Tenby Powell

In 2022, Tenby was watching television, horrified as Russian troops poured over the border from Belarus. Having recently overcome cancer, the scenes struck a chord with Tenby, and he found himself wanting to do something significant to help.

“I thought, ‘I’m not going to sit there this time’. There have been times when I wished I could take action and help in certain ways but I wasn’t able to due to my health or other commitments. But now, I knew I had the skills, health and time to really make a difference.”

With a background serving in the military as a colonel in the Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment and having been the Mayor of Tauranga, Tenby felt impelled to use his previous experience to his advantage and decided to travel to Ukraine to properly understand the ways in which he could help.

A burning desire to create real change

Upon entering Ukraine, it became immediately obvious to Tenby that the best way he could help was through humanitarian channels. Calling on friends and connections for support Tenby set up Kiwi K.A.R.E, and within months the organisation was operating exclusively in Ukraine’s Red Zones (the newly liberated areas and those towns and villages closest to the Russian adversaries), delivering humanitarian and medical aid directly to front line medical units, Red Zone hospitals and residents.

“Some of the Ukranians haven’t seen a doctor, nurse, or health professional in years. We forget the conflict has been going on in some form since 2014, so our work is a consequence of that, including conducting medical clinics in these towns and villages.”

One of Kiwi K.A.R.E’s most extensive projects is importing ambulances from New Zealand. Seven ambulances have now been sent to Ukraine with six being used by frontline medical units, while the seventh vehicle ‘Manaaki’ (caring), has been retained for the charity’s health outreach asset.

“We have 16 ambulances in storage in Perth which we are hoping to ship over in May, this is currently being negotiated due to shipping issues in the Red Sea. We have also been in discussion with Fire and Emergency New Zealand about securing fire trucks which are in high demand in Ukraine.”

Along with securing emergency vehicles, Kiwi K.A.R.E also fund and manufacture wood burning stoves and water heaters, recycled from old electrical water boilers. Tenby says the old water boilers, donated from all over Ukraine, are dismantled and stripped down to access the internal tank and then transformed into cheap and effective wood burning stoves and water boilers.

“Throughout 2023 and 2024 we distributed around 2000 units and these were often described as lifesaving by those families who received them. The reality is with the destruction of water and power infrastructure, we need these stoves and heaters all year round because that’s all some people have got.”

Gifting ‘Yuri Bears’ to Ukrainian children

Another project stemmed from a call Tenby received from a senior executive at Ryman Healthcare who asked if Kiwi K.A.R.E would be interested in distributing ‘Yuri Bears’ – tiny teddy bears that are knitted by the residents of Ryman Healthcare’s rest homes in New Zealand and Australia.

“The employee told me she was interested in doing this because she and her husband had adopted a refugee from Chernobyl, a 12-year-old boy called Yuri, who lived with them for some time before eventually moving back to Ukraine. The idea of Yuri Bears is all about giving something to these kids who have lost everything.”

Tenby and his organisation managed to get a container of Yuri Bears shipped to Ukraine and they make sure to take the knitted bears with them on any missions they do – whether it’s delivering humanitarian aid, medical aid or facilitating evacuations.

Having been on the ground in Ukraine for months at a time and seeing with his own eyes the devastation of the conflict, Tenby says he couldn’t do what he does without the support of his wife Sharon and his kids, and he often has to remind himself that when he is back in New Zealand he is safe.

“I think family has been my biggest anchor of all, but I’ve also got a lot of experience serving in the military for a long time. Sometimes I experience cognitive dissonance, where I don’t know where I am for a second in time. That’s when I have to say to myself ‘I am in Tauranga in New Zealand and I am safe’ and remind myself how grateful we are for what we’ve got here in our country.”

If you would like to support the work of Kiwi K.A.R.E and help to fund vehicles, purchase supplies and equipment, donate what you are able here.