Kiwi working bee rebuilds women's refuge

A traditional Kiwi Saturday morning working bee helped to rebuild the Honiara Women's Christian Care Centre, a refuge for battered women.


The NZ Police Contingent was there at the invitation of the New Zealand High Commissioner to the Solomon Islands. The members spent the morning of 19 March laying concrete, chopping and shifting wood, and collecting shingle from a nearby river bed to make concrete.

In searing temperatures the team mixed concrete in wheelbarrows to make a concrete pad to surround the water pump and shower block area. They also created a sand floor for the dining area.

Senior Sergeant Darrin Low says most of the work was done by hand. "The gravel and sand mix for the concrete was dug by hand from the nearby Lunga River. It was mixed by hand and – you guessed it – poured into handmade boxing. We also cut and collected firewood for the kitchen area by hand."

The Centre's staff were very appreciative of the team's hard work. "We are so happy and very thankful to you all it will mean that women can go and be safe," commented one of the nuns at the end of the working bee. "This battered women's shelter will be a very important part of our community," she said.

"It was great to see members of the Participating Police Force members and the villagers working together. This is what community policing is about," says NZ Contingent Commander, Assistant Commissioner Graham Emery.