It began with a cyclone, turning into many days of flooding, where thousands of people lost their homes to damage, to rivers or the ocean and rivers. Lives were lost - mothers, fathers, children, grandparents.
"A mother and her baby were killed instantly when the World War II main highway bridge they were crossing collapsed, but that was just one of many tragic stories. Such a very sad time, which I happened to experience from the beginning.
"I saw bridges collapsing before my eyes, homes being washed away out to sea, people being washed away. A truly sad time for the people in a country so close to home."
The Solomon Islands were largely unknown to much of the world, but the country was a tropical paradise with a Melanesian/Polynesian culture, home to people who had great affection for New Zealanders. It was also home to a substantial, "hugely influential" Kiwi community, which had not escaped unscathed.
The damage done by a natural disaster could be even more devastating in an undeveloped country than elsewhere, Cody said, because there was no warning.
"Seeing first-hand a country so close to home, a neighbour of New Zealand, go through such hardship is truly heart-breaking," she added.
"It has been several weeks since the great flooding, and thousands of people are still homeless and in evacuation centres with no running water or food. I have been doing my part to help, as many people have, to register the homeless and help local villages, but there is only so much you can do with your own bare hands.
"Red Cross is the main charity, which donates food, survival items and medical care. If anyone back home in New Zealand feels the need to reach out a helping hand to our neighbour in the Pacific Islands, their donation to the Red Cross Solomon Island relief fund, as little as $2, will go a very long way to rebuilding not only homes, not only the lives of these people, but a nation.
"If New Zealand ever went through such a thing, I know our neighbours would reach out to us."
The International Red Cross had launched an appeal to raise $1.7 million to enable the Solomon Islands Red Cross to continue delivering emergency humanitarian assistance to more than 20,000 people.
"One month on (from the worst flooding in the country's history) the needs are still great.
More than 4000 people remain in emergency shelters in Honiara, and thousands of families face months of recovery to try to return to their normal lives," Solomon Islands Red Cross secretary-general Joanne Zoleveke said.
"More emergency support is still very much needed to provide basic relief supplies such as clean water, sanitation and emergency shelter, but we're also looking at how to help people for the longer-term to rebuild their homes and lives."
Donations may be made via www.redcross.org.nz/donate/pacific-disaster-fund/
