Emotional Return Home For RFMF Corporal
Feast for Corporal Apenisa Kuruiwaca after returning home after a year on tour of duty.
Saturday 23 March 2019 | 02:33
Corporal Apenisa Kuruiwaca with his wife, Paulini Kuruiwaca, and their sons Semiti James and Apenisa Junior at the Nadi International Airport after arriving from Sinai on March 22, 2019. Photo: Nicolette Chambers
It was an emotional return home for Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF) Corporal Apenisa Kuruiwaca after a year away on peacekeeping duties in the Middle East.
Corporal Kuruiwaca was among 70 RFMF peacekeepers who arrived at the Nadi International Airport yesterday afternoon after serving in Sinai under the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) mission.
The soldiers were welcomed by families who flooded the arrivals waiting area to greet them after being away for peacekeeping duties.
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Corporal Kuruiwaca said he gained a lot of experience on this mission, which he was grateful for.
“I gained more experience and it was a good peacekeeping mission for me,” he said.
“I learnt a lot from there, but I really missed my family and it is an emotional trip for me coming back to them after one year of serving my country.”
He said there were no words to explain his emotions of coming back to his wife, Paulini Kuruiwaca, and his sons, Semiti James, eight-year-old and Apenisa Junior, eight-months-old.
Mrs Kuruiwaca said the family would host a feast to acknowledge his return and the hard work he put into serving the nation.
“We are planning to spend the weekend here in Nadi as a family and then we will travel down to Suva on Sunday to have a small kana (feast) for him,” she said.
Edited by Epineri Vula
Feedback: nicolette.chambers@fijisun.com.fj
