In July 2009, a group of students from the School of Architecture at the University of Queensland participated in 21 day community build program in the Solomon Islands. The program was organised by Emergency Architects Australia through the Brisbane branch headed by James Davidson and managed on site in the Solomon Island’s by EAA project director David Kaunitz. University of Queensland assisted with organisation and the lecturer Michael Dickson participated on site for the second half of the program.

The aim of the trip focused on the construction of 14 ventilated pit toilets in the village of Keigold. Keigold is a new village established after the April 2007 earthquake in the Solomon Islands following the devastation of the previous village of Mondo. Students worked alongside residents of the local village for a period of two weeks to construct the toilet prototypes which will be constructed in other villages throughout the region. The presentation will highlight the many positive aspects of the trip and generate awareness of the work of EAA so that others may get informed and involved in future projects.