A connection from one community to another has put smiles on faces and tears in eyes in the earthquake-struck town of Port Vila.
The Ni-Vanuatu capital, home to 49,000 people, was struck by the 7.3 magnitude quake on 17 December, 2024, killing 14 people and causing widespread devastation.
With strong links to the Ni-Van community through the recognised seasonal employer (RSE) scheme, the workers from Thomas Brothers Orchard earmarked some space in a 40-foot container to be filled with goods for quake-damaged schools and hospitals.
Local RSE workers regularly pool resources to send a container of goods back to their families and home villages, and this time, a portion of the space was reserved for charity.
At a cost of almost $16,000 for the container’s shipping, they had their work cut out for them. The orchard and its Ni-Van workers put a call out to the community, gradually raising funds and donations of school supplies, stationary, hospital goods, and lots of soft toys.
The MenzShed donated tools, while boxes of educational books were also collected for schools. The money was raised through community donations, a Givealittle page, and an all-day busking event by the RSE string band, coupled with a sausage sizzle, beside the Thomas Brother’s Riwaka ice cream store in summer.
The initiative also drew strong support from the local op shops, some of whom gave free or discounted goods. Human resources manager Lara Bradford reckons other orchard owners pitched in too, with familiar names popping up on the Givealittle page.
“It really opened our eyes just to see how supportive everyone’s been,” she says.
Lara says most of their 100 RSE workers are from Vanuatu, split between summer and winter crews, and although none were directly affected by the quake, “of course, being such a small community, everybody knew someone”.
The container arrived at the beginning of August and was coordinated onsite by John-Bill Ruben, one of Thomas Brother’s Ni-Van crew. He divided up the goods and distributed them to several schools and hospitals, and, speaking to The Guardian from Port Vila, says that the recipients were very happy to receive the items.
“They were very thankful to the Motueka community,” he says, adding that some shed tears of joy to be given the goods.
RSE workers tend to be in New Zealand for seven months a year, split across different crews, and generally return each year. During some seasons, they save enough to share the cost of a container with workers from other orchards, filling it with building materials, tools, or household goods to help construct homes, start businesses, or improve their families’ quality of life.
After the success of making space in this container for charitable purposes, the group is hoping to do the same again in the future and is already beginning to brainstorm their approach.
