It started with a visit to Cooks Islands in 1969 and this month Wanganui optometrist Mike Webber had his services to the island community recognised.
Mr Webber and four other New Zealanders have been awarded honorary permanent residency, recognising their contribution to the health and wellbeing of the islanders.
Theyjoin an elite group of foreigners granted honorary residency in the past 40 years.
Mr Webber has been a regular visitor to the Cooks, dispensing his expertise in optometry.
Others awarded this month included Dr Bob Eason, a physician at Counties-Manukau District Health Board, Christchurch optometrist John Veale, and Andrew MacDiarmid, a Tauranga orthopaedic surgeon.
He said the islands relied on this generosity to fill gaps in its health services. "We're a small, developing nation with limited resources but we have considerable health and medical needs that are far beyond our capacity to cope with," Mr Marsters said.
Mr Webber said he was thrilled with the award.
"Of the group who were honoured, I was the oldest but that probably indicated that I've been going to the Cooks since 1969," he said. The award also meant he was entitled to buy land in the Cooks, but he was not planning to do that.
Mr Webber was in the Cooks to deliver a paper to a health conference but had been aware of the presentation.
