Purpose: accommodation for students and registrars working at the National Referral Hospital in Honiara.

Background: built and donated by New Zealand, hence the name (kiwi is the name of a flightless bird in New Zealand, and the nickname of NZ's natives and residents).

(© 2001 H. Oberli)	(© 2003 Ch. Himmelberger)
(© 2004 V. Gisler)	(© 2004 A. Brand)

Location: On the hospital compound near the main road, hence quite noisy. But a former resident wrote: Despite some doubts in the beginning, you will start to like the little house, and after a while you will hardly notice the noise. It is conveniently within walking distance of the hospital: two minutes the European way, five minutes Solomon style.

One month after her arrival in Honiara, a student wrote: We are settled in at the Kiwi-House and can already hardly sleep without the noise. I really appreciate the convenient location of the house.

Rooms: A living room with a table in the center and a small kitchen in a corner, a bathroom, and four small bedrooms.

Bedroom furniture: a bed and a basic wooden shelf for cloths and other things. There are enough mattresses (in different qualities) and if need arises, six or seven persons might be able to live in the house for a limited time. It is even possible to setup a twin-bed.

Bedclothes: provided by the hospital, but bringing along a single sheet (or a light sleeping bag) might be a good idea, just in case nobody is around when you arrive.

Facilities: a washing container outside to do your laundry, a shower in the bathroom, a kitchenette, a large refrigerator, a phone, a small radio. A lot of equipment is courtesy of Robert Goh, a Honiara business man.

At work in the kitchen	Relaxing on the porch	View from the porch
(© 2004 V. Gisler)

A palm leaf canopy has been added in 2002, sponsored by registrar Christian Himmelberger and student Philipp Honigmann. See Philipp's report for pictures.

Cost: a deposit for the key of SBD 50 - 100; a rent of SBD 150 per month.
Update in 2004: no rent has been charged for quite some time now.
In 2008, two students reported a rent of SBD 50 per night.

Important notes:

Friends or partners who are not students or registrars cannot stay at the Kiwi-House. They have to organize an accommodation on their own (see General Information for possibilities). On the other hand, students and registrars are expected to stay at the Kiwi-House, if room is available, so they are near the hospital in case of emergencies.

There is no guarantee a room will be available at the Kiwi-House. Since many students apply for an elective, but in the end do not show up, keeping track of the use of the rooms is an almost impossible job. So it is simply handled according to the rule "first come, first served". Does that mean, you will end up having to stay in a guest house, which will cost you 60 times the room rate for a two-month stay? No, this would really be an absolute worst case situation, don't worry, there is almost always an opportunity to lower the costs, e.g. sharing a room with a colleague, home sitting etc.

Read the Kiwi Book. There you can find a lot of tips and tricks for your life in Honiara etc.

Pikinini (children) from the hospital compound visit the Kiwi-House almost daily (© 2004 V. Gisler)	Other frequent guests: geckos (© 2004 A. Brand)	Sunset at the hospital beach (© 2004 V. Gisler)