Sisters in Arms

New Zealand Army Sisters – Ngaa Tuaahine o Ngaati Tumatauenga – was founded by Staff Sergeant Aroha Bentson, RNZALR (Ret.) in September 2019.

After retiring from the New Zealand Army, Aroha felt disconnected from her military whānau. She was diagnosed with a terminal cancer and not wanting to face it alone, Aroha created NZ Army Sisters – Ngaa Tuaahine o Ngaati Tumatauenga (Sisters in Arms). Unfortunately, Aroha would not get to see how successful her dream would become as she passed away in April 2020. Veterans’ Affairs reached out to Aileen Tough-Wright and Tania King from Sisters in Arms, to find out a bit more about what the Sisters in Arms is all about.

What is the purpose of Sisters in Arms?

Sisters in Arms supports current and former New Zealand Army Women –soldiers and officers, from the Regular Force, Reserves, and NZWRAC. Sisters in Arms provides:

• Whanaungatanga, through connection and relationships.

• Manaakitanga, providing an inclusive and welcoming environment where women are valued and respected.

• Kaitiakitanga, care and responsibility for our taonga (us); and

• Whakaiti, humility in leadership.

What makes Sisters in Arms unique?

We use our sisters’ individual personal networks, which are predominately within the New Zealand Army, to build a relationship with people who are at their most vulnerable.

Sisters in Arms is not a Charitable Trust or Incorporated Society. Our Sisters are not required to pay a membership fee. We are a self-funded organisation.

How does Sisters in Arms help those who have served/are serving?

Whanaungatanga

We encourage our Sisters in Arms to hold informal gettogethers to reinforce our connections and whanaungatanga within the group, and we have had an annual gettogethers.

Manaakitanga

Sisters in Arms distributes care packages to former and current serving women of the New Zealand Army – to those who are going through hard times, whether it be a protracted medical journey, a loss in the family, or a sister simply showing signs of just needing a pick-me-up. We sent one of our Sisters in Arms challenge coins to Commander Yvonne Gray as a small taonga to let her know that we stand beside her. We call this fairy dusting

We give gifts to acknowledge our Sisters in Arms achievements, promotions, or for representing New Zealand on the international stage. One of our Sisters has been selected to attend the world powerlifting competition this year so we gifted her a Sisters in Arms t-shirt to wear at the competition.

Kaitiakitanga

We maintain an open door policy for our sisters to reach out if they are looking for support but are unsure whether they are eligible, whether that be from Veterans’ Affairs or the RNZRSA. We have successfully connected 18 sisters with Veterans’ Affairs or RNZRSA, three of which were complex cases.

This year we began to engage with our Army brothers, partners and children and connecting them with support from Veterans’ Affairs or RNZRSA as well.

We provide CV writing workshops to help sisters into work. Candidates are also encouraged to engage with the RNZRSA Veteran Employment Service. Since May 2021, 19 individual oneon-one CV writing workshops have been conducted, and they all made it through to the interview stage.

Whakaiti

This year we engaged a mental health provider to conduct a Mental Health First Aid certificate course in Hamilton. Sponsored by Elgar Trust, the service provider PracticeSafe, and a number of RSAs, we now have 17 brothers, sisters, and an RSA District Support Advisor, certified as Mental Health First Aiders.

How can people get in touch with Sisters in Arms?

You can find us on our private page on Facebook search – NZ Army Sisters – Ngaa Tuaahine o Ngaati Tumatauenga.