(Picture caption: The Nelson Tasman Tongan Community Trust is organising containers of aid destined for Tonga.)
The week following the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcanic explosion and tsunami felt excruciatingly long for the 70-odd Tongan families in the Nelson Motueka area as they waited to hear the voices of their loved ones once again.
Chairman of the Nelson Tasman Tongan Community Trust Joshua Kutu says Tongans everywhere have been impacted by events in their home country, and with communications down, the week that followed the disaster was one of the hardest in their lives.
“Trying to get communication with our loved ones back home was challenging, so our community held a meeting, to see what support we could do as a collective to help our homeland,” Joshua says.
The Trust decided getting essential supplies to families in Tonga via container ships was a priority, and funds were needed to make this happen.
However, fundraising did not get away to the best start, with the Kai Festival and planned community concerts cancelled due to New Zealand moving to the traffic light setting of Red.
Trying a different approach, the Trust reached out to Nelson Tasman Pasifika Trust, City Council labour MP and the local iwi, who immediately offered their support to get the relief response underway and to start filling containers destined for Tonga.
“Other wider community groups such as the Samoan community, Samoan EFKS church groups, the Fijian community, local retail outlets, and schools have also been a huge help,” Joshua adds.
The Trust has already filled the first lot of containers with essential supplies to go on a ship which leaves for Tonga this week, and a second lot of containers are planned to follow soon.
As the Nelson boasts many Tongan RSE workers, the Trust has also organised a container specifically for the workers’ families in Tonga.
“Hopefully, we can deliver more containers full of supplies in the future, as we know it will be a long recovery for our Kingdom of Tonga,” Joshua says.
The Trust is taking suitable donations for future containers, including tinned items, and long-lasting food such as rice, oil, sugar, flour, and noodles, along with water.
“We’ll take anything that will help Tonga out,” Joshua says.
“I also want to thank everyone who has supported our Tongan community - our funders of the containers, our Pasifika brothers and sisters and the Tasman community.
“We are so grateful and appreciate all the love and support.”