On the small island of Ma’uke in the Cook Islands, a team of Oceania troops led by a Māori sergeant from Whakatāne is helping build a better future for locals.
Funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, New Zealand Army Sergeant Shaun Taylor (Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Toa Rangatira) is leading more than 30 personnel from Aotearoa, Australia, Fiji, Tonga, and Vanuatu in this year’s Exercise Tropic Twilight.
“E rua ōna whāinga matua tuatahi he toro atu he manaaki atu, he whakawhanaunga atu ki ngā iwi o te Moana Nui aā-Kiwa. Pēnei ki a Ma’uke nei. Mā roto i ngā mahi whakatika whakapaipai i ngā tūāhanga me ērā atu mea o te whenua nei.
“Tuarua, he āheinga nui ki te parakatihi i ō mātou pūkenga ki te āwhina i ngā iwi rā inā, pā mai he aituā ki a rātou pērā ki te huripari, pērā ki te āwha, te waipuke rānei,” Taylor told Te Ao Māori News.
The team is assisting with maintenance and improvements to the island’s solar farm, water infrastructure, school and community halls.
“E tino rata ana au ki ēnei momo kaupapa āwhina i te tangata. He pōhēhē nui tō ētahi ko tā te hōia mahi he whawhai he pakanga, he nguha anake engari he taha anō tōna arā te tiaki te manaaki i tōna iwi pērā te kōrero, ko tā te whare tū taua he tiaki anei pea tetahi huarahi hei whakatinana ake i tērā kōrero.
“Katoa katoa ngā kōrero kua rangona e au he pai. Ko te manaakitanga, ko te tiakitanga ko te aroha kua utaina mai kei tua o kapenga.
“Ko tāku e rongo nei e tino harikoa ana te iwi kāinga tō mātou haerenga mai, whai wāhitanga mai ki te kaupapa whakahirahira nei.”
The sergeant has also become an unofficial cultural lead for his team.
“I speak te reo Māori, and that’s very similar to Cook Island Māori, so I’ve been able to speak quite openly with the locals. Our reo is very similar. I’d say it’s 90 per cent the same. There are just little differences here and there.”
But this isn’t Taylor’s first time doing mahi like this, as he has previously been deployed on humanitarian assistance missions, repairing infrastructure in the Solomon Islands and maintaining Antarctica’s McMurdo Station twice.
Taylor has also been involved in international kaupapa such as the Gallipoli commemorations and seven months on the demilitarised zone between North and South Korea.
