News from the Hogans
The Hogan family are Roy, Rachael, Josh, Gabrielle and Caleb (who loves to go by the Fijian version of his name - Kelepi).
They have lived in Fiji since May 2022, working with Mobile Mission Maintenance Fiji. They provide volunteer building and maintenance work for Christian organisations and host short term project teams from New Zealand.
The Hogans call Waikanae home and are supported by Waikanae Anglican Parish and St Luke’s church.
New Permits, New Support, New Challenges
August 6, 2024
We have had a busy few months with so much going on, and at such a fast pace it has been hard to take a moment to pause and reflect on it all.
Oasis Farm
In April we had a small but capable team here for a week at Oasis Farm in Sabeto. A lot of the work here was to do with termite damage and prevention. The termites had completely eaten away at a treated pine post for example, which was replaced using Australian building methods. We were also able to replace some timber door frames with aluminium and put in a concrete path which will make a big difference for people staying there in the rainy season.
Another great team at Oasis Farm.
Termites
Termites are something that Roy continues to do whatever he can to educate himself about. There is not a lot of knowledge about them in Fiji as this variety has only been here for about 15 years and the devastation they are causing is really coming to the fore now. He still learns everything he can from anyone who knows something, including Fiji Biosecurity and local pest control companies. Unfortunately there is no real experience of termites in New Zealand either, but Roy has been able to glean some advice from people in Australia which is great. This is a huge learning curve as he has been working out the different ways to keep buildings safe from termites, eradicate the colonies and build with them in mind. This knowledge continues to be helpful for all the ministries we work with and lots of homeowners we know in Fiji as well. This is an ongoing problem for Fiji that won’t go away and we want to do our best to help people with it.
When termites come to snack on your kitchen bench top.
There’s a lot more to this newsletter. To read it in full please click here
