A Life of Hurdles; Compassion; Fish and Chips.  Today we heard the most remarkable story from our own Peter Rea. Some of you will know Peter who has worked in the port since 1972. He recently retired from ISS-McKay where he was best known for looking  after cruise ship visits.

The story that unfolded began in 1989 when a refugee from Vietnam, Viet Bui, escaped his country and made it by boat to Japan after being picked up at sea by a Japanese Navy  vessel. He received refugee status in New  Zealand some 10 years later.

Viet’s girlfriend Phuong Doung, was to ship out of Vietnam secretly on the same boat with Viet but she was separated on an obscure dockside when police discovered the escape plot. Phuong ended up in gaol for some months while Viet got away.   Imagine some years later Phuong received a call from Viet now in a refugee camp in Japan. He spent years there before being granted refugee status in New Zealand.  With a sister already here he settled down but missed his girlfriend badly.

It was not long before he was given immigration clearance to return to Vietnam,  marry his girl friend and bring her to Christchurch in 1999. With little money the couple received some help from their lawyer and few Vietnamese friends and they managed to buy the Fish and Chip shop called Lyttelton Sea Foods, then in London Street next door to Leslies Bookshop.   This is where Peter Rea first encountered the Duong family. They shared a parking garage together. Peter got to know the couple, their two baby girls and some of the relatives. The family prospered and with hard work were able to buy a home in Brookhaven.  In 2005 the family took a well earned holiday intending to travel to Vietnam and then USA to join up with other family members.

But this is where the families luck started to turn. While on their stop over in Vietnam, Viet died unexpectedly of a brain aneurism. The wife, our own Phuong Duong or Donna as she is known affectionately, was left with the two very young children and a then unknown large debt. With little command of English and her two small children she returned to her home in Brookhaven and stayed home raising her babies. Life wasn’t easy.

When the girls were old enough to attend school in 2007 Donna heard Lyttelton Sea Foods was up for sale again and bought it back with her late husband’s life insurance money.   Peter was amazed to see her back but most of all the ladies determination to operate a Fish and Chip business with such limited English on her own.   Concerned, Peter let her know if she needed help she only had to ask.  Sensing the pressure was getting too much for Donna in 2008 Peter managed, with some difficulty, to get her older sister living in Vietnam a two months special purposes visa.  Her visit brought some happiness into Donna’s troubled life.

If you thought that was the end of it the second tragedy was about to unfold in Donna’s life. Her husband had lent money, amounting to half the value of her home, to his sister before his death.  Donna thinking that money was being paid back suddenly received a call from the United States saying that due to the financial crash there was no money to pay it back and the call ended abruptly.  There was no security or receipt of any kind for this lending.

Peter encountered a very distraught Donna at the back of her shop with her girls, wanting to end it all and inconsolable.  After managing to bring some order Peter  set about sorting things out and do what he could over the next months.   He helped the family negotiate a sale of their home, pay off some of the debt and relocate into another home with a small mortgage while Donna continued to work at the shop.

Just when things were looking up for everyone the September earthquake hit closing her shop for three weeks then the February earthquake struck putting her out of business for good.  Peter now retired and knowing how much Donna had put into the business set about to get her up and running again.

You can never tell Peter Rea that you can’t do something.  This strong willed man set about to guide Donna through the maze of re-starting a business in Lyttelton!  We all know this is not easy after the earthquakes, let alone with a venture like a Fish and Chip shop in a port-a-com when all advice was that it was going to be too hard.

Peter stuck at it and was able to weave his way through all the relocation and building hurdles. For getting the port-a-com Fish and Chip shop up and running again Peter pays tribute to many people, for without their advice and help he says he could not have done the job.  In particular Lyttelton’s co-operative and problem solving compassionate people got to it and have enabled this business to re-open and support this family again.

Whilst love is an often unused word in the world we reside in, this story really demonstrates love and respect for each other in action. Peter Rea has overturned so many hurdles to keep this family safe and cared for. Its true that “Actions speak louder than words especially in these situations” say Peter.