Wairarapa teen’s aid mission
Matt Wilson with Mailingi Hetutu who helped raise funds for the Nuie Project by selling raffle tickets.
Donated materials from Mitre 10 Mega are loaded into the container, itself donated by Royal Wolf.
The Niue Project team with the fully loaded container.
Matt Wilson shuts the container for the last time prior to its journey to Niue.
Site plan of the existing and proposed Aged Care facility at Niue Foou Hospital.
Site plan showing the new facility incorporating the new day-bed area and modified shipping container.
Interior of the modified shipping container.
Over the past nine months, Wairarapa teenager Matt Wilson has utilised his love of architecture and design to undertake an aid-style project for a hospital in Niue. In the first of four parts he talks about how the project came about and what he hopes to achieve.
The Niue Project started out as a challenge from my dad – something he called an ‘educational adventure’ – which involved me taking my love of architecture and design and doing a project for a community in need.
There were a few conditions that went with it, like having an overseas element and being funded solely through sponsorship and donations. And now, after many months of fundraising, designing and planning, I’m heading to Niue to build a special day-bed area for elderly patients at Niue Foou Hospital.
I chose Niue – located 2400km northeast of New Zealand – because dad had been there a number of times and told me it has limited resources of its own and relies heavily on overseas funding for major infrastructure projects.
The hospital, located in the capital of Alofi, was rebuilt after cyclone Heta in 2004. The day-bed area will be made up of five studio-type units located adjacent to the main block and will include a landscaped garden and a services block. The new area will give elderly patients a comfortable and restful place to enjoy their day and will also allow the hospital to continue to provide a high standard of care for patients in its aged-care unit.
The project started getting very real for me when the 20-foot shipping container – donated by Royal Wolf – arrived in Masterton in November last year. In many ways it is the most important part of the project. As well as holding all the materials, the container will be an integral part of the project having been modified to include a kitchen, laundry and toilet block once it’s on site. Best of all it will be strong enough to withstand the cyclones and hurricanes that Niue is prone to.
It’s due to the involvement of companies such as Royal Wolf and Mitre 10 Mega, as well as the involvement of the local Niuean community, that we have been able to raise around $63,000 for the project doing everything from running raffles through to receiving grants. It’s been an amazing journey and I’ve met some incredibly generous people along the way.
So now it’s time to finish the build in Niue. See you soon, only next time I’ll be on the island – or The Rock, as the locals call it.
