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SIDT News Letter February 2008 March 2008 Past News Letters Area: 10,985 sq mi (28,450 sq km) Population (2005 est.): 538,032 (growth rate: 2.7%); birth rate: 30.7/1000; infant mortality rate: 21.3/1000; life expectancy: 72.7; density per sq mi: 49 Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Honiara (on Guadalcanal), 54,600 Monetary unit: Solomon Islands dollar Languages: English 1%–2% (official), Melanesian pidgin (lingua franca), 120 indigenous languages Ethnicity/race: Melanesian 93%, Polynesian 4%, Micronesian 1.5%, European 0.8%, Chinese 0.3%, other 0.4% Religions: Anglican 45%, Roman Catholic 18%, United (Methodist/Presbyterian) 12%, Baptist 9%, Seventh-Day Adventist 7%, other Protestant 5%, indigenous beliefs 4%

Description SIDT seeks to address the social, environment and economic challenges facing the Solomon Islands by improving the quality of life in the villages. SIDT has a network of Village Demonstration Workers who reside in and work with communities in the area of village businesses, resource management, improved kitchens, home gardens and mosquito nets. SIDT is also  involved in a range of community development programmes that contribute to its core mission of improving life in the villages. Using community theatre, Village Demonstration Workers, magazines and comics among other tools, SIDT has addressed development issues such as malaria prevention, Vitamin A deficiency, eco-forestry, coral reef conservation, small-business development, fruit fly eradication and rural water supply and sanitation. A Brief History                                                                                upá Beginning in 1977, SIDT has been one of the primary proponents of community-level development in the Solomon Islands. Our 21 years of work has centered on strengthening the quality of village living since the village lies at the heart of Melanesian society. Mission/Vision SIDT's focuses on working with villagers to enhance the quality of their village living, hence, its emphasis on 'strengthening the quality of village living'. Projects 1984-1986 Rural Water Supply and Sanitation 1987-1989 Disaster Awareness and Preparation 1990-1992 Population Awareness, Resource Management                 and Increasing the Quality of village life 1993-1995 Malaria Work to prepare for AIDS Epidemic 1997-2001 Bednet Program to reduce malaria infection 2003 Restorative Justice Program Coral Gardens Initiative - Solomon Islands case Voices and Choices: Gardening Good Governance and Democracy in the Pacific Health, population and family planning through community theatre NGO sector strengthening, in particular the development and support of the Village Demonstration Worker system Ross Mining project - community representation and negotiation with mining company Publication of magazines, comics and other newsletters to promote development issues Ecoforestry and ecotimber production Sustainable small business development Rural water supply and sanitation Fruit fly eradication Distance education                                                                                upá Past Projects During its 21 years of interacting with villagers, many smaller projects have worked their way into our larger program. For instance, our four criteria for strengthening the quality of village living--family toilet, kitchen garden, up-graded kitchen and sleeping under a treated mosquito net--have been sustained by income generating projects--ecoforestry efforts of villagers harvesting their own timber wealth, butterfly ranching, coral/seaweed growing, ngali nut oil processing, paper making. Future Projects Many projects are borne from villagers who are the resource owners. Microprocessing of coconut oil (rather than production of copra) is one that is growing in importance. Other projects will be in agriculture since our food security has been falling about 1% yearly since 1978.   Contact Info                                                                                           upá Executive Director: Mr Abraham Baenesia P.O Box 147 Honiara, Solomon Islands Phone : +677 23409 Fax : +677 21131 E-mail : sidtcid@solomon.com.sb