The Editor
Solomon Times Online

Sir

A news item broadcast by Radio New Zealand International on Tuesday, 24 July, 2012, quoted Elsie Taloafiri, the national coordinator of the locally based Community Rehabilitation organization, as saying 14,000 people are living with disability in the Solomon Islands and her organization needs more government funding to support their welfare and aid their livelihood.

I am not sure whether Ms Taloafiri's organization includes the needs for an envisaged Tony Cross Resource Centre, which from past knowledge was called for in 1998 to accommodate the needs of the elderly, crippled and disabled, 90 percent of them living in the rural areas.

(Tony Cross was a British surgeon who spent substantial time in the Solomon Islands in the 1960s helping crippled people).

I know the Solomon Islands government provides money through the Health Ministry to Ms Taloafiri's organization for health care, but from what Ms Taloafiri was quoted as saying not enough to provide services to cover welfare and the disable's livelihood opportunities.

Given that the Solomon Islands government is still largely dependent on revenue generated from the logging industry and the fact that such resources are dwindling, then perhaps it might be worthwhile considering other ways of acquiring much needed aid.

I am not sure whether it will help but organizations that are registered as charities and non-profit organizations can get help with donor support by using a free web site by visiting http://www.charityappeals.com. There are some legal steps that would need to be followed to register Ms Taloafiri's organization as a registered charity but the procedure for doing so is clearly explained in the web site and appears to be quite straight forward.

Once registered as a charitable organization a free web site can be created such as the one styled Hope and Aid Direct, which was founded in 1999. Since then that charity has been involved in rebuilding and renovating schools, orphanages and delivering aid to many disadvantaged people.

I do hope that my suggestion will be taken up in anticipation of the many socially disadvantaged and disabled people in the Solomon Islands getting more financial help to improve their lives, and to especially aid their work chances.

Yours sincerely


Frank Short