Giving back to the community

More than 20 years ago, Sam Achary worked at a service station in Balmoral, Auckland.

New to New Zealand from his homeland Fiji where a military coup had disrupted the livelihoods of thousands, Achary felt alone working in Auckland, but kept plodding on regardless – he had a family to support back home.

At a neighbouring KFC, a young man from Ba, Fiji, worked. He also had no family here. The pair became good friends and used to go out for a “few drinks” on Friday evenings.

One weekend, the young man went to Waikato with some other friends and died after a vehicle collision.

Achary found out a few days later that his friend was dead. He also found out that his friend's body was still in the morgue in Hamilton because no one knew his family or how to get his body back home to Ba.

Achary got in touch with the deceased's family in Ba who told him that they were trying to raise money to bring his body back home. Achary was saddened by the situation and he asked his own boss for a “loan” of $2000 to help out the family in Ba. Although he had planned to pay his boss back, the kind man did not accept any money when the time came for Achary to pay the amount back.

That incident left such an indelible mark on Achary that from then on he began to feel sympathetic towards families burdened with the costs and related costs of funerals.

“I then started attending funerals, and would try and help out wherever I could, but at the back of my mind was the thought that things could be better for the people in our community,” Achary, who is now a successful businessman, told Sandesh.

These days Achary attends any funeral that he learns of - whether the deceased was known to him does not matter - and he’s always helping out in kind or cash towards the costs. “It’s become a ‘hobby’.”

Achary has also come across numerous incidents of non-residents who died here but their burdened families struggled to make ends meet as far as funeral costs were concerned.

The numerous incidents throughout the years have gnawed at Achary’s soul, and those emotions have today led to him and a couple of like-minded friends to set up a trust to help families burdened with unsettling expenses in times of grief.

The New Zealand-Fiji Community Services & Projects Trust was set up in November last year, and one project which takes priority for the trustees is the setting up of a funeral home for the community.

And Achary and his fellow trustees – Bimlesh Kumar and Satendra Kumar – are this week (May 17) inviting one and all to attend a community meeting to voice their opinion on the proposal. The meeting venue is the Wanderers Club, 123 Coronation Rd, Mangere Bridge, 4pm.

“People are invited to come along and have their say on how things should be done, or voice their opinion on whether this is a worthwhile project for the community,” Achary said.

At the launch of the trust, Achary told guests: “It is the intention of the trust to establish a rest home or retired home for our people where we can eat our kind of food, watch our kind of movies and live amongst our people in a friendly environment.”

On the funeral home: “Ladies and gentlemen, since death is certain and while we have the opportunity, what better in life can we do than to prepare and provide amenities for such occasion. We all will certainly need such a facility and can make it available for everyone’s use.

“Also, by having such facilities it would certainly relieve the pressure of those who would be required to undertake and conduct the final rites of us or our families as the case may be.”

Achary told Sandesh it was time to give something back to the community as a positive development.

He said the meeting at the Wanderers Club (123 Coronation Rd, Mangere Bridge) was an opportunity for people to express their opinions.

For details on the meeting, Sam Achary can be contacted on 09 634 5545, 09 634 0437 or 021 395723.