About this time last year, Solomon Islander Benjamin Tegerobo was out and about in Whangarei with a bucket collecting much-needed money to assist his compatriots affected by a deadly earthquake and tsunami back home.
Little did he know that in just over a year, he'd have to replicate the fundraiser, this time to help families devastated by deadly floods on the island that killed 23 people.
The loss of five relatives, from Koa Hill Village near the capital Honiara, was particularly painful.
"The earthquake last year and now this ... it's really tormented my people," he lamented.
His brother's family lost their home during the midday flooding. They are among 10,000 people sheltering in evacuation centres in the capital.