Vini Watkins, who formerly hails from Christchurch, says her long service with the New Zealand Army underpins the special bond she feels with the Gallipoli Peninsula in Türkiye.
She’s there as part of the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) contingent to commemorate the ill-fated campaign of 1915.
Ms Watkins served 13 years in the New Zealand Army (2009 to 2022), and now works for Army General Staff in Wellington as a civilian. She is a Samoan member of the NZDF Māori Cultural Group (MCG), which will play a major part at the ceremonies on the Turkish peninsula.
“I was unfortunate to never deploy with the Army, but I have been involved with the Māori kapa haka for some time,” she said. Her connection with the MCG dated back to 2016.
“When I joined I naturally went to the Māori groups and found some brothers and sisters there.
“The values, the morals, the tikanga is very similar,” she said.
“I’m not Māori, there’s not one ounce of Māori in me, but I love it. In fact they encourage me to be myself and also to share my language and practise some of the things I do.
“It’s a very safe place for me.”
Ms Watkins is the first member of her family to serve in the New Zealand military, and while she doesn’t have a family connection with Gallipoli, she will lay poppies on behalf of fri
