the increase, marriage has become an important aspect of Mothers' Union work in this province, with not only teaching but counselling now available. In Temotu, some Mothers' Union members run projects in literacy and local farming, whilst others concentrate on providing pastoral support for their communities looking after the sick, needy, aged, and newborn.

The Solomon Islands as a country is high on HIV/AIDS Awareness. Since the Church has also endorsed information to be widely spread in the communities, Mothers' Union has been very vocal. Mothers' Union has gone into partnership with the Ministry of Health and the Family Planning Australia to organize and conduct programmes in this area especially under the Global Fund. Mothers' Union continues to provide the awareness and training in all dioceses.

In other areas such as Malaria and TB, Mothers' Union in the Diocese of Ysabel in their programme has managed to reduce Malaria in Ysabel by 50% in 3 months and had covered 70% of the population. Similar work on Malaita shared by other churches has also produced very good results. Mothers' Union now moves on to provide counselling services in trauma for those in prison and caring for people living with HIV/AIDS. This area will take a lot more time for women to get used to because of the fear of the infection itself. Only those who are involved in training for this particular aspect can go forward to provide help.