Ashleigh Mitchell, Information and communication technologies trainer, Solomon Islands
Canadian volunteer Ashleigh Mitchell used information technology to help women in the Solomon Islands find their voice – and make sure they're heard.
Have you ever noticed how things never seem to go according to plan? I’m sure CUSO-VSO staff Marian White didn’t plan on missing her bus by mere minutes one cold winter day. I didn’t plan to encounter this stranger, throw her into my car and wildly chase her bus for half-an-hour across the Canadian Prairies until we caught it. And I certainly didn’t plan on this fortuitous encounter leading to a six-month placement in the South Pacific.
As Marian and I raced along Highway 10, she convinced me of the importance of supporting developing countries’ efforts to expand their information and communication technologies.
I soon found myself in the Solomon Islands, a country of 1,000 tropical islands in the middle of the South Pacific. The vast majority of its Melanesian population lives in basic leaf houses in tribal villages without electricity or running water. They practice a subsistence lifestyle – food mainly comes from nearby fruit and coconut trees, vegetable gardens which the women tend every day, and fish that the men catch at sea.
Helping give women a voice
My volunteer placement was with Vois Blong Mere (“Women’s Voices”), a women’s organization working hard to empower women so they can contribute to national development.
As a Canadian woman I was surprised to learn that bride prices are still paid to acquire wives, women need their husbands’ written permission to do many things, and no women currently hold seats in parliament. I felt thankful to be working with a local organization that is committed to helping women find their collective voice. I quickly learned that despite their voices rarely being heard, women are undoubtedly the backbone of their country and are as strong as nails.
My volunteer role was to teach information technology (IT) through daily computer training sessions for the women in my organization and partner NGOs. Some of these people had never even touched a computer before and I found it extremely rewarding to see the excitement and sense of accomplishment they experienced from actions as basic as typing their names.
It was even more empowering for them than I had anticipated, and my initial doubts about propagating IT in a country that didn’t even have a reliable source of water or electricity largely disappeared. There are many needs, and I was helping address but one of them. Yet every woman who possesses computer skills has a better chance of getting a job (or promotion!) and can thus provide better for her family.
Besides computer training, I also helped with Vois Blong Mere’s newsletter, website and radio program, all of which aim to “link women of the Solomon Islands” (their motto). I ran a literacy class and wrote several articles for their national newspaper which showcased positive local female role models. Best of all, I had the honour of helping to deliver a perfect little baby into the world while helping out at a small hospital.
Building respect across borders
I soon realized that I was not simply transferring my technical training to these women, and came to appreciate what the CUSO-VSO approach is about. We are not 'helping' them; rather, together, we are working to build a sustainable world based on mutual respect. Although we may be more privileged than these women in terms of income, education, and material acquisitions, this type of experience can reacquaint ourselves with who, not what, we are.
Yes, I missed my family, home, chocolate, electricity and running water, but no, I wouldn’t give up my time there for anything in the world. I will be eternally thankful to CUSO-VSO and Marian White for sending me on this experience of a lifetime. I feel so fortunate to have seen and lived a way of life that I would never have dreamed of from back home and trust that I have contributed in some small way to the people of the Solomon Islands.
I returned to Canada with renewed love and appreciation, along with a desire to build my career around pursuing social justice. To that end, I have furthered my education and am now a practicing social worker. This experience has definitely proved to me that we only think things never go according to plan – but they always do!
- Ashleigh returned from her placement in the Solomon Islands in 2006
