Supporting Remote Health Clinics in Solomon Islands
Improving healthcare access for communities in need.
Supporting Remote Health Clinics in Solomon Islands
Improving healthcare access for communities in need.
Empowering Healthcare in Communities of The Solomon Islands
Our Mission
At the Solomon Islands Rural Health Project, our mission is to provide essential support to remote health clinics. We aim to help communities living in poverty have access to better and safer health care services.
Meet RN Jessica Tarihahia
Graduating from the World Relief Australia supported nurse training at the Solomon Islands National University, Jessica now serves as the sole nurse in Hauhui, Malaita, one of the most remote parts of the Solomon Islands.
With over 1,000 people across ten villages, she provides vital care in a clinic plagued by poor conditions and inadequate medical equipment. The nearest main town is Auki, three hours away by boat, and the journey is not easy. The isolation weighs heavy.
Despite these challenges, Jessica remains dedicated, offering obstetric, emergency, and general healthcare to her community and nearby villages. There are no doctors living on Hauhui. The nearest doctor is 3 hours away so Jessica has a lot of responsibility to make the right decisions to give her best possible care to her community.
Nurse Jessica Tarihahia - Caring for Hauhui in Pictures
School Uniform Donation from St. Augustine's Primary School
Transforming Lives with Solomon Islands Rural Health Project
Students at St Augustine’s Parish Primary School on the Gold Coast have turned a simple uniform change into an extraordinary act of generosity, with hundreds of pre-loved garments set to begin a new life in a remote island community in the Solomon Islands.
The Currumbin Waters primary school recently introduced a new uniform, prompting staff to consider what could be done with the old ones. Rather than letting families discard them, Year 1 teacher Ms Wallace saw an opportunity to make a difference far beyond the Gold Coast. Ms Wallace proposed collecting the outdated uniforms and donating them to a school in need — specifically Hauhui School. Ms Wallace said. “When our school changed uniforms, it just made sense to share what we no longer needed with children who would truly appreciate them.”
The response from St Augustine’s families was immediate and generous. Dozens of neatly folded uniforms — shirts, shorts, dresses and hats — were donated, sorted and packed, ready for their journey across the Coral Sea to the Solomon Islands.
From Currumbin Waters to Malaita Island, a change in wardrobe has become a bridge between two communities — proving that even from a small primary school, kindness can travel a long way.
Thanks to the generosity of St Augustine’s Primary School, two pallet loads of school uniforms were packed into the same shipping container as the medical equipment bound for Hauhui School.
For the very first time, the students at Hauhui School now have their own school uniform. Seeing the smiles on the children’s faces and the pride they showed wearing them was truly unforgettable according to Jessica Tarihahia.
Hauhui students wearing their new school uniforms. Ms Wallace preparing the uniforms.
The Solomon Islands Rural Health Project is a project of World Relief Australia www.wra.org.au
About the Project Manager - Trevor Wallace
Trevor Wallace with some deaf students at Aruligo on Guadalcanal
Jessica Tarihahia - 1st Day at Nursing School
I am a Registered Nurse who worked part-time in the Solomon Islands as part of the medical support team for Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI), also known as Operation Helpem Fren. RAMSI was a 14-year, Australian-led regional mission (2003–2017) established to restore peace, law and order, and stability following civil unrest.
During my time in the Solomons, I was surrounded by poverty and could not ignore how unprivileged many communities were — especially the youth. I felt compelled to help make a difference.
With the support of World Relief Australia, I was able to establish and support a number of meaningful projects. These included sponsoring over 500 young people to access boarding education, installing a computer classroom and establishing a chicken farm at St Joseph’s High School on Guadalcanal, refurbishing and equipping a classroom for students who are blind or vision impaired, and sponsoring students to study Nursing at Solomon Islands National University.
While those projects have now been successfully completed, I am currently managing a new initiative supporting the remote Community Health Clinic at Hauhui on Malaita Island.
None of these projects would have been possible without the enormous generosity of so many sponsors and supporters. I would like to especially like to show gratitude to Joan Morson for her generosity. I would like to thank my close friend Greg Leahy, who also served in the Solomons, for his encouragement and friendship.
A special thank you as well to Paul Madden at World Relief Australia for his guidance, wisdom, and ongoing support.
Together, we are making a difference.