By
LEUT Chris Woods
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Chris
Muli (centre) is presented with the bell by LCDR Mandziy
(right) and Sergeant Michael Sebatoio (Participating Police
Force)
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The
peal of a bronze ship’s bell will now signal the start and end
of work, school and church in Toumoa village, thanks to the generosity
of the Kerr family and the Coastal Cruising Club of Australia.
On her recent deployment to the Solomon Islands, HMAS Hawkesbury
(LCDR Paul Mandziy) presented a 30cm bell to the isolated community
on Fauro Island. Located near the Bougainville border, Toumoa,
with its 750 residents, has relied on the clangor of a 150mm WWII
shell casing to regulate community activities.
The villagers have little money and lead a subsistence lifestyle,
bartering for rice, flour, fuel and other supplies. Watches and
clocks are a rarity.
An Australian yacht crewed by Dave Kerr and his family visited
the island in 2002, the first for many years due to the Bougainville
crisis. They were impressed by the villagers’ spirit and the leadership
of their chief, Chris Muli.
On learning that Chris had been trying to raise funds to replace
the village bell, the Kerr family decided to help. On their return
to Australia, they set about the task of organising a bell. Unfortunately,
after months of searching they found that suitable bells were
scarce and very expensive to be cast and engraved.
Discussions with the Commodore of the Coastal Cruising Club provided
a solution. They combined forces and organised a raffle to pay
for Toumoa’s bell. The bell was acquired and the next problem
was how to deliver it.
Navy came to the rescue. The bell was deployed along with Sapper
Paul Kerr. Son of the bell organisers he is an engineer from 18th
Field Squadron and part of the military contingent in HMAS Manoora
(CMDR Martin Brooker)
heading for Guadalcanal.
Some weeks later, excited villagers at Touma got the news that
their new bell was on its way via HMAS Hawkesbury. The arrival
would coincide with the near completion of the village’s new Catholic
Church.
For two years the villagers had been building the church with
handmade bricks and the bell would take pride of place. The bell
was presented furthering goodwill between RAMSI and the village.
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a Nikon Camera
