Monday
I did the final read-through of my report today, then pdf’d it, so it’s officially done! I also finished up all the graphs, and then the presentation, for the chloramphenicol and amoxicillin dispensing data, so that’s the usage project finished off too. It’s nice to be a little ahead of schedule!
I hadn’t yet visited the museum in all the time I’ve been here, so this lunchtime I jumped in a bus and got myself down there. It’s the National Museum, with a focus on culture so I was very keen to see what was in there. I was a little disappointed to see that the main focus of the museum was on the most recent 200 years, i.e. following British colonisation. As such, there was a large section on the American action during WWII; a lot of it felt like seeing the Solomons through western eyes. There were sections on kastom, like shell money and conflicts between neighbouring tribes, and a tiny bit on the traditional religions and beliefs pre-Christian missionaries, but not a great deal. Maybe there isn’t much of a written record? But surely there’s a spoken record, still living with elders alive today? I still learnt a lot and enjoyed seeing all the pieces that were on display though.
During the day, Doreen passed on a going away gift from Julie (so lovely!), who unfortunately left last week for a 6-week break before I could properly say goodbye and thank you. The gift was two pandanus fans, which were something I’d been thinking to obtain for myself; they’re beautiful!
My housemate who’s been here for the whole duration of my stay had her last night here tonight before going home for Christmas. A group of us went to the big ol’ fancy Coral Sea Hotel for drinks then ended up at Mr Grill’s for a Chinese-style dinner. As we were leaving, one of our party got called over by someone at a table of people near us. It was Lanelle Tanangada, the only remaining female MP in the Solomon Islands government, who is an amazing person and an excellent, highly skilled politician. She’s the Minister for Women, Youths, Children and Family Affairs. Our friend whom she called over is a volunteer working here in women’s rights (who is also excellent at her job) so she and Lanelle operate in the same circles. It was phenomenal that we could run into perhaps the most important and influential woman in the entire country while in Mr Grill’s. Only in the Solomon’s.
Tuesday
Today was a sad morning, as I had to say goodbye to my housemate who’s been such an integral part of making my time great whilst over here. It was also bucketing down, so the weather was reflecting the mood.
Having down the bulk of my work now, I did a few odd jobs today: assembling medication for in and outpatients, pre-packing a few high-use meds. Near the end of the day Dr Alex dropped by and had a look at everything I’ve finished so far. He said he was happy with it all, so I hopefully this means it’ll be relevant and of use for future interventions.
The day ended with buying thank you gifts and presents for back home – it’s starting to sink in that my time here is nearly up ☹
Wednesday
More rain today; everyone’s been saying how the rainy season is late this year, but I think it’s finally hit the scene. I had an interesting experience this morning. I walked down the big hill from Skyline for the last time, saying “Morning!” to everyone and trying not to slip in the mud; business as usual. But as I past one of the betel nut stands at the bottom of the hill, one man said to me, “Last one, morning!” which I thought was a freakish premonition considering it actually was the last morning I’d pass him.
Today passed very quickly; I finished a little list of “Thoughts on Solomon Islander Pharmacy Practice” for Dr Alex, did some medication pre-packing, and debriefed about my stay with Solomon. In the late afternoon we had the Pharmacy Christmas party, which this year also served as a little going-away for myself. I was extremely spoilt, being gifted a beautiful shell-money necklace and carved and polished shell ornament shaped as a leaping dolphin. Nola, wonderful woman that she is, also gifted me two beautiful pieces of shell money jewellery. There was a true feast level of food, and my chocolates and Tim Tam contribution paled alongside it all. Each section head said a few words, as did I. Then, as the guest, I had to lead the line for food. We all piled our plates high and set in for some hearty munching. It was hard to leave at the end of the day, lots of last minute photos and adding of new friends on Facebook. I finally walked out of Number Nine for the last time (maybe ever?!), and Nola walked with me to HCC where I caught the bus up to Skyline for the last time.
Tonight, my last remaining housemate and one of the good friends I’d made here all went for dinner together to celebrate. There was dress-up involved, and far too much of me being spoilt yet again.
Thursday
I’m writing this entry on the plane back over to Brisbane, and we’re currently right over the Coral Sea/Pacific. It’s been a long day, and I’m not even back in Australia yet! This morning I packed, said my last (very sad) goodbyes to friends, had a last-minute goodbye from work (Doreen, one of my mentor pharmacists, came all the way to my house to drop off a gift! It was a lavalava, or sarong, which lots of people still traditionally wear, though more so outside of the city – thank you lovely Doreen!), then sudden Solomon and Timmy, Pharmacy department heads, were there to pick me up to head to the airport. I took some last minutes pics of all the (seven) dogs/puppies, then jumped in the Hilux.
Once at the airport I checked in, then settled in for a substantial wait to board. I chatted with a number of other Australians heading home for Christmas, then headed to duty-free for some last-minute souvenir gifts.
I’m just about to land in Brisbane, then it’ll be on to Melbourne and home. It’s been a whirlwind trip and I think it still hasn’t sunk in that it’s now coming to an end. This was an incredible experience, something that most people simply never get to have. I feel a huge amount of gratitude to the Mathew Peck family and Monash University, alongside of the NRH Pharmacy Dept, NMS, my housemates, and every single person I met working in Honiara, for making these 4 weeks what they were. I could not of anticipated how much I would learn and intangibly gain from this trip, and the majority of that is down to the many beautiful people I met during the journey.
Iris in the Solomons 