Happy Tuesday Friends!

I hope everyone is travelling well as we move into the second half of the year.  I work in finance so my last couple of months have been crazy. I am very much enjoying the slow easy pace now.  Even managed to get two quilts completed over the weekend!

We have another lot of beautiful messages from far and wide and some awesome images, so grab a cuppa, sit back and relax while you soak up some well deserved gratitude. 

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Dear Ms Toni F,

I am currently deployed on OP ASLAN in South Sudan and a few days ago I had the privilege to receive your wonderful gift of an Aussie Hero Quilts Laundry Bag!

I am truly impressed with the quality, design and finishing touches you have put into my laundry bag. I had imagined what my laundry bag could look like, but your craftsmanship definitely exceeded my imagination. I am proud to be the owner and it will continue to provide me many years of joyful ownership.

I have attached a photo of your laundry bag with me on the airport ramp at Juba airport, where I perform an Aviation Safety role in the United Nations. UN Helicopters perform an essential role in South Sudan, particularly in the wet season as many dirt roads turn into mudholes, and vehicles are unable to distribute the food and other aid to those who need it. The lack of investment into South Sudan infrastructure is one of the main reasons why South Sudan split from Sudan in 2011. The helicopter behind me in the photo is operated by a company called ‘Ukrainian Helicopters’, all of the crew are Ukrainian men and it’s been unique working with them, especially with the backdrop of the war in Ukraine going on.

I also liked reading your letter, and couldn’t help notice how some of the locations you mentioned I had also been to. In 2015-2018 I was working with the Navy, and I lived in an apartment in St Leonards, right next to Crows Nest. In fact as a young kid growing up in WA, I distinctly remember the TV program ‘Hey Hey It’s Saturday’ being filmed in Crows Nest, or at least that is where they requested any letter submissions for competitions to be sent. In 2017 my daughter was born in Royal North Shore Hospital, so I guess I too will also have a very strong attachment to Crows Nest. Prior to deploying here I was working at RAAF Base Williamtown in Newcastle, perhaps we crossed paths as you went on your fabric hunt!

I have to confess your laundry bag is still too new for laundry services at the moment, and it brings me more joy adorning the very bleak metal walls in by cabin. I hope this email provides you a fraction of the joy your laundry bag has provided me, and from my heart I am very appreciative and honoured to have a Laundry Bag sown by Ms Toni F.

A big thank you to all the artisans within Aussie Hero Quilts, your gifts bring us much enduring joy throughout our careers.

Kind regards

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Hello Beverly U,

 

Just wanted to extend my thanks for your craftsmanship and care that went in to making the Quilt and Laundry bag!

 

That was my first overseas deployment (OP Lilia Solomon Islands) since being in the Army so the two pieces you made will serve as a lovely reminder.

 

Thanks again!

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Good morning Ruth S,

 

I received the laundry bag that you made for me! Thank you so much! It is so beautiful. I love it. Thank you for taking the time to make this for me, it is really special. The decorated hand written note was so sweet too. This really made my day and I will treasure it. I love that you put a map of NZ inside it. Now when I miss my home county I can look at that.

 

Thank you!

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Dear Angie T,

 Thank you very much for the laundry bag. I love the detail that you have put into it, you’ve managed to capture the traits of my current role extremely well.

 I’ll start with a little about myself. I am first generation Australian, both my parents are from Switzerland and migrated to Australia in 1988. I am child 3 of 4 (2x Girls 2x Boys) and we grew up in North WA. 

 I did all my schooling in North WA and attended Tafe once a week during year 12. During that year, Defence did a promotional visit to the local High School in hopes to get people who had no plans after school to enlist, they were successful with me. I tried joining as soon as I could after completing year 12, however I had broken my wrist during a Tae-kwon-do challenge where we were seeing who could kick the highest, sad to say, I did not win the challenge. My friends mum was a nurse at the local hospital and was at the gym at the time of my accident, she ended up driving me to the hospital so I could receive my X-rays and get a cast put on. After 6 weeks of recovery the cast was due to come off! finally, I still remember the relief from all the itching. As soon as the cast came off, the nurse and I noticed that the break did not heal straight (doctor under training only applied 2 layers of plaster instead of 6). Unfortunately that meant I had to have my wrist surgically re-broken to straighten the wrist; fortunately there were 2 doctors up from Perth the exact week I needed them there to do the procedure (another round of 6 weeks in a cast for recovery needed).

All of this happened while I already had my medical appointment booked with Defence in Darwin. When I went to Darwin for all my pre-entry testing, including medical appointment (with the 2nd cast on) they told me I should come back in 12 months so they could see how well my arm would heal. 

During the 12 months of waiting around, I had started working out at the local airport. I ended up working there from Dec 09 til Feb 13, I worked as a baggage handler, checkout attendant and towards the end of my time there I was doing more of an office role where I would co-ordinate seating allocations for weight & balance flight data, relaying that flight data to the pilots, which they entered into their flight management computer. 

Towards the end of 2012 I had re-booked a medical appointment, no further medical issues this time, as I had done all of the other testing the first time around I was set to go, they sent out the initial letter of offer soon there-after with a starting date in the new year.

I joined Defence in Feb 2013, signing on as an Avionics Technician. As an Avionics Technician, broadly, my job is to troubleshoot and resolve faults on aircraft systems that primarily uses electricity to operate, for example the Radios, Auto-pilot, Radar, computers, any associate wiring, etc. This is the reason for the theme request and the result was amazing, thank you!

In my 11 years, I have spent 1.5 years in Wagga Wagga going through Recruit training (3 Months) and Initial Employment Training (Avionics Technical School). 2 years at RAAF Base Pearce with 79SQN where I got to go on 2 exercises to Darwin and Learmonth (Exmouth) before they transitioned to a civilian contractor to do the maintenance on the Hawk-127. I posted mid-year 2016 to 2SQN at RAAF base Williamtown where I have been ever since. During my tenure at 2SQN I have been given the opportunity to travel the all over Australia and the world on exercises and deployments to places such as Malaysia, Multiple locations within USA, UAE for 4 months (Sep19 – Jan20) and more recently Germany for 3 months (Jan24 – Apr24).

I feel quite privileged that I am able to do what I do as a career and the opportunities I have been a part of. Thank you again for the laundry bag, it will come in handy on my next trip!

Kind Regards,

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Dear  Gail MacQ,

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Hi Barbara D,

Good Afternoon Jenni S, 

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Until next week keep your letters, emails and photos coming in.