Ngai Te Rangi bless the seven ambulances before they were shipped to war-torn Ukraine

Injured combatants in Ukraine will have the blessings of a Taurangamoana iwi as they are carrid to safety in a fleet of reconditioned ambulances. Photo / Waatea.News.Com/K.A.R.E

Injured combatants in Ukraine will have the blessings of a Taurangamoana iwi as they are carried to safety in a fleet of reconditioned ambulances.

The seven decommissioned New Zealand ambulances are now in Kyiv, after a major fundraising and logistics exercise by the charity Kiwi K.A.R.E, standing for Kiwi Aid & Refugee Evacuation.

Tenby Powell ls organising ambulances and medical supplies to be sent to Ukraine. Photo / Bay of Plenty Times

Chair Tenby Powell says the vehicles were donated by Hato Hone, St John Ambulance, and shipped to Europe by shipping company Wallenius Wilhelmsen, after being named and blessed by Ngai Te Rangi.

Iwi chief executive Paora Stanley says Ngai Te Rangi was honoured to bless the lifesaving vehicles and those who will travel within them.

Each ambulance caries a name reflecting the seven key principles of Māori worldview: Rangatira; Manaaki; Kotahi; Whanau; Kaitiaki; Wairua; and Tupuna.

Powell, the former mayor of Tauranga and founder of Kiwi K.A.R.E., said it had been a long road for the ambulances, having departed New Zealand on May 4 and arriving at the port of Antwerp in Belgium last week. But it was also a great sense of accomplishment to see the vehicles being repurposed for Ukraine.

Waatea.News.Com