HELPING, LIVING AND LEARNING LOTS!





Australian customs officer, Kamal Dutta, shares her experiences of living and working in Solomon Islands as a RAMSI advisor for Solomon Islands Customs and Excise Division.
One of the most important lessons I learnt from my experience working as a customs advisor in the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) is how capacity building really is a two-way process.
As much as I was there to coach, mentor and advise my Solomon Islands counterparts, I felt that both through my relationships  and the experience of living in Solomon Islands over three months, I also experienced capacity building, mentoring and coaching of me! This was an enriching realisation to say the least. 
From working with my direct counterpart, Tammy Luitolo as well as the other staff of the Solomon Islands Customs & Excise Division, I gained invaluable insight into how another customs administration operated and also the efforts of the whole-of-government approach to rebuild the Solomon Islands.
My understanding of RAMSI’s whole-of-government approach was further deepened by the induction held by the mission for new civilian advisors and run over a weekend on the island of Savo.
The carefully designed workshop certainly helped me to settle into my advisor role and gain useful insights on history, Melanesian culture and traditions, capacity building, RAMSI community outreach as the chance to receive useful tips from the more experienced advisors.
Revenue collected from trade contributes towards the Solomon Islands economy and government revenue.
Solomon Islands Customs & Excise Division is responsible for collecting revenue from trade, with the other major contributor towards revenue collection being the Inland Revenue Division of the Solomon Islands Ministry of Finance and Treasury.
In a developing world environment where government collection of revenue is crucial for rebuilding the economy and in areas such as infrastructure, transport, water and sanitation, I could clearly see the importance of building the capacity of Solomon Islands Customs and Excise Division to do post clearance audits.
To understand the ramifications for the local communities, I joined the RAMSI Community Outreach Programme where I had a chance to try my hand at speaking Solomon Islands Pidgin, explaining the role of Custom Modernisation Programme, the purpose of my role and relationship with my Solomon Islands counterpart and what revenue outcomes could mean for the communities.
RAMSI Community Outreach is a great way to see and hear first hand from ordinary people what they think about RAMSI and explain your own purpose of being there and answer their questions.
Being face to face and having a personal interaction with local people helped reinforce how crucial it was to put 100% into capacity building knowing that myself and my counterpart could make a difference and play a part in laying the foundation for future revenue collection and reducing revenue leakages for the Solomon Islands Government and people.
Living in Solomon Islands required cultural and environmental adjustment. There were a different set of challenges to overcome during my deployment and I soon learned that effort, adaptability, flexibility, resilience and being resourceful were the keys. Important to cultural adjustment was the invaluable source of ongoing support and information from RAMSI, from my team leader in the mission’s Customs Modernisation Programme, Christine Heiser and Foreign Agency Advisor, Dave Sadler, as well engaging with my cultural broker, Doreen Linga (my landlady who became a very good friend). These were all invaluable support mechanisms and I soon began to culturally adjust and open my eyes to the multitude of experiences around me. 
Pidgin classes and cultural adaptability was also essential to overcoming these obstacles to progress with my terms of reference and also to be able to enjoy daily life outside of my comfort zone of living in a wealthier country with a higher standard of living.
Watching the local television show “One Television”, reading the Solomon Star and listening to Wantok FM really helped me with Pidjin, feeling refreshed after listening to the latest in Roviana music from the Western Province and more importantly, learning about the current affairs of Solomon Islands.
I was very privileged to have Solomon Islands customs staff and the interesting array of Solomon Islands people that I came across, to share their Kastom stories with me, methods of cooking certain food and the dishes made (along with some hearty home cooked meals!), medicinal information, and stories of the historical timeline of the Solomon Islands from the old days of discovery, headhunting and cannibal days, moving along the time line to being a British Protectorate, the role of missionaries and religion, to some of the greatest battles including the Battle of Guadalcanal during World War II from 1942 to 1943 to the more recent ethnic tensions and life for people since the arrival of RAMSI in July 2003.
I very much enjoyed developing the advisor-counterpart relationship, sharing my extensive compliance knowledge and skills and being a representative all at once of the Customs Modernisation Programme, Australian Customs and Border Protection Service and RAMSI.
The role and responsibilities that went hand in hand with the placement were both professionally and personally fulfilling, enriching and unforgettable.