In a Solomon Islands village where changing weather is making it harder to grow food, 15-year-old Lorisha is holding on to her dream of becoming a doctor.
Lorisha, 15, at home in her community in Solomon Islands
Every morning, Lorisha washes her face and walks to school. When she’s not learning, she swims in the river with her friends.
She is 15, and she knows exactly what she wants to be.
“When I grow up, I want to become a doctor, so I can help people who are sick.”
But life in her village in South Malaita is getting harder.
The reason is the weather.
“We are now experiencing climate change,” Lorisha says. “It rains and suns a lot.”
When the heavy rain comes, it washes out the roads, so children cannot reach school and teachers cannot reach the village. Worse, it ruins the gardens that families like hers depend on for food.
“When it rains from climate change, the food does not grow well and the gardens get destroyed.”
For a family that grows almost everything it eats, that is a frightening new reality.
But thanks to friends like you, Lorisha’s story is changing.
Lorisha’s garden, growing again
Not long ago, Save the Children began working with Lorisha’s community through a project that helps families grow food that can cope with the changing weather.
Families now receive hardy, resilient seeds, tools, and hands-on training in climate-smart gardening. They are learning to compost with coconut husks, to keep pests away with wood ash, and to store and preserve food for the months when little grows.
Slowly, the gardens are coming back.
“Since Save the Children came,” Lorisha says, “it has made our families better, because of the planting of food and things.”
With more food at home, she can focus on what she loves.
Her studies, the river, and that dream of becoming a doctor.
Lorisha, 15, in her community in Malaita, Solomon Islands
Helping families prepare for a changing climate
For children and families in Solomon Islands, having enough food is closely connected to having the opportunity to learn, grow and look towards the future.
Many families depend on their gardens to provide food, so when changing weather makes it harder to grow crops, the effects can reach every part of family life.
That is why Save the Children is working with communities to help families build more resilient ways of growing food.
Through climate-smart gardening, families can learn practical skills and use resilient seeds and tools to help their gardens cope with changing conditions. They are also supported to preserve food, helping families have more to eat when their gardens are not producing as much.
For families like Lorisha’s, this support can mean more than a healthier garden. It can mean greater food security and less worry, while children have a better chance to stay focused on school and their dreams for the future.
A dream worth protecting
There is still a long way to go.
In the same community, a mother named Rosie described the hard days simply.
“When there is no food in the house, I worry a lot.”
Your continued kindness is what helps families like hers turn worry into hope.
And for Lorisha, it is helping protect something precious: the chance to stay in school and keep working towards the future she has imagined for herself.
A future where she becomes a doctor.
“When I grow up, I want to become a doctor, so I can help people who are sick.”
