“After repairing roads, clearing slips and drains in Pātoka, members of the Fijian engineer contingent were invited to stay on farm and given the opportunity to engage with locals with a touch game and experience sheep shearing.
“Helping to raise morale after Cyclone Gabrielle.”
A total of 34 people make up the Fijian Humanitarian Assistance Disaster Relief task force that arrived in Hawke’s Bay at the end of last month, after Fiji’s offer to help with the cyclone clean-up was officially accepted by the NZ Government.
They include members of Fiji’s military force, firefighters and those of the Pacific country’s National Disaster Management Office.
Colonel Mel Childs acknowledged at the time that the NZDF had a history of responding to requests from Pacific nations to provide humanitarian aid and disaster relief in times of crisis.
“Now it’s our turn to accept that reciprocal support.”
Childs said the NZDF teams regularly train with their Fijian counterparts, so they can learn unique skills in a hot and jungle-like environment.
One of their most recent trips was last year, when 92 Kiwi soldiers took part in a month-long exercise in the Nausori Highlands, on Fiji’s main island of Viti Levu.
