Les and Moira Wood

Story

The living in Zimbabwe was getting too difficult. Law and Order were non existant. Torture, robberies. murder, beatings, highjackings. There did not seem to be any future and the white people were not wanted by Mugabe. The farming community had been shattered and Les’ business in water management and irrigation closed down. Moira was a nurse and knew that Australia needed nurses. She was offered a job in Melbourne and asked for somewhere in the ‘Outback’ because Melbourne was too far South, too big and too cold. The agent wrote (email) back and said that Swan Hill District Hospital was interested but could not afford to pay the Agency fee. Fortunatly they had a son working in U.K. at the time and he paid the fee for the Agency. This son, Keith with his wife Tarryn and ‘Australian born’ daughter now live in Sydney. They received their Citizenship in 2007. Les, Moira and another son, Charles received their Citizenship in 2008 – a very special day in their lives.

Moira flew from Johannesburg to Australia and Les followed 5 months later via U.K. Both were very traumatised, jetlagged and neither really realized how badly they were affected by the move. There was a difficult period of mourning for all that had been and the beautiful country they had left, plus the friends now scattered all over the world. Moira landed in Adelaide and stayed a couple of nights with a cousin and his wife and then made the journey to Swan Hill by bus. Both felt immmensely grateful to be in Australia – and safe.

Moira had been to Australia in 2000 to attend the two weddings of the daughters of their ‘Bestman’ who had settled in Queensland about 15 years earlier. She had learnt about Australia’s geography and history at school in the then Rhodesia, knew the songs Waltzing Matilda, and “Kookabura sits on an old gum tree”. Moira was in Sydney the week before the opening of the Olympics, and watched the opening on the T.V. from Queensland. She loved the country, loved the people and got tears in her eyes whenever she heard the Australian Nation Anthem.

Moira started work at the Hospital in very different circumstances to those in Zimbabwe. She found the majority of Australians did not appreciate what a beautiful country they had and how lucky they were with all the services, food, shops etc. The most outstanding impression was how everyone expected that they (or their relative,) should be kept alive until they at least reached 100 years old – no matter what circumstances. Litigation was around every corner and the Hospital and Health Services were run on the idea of protecting the staff from getting into the postition where they could be sued. However there was not much support and if something was to happen the nurse (or whoever) would be ‘on their own. ‘ It was not a happy hospital and “those upstairs” seemed to think in dollars and not humanity and keeping a happy staff. The idea was that if you did not have to be in Swan Hill for family or work reasons you would not stay there for long. What a pity when medical personel are needed so badly in the rural areas.

Les and Charles work out on the fruit blocks, both have continued to be blood donors and all three are very proud TO BE AUSTRALIAN.

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