Solomon Islands Charity Wine and Cheese

To Usha Kumpula, Chair of Mission Outreach, Saint Paul’s Church; and Reverend Doctor Terry Wall, Saint Paul’s Methodist Church; and his wife Lynn: tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa- good evening to you all.

We are particularly pleased that you have asked us to share your celebration the year-long fundraising effort of St Paul’s Methodist Church and its community.  The rebuilding of a hospital in the Solomon Islands is an overwhelmingly worthy cause.

Anand and I visited the Islands in October 2009.  We experienced the warm relationship between New Zealand and the Solomon Islands and saw plenty of evidence of the co-operation between the countries.

We also attended a Regional Assistance to the Solomon Islands community outreach to Veravaulu Village.  In a highlight of the visit, the community welcomed us.  It was warm and not unlike a mihi on a marae here.  We visited several development projects including Visale Catholic Mission and its Young Women’s Vocational Training Centre.

The Solomon Islands and its people have faced many challenges over the years.  Their positive spirit has pulled them through the hard times and it is uplifting to see first hand.

The earthquake and subsequent tsunami in April 2007 was certainly a great challenge.  The destruction of the P J Twomey Hospital in the Sasamungga Village of the Choiseul Island in the west was devastating both for the surrounding communities and for the developing nation, which has a limited number of hospitals.

We would like to praise you all for your initiative and commitment to this fundraising effort in aid of the rebuilding of the Hospital whose name honours P J Twomey, the inspiring ‘leperman’ of the Pacific.

Fundraising holds both rewards and challenges and it has been made more difficult by the economic challenges that most countries around the world have experienced over the last few years.  The purse strings of homes, governments and businesses have been tightened.

In spite of the struggles, you have persevered, bringing together your families, friends, church community, and the wider community to raised funds for the rebuilding of an amenity that will support the people, especially the sick and injured, of the Solomon Islands.  You have made sustained efforts and personal sacrifices to succeed in this venture.

Here tonight you must feel rewarded, thinking of your achievement and the happiness of those you have helped.  You are here among friends, likeminded people committed to helping people less fortunate - even those offshore.  I commend your humanity.

Congratulations for reaching this milestone to aid the rebuilding of the P J Twomey Hospital in the Sasamungga Village of the Solomon Islands.

As St Francis of Assisi was famously quoted as saying: -
“. . it is in giving that we receive.”

We wish you good health and fortitude in your endeavours, no reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, kia ora, kia kaha, tēnā koutou katoa.