Fleur Mealing meets three Kiwi women who have made a commitment to serve their country and discovers how our Air Force, Army and Navy are forces of change.
RAVINDER PHAGURA
ROYAL NEW ZEALAND AIR FORCE
Not every little girl grows up dreaming of joining the Air Force. But at 14, Pilot Officer Ravinder Phagura knew that was exactly what she was going to do. And she was under no illusions about what the job would involve. “I guess people think that we always go to war,” she laughs. “I think New Zealand has quite a modern military and it’s not all about war. We do a lot of humanitarian aid and I don’t think people see that.”
The Air Force serves to protect New Zealand, including patrolling the waters of our economic exclusion zone, search and rescue operations and responding to natural disasters. They also work alongside the Army and the Navy in peacekeeping missions across the world.
But while her work is rarely conflict-based, Ravinder – who is the first-ever Sikh woman to join the Royal NZ Air Force – knows the commitment she has made to her country if war were ever to arise.
“Right at the beginning you sign the dotted line and a part of that is that you may have to give your life for the country. That’s a decision we have all made here, it’s something I understand and it’s something that I’m absolutely fine with,” she explains. “It’s the best decision I’ve ever made.”
この記事は Australian Women’s Weekly NZ の August 2019 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は Australian Women’s Weekly NZ の August 2019 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
PRETTY WOMAN
Dial up the joy with a mood-boosting self-care session done in the privacy of your own home. It’s a blissful way to banish the winter blues.
Hitting a nerve
Regulating the vagus nerve with its links to depression, anxiety, arthritis and diabetes could aid physical and mental wellbeing.
The unseen Rovals
Candid, behind the scenes and neverbefore-seen images of the royal family have been released for a new exhibition.
Great read
In novels and life - there's power in the words left unsaid.
Winter dinner winners
Looking for some thrifty inspiration for weeknight dinners? Try our tasty line-up of budget-concious recipes that are bound to please everyone at the table.
Winter baking with apples and pears
Celebrate the season of apples and pears with these sweet bakes that will keep the cold weather blues away.
The wines and lines mums
Once only associated with glamorous A-listers, cocaine is now prevalent with the soccer-mum set - as likely to be imbibed at a school fundraiser as a nightclub. The Weekly looks inside this illegal, addictive, rising trend.
Former ballerina'sBATTLE with BODY IMAGE
Auckland author Sacha Jones reveals how dancing led her to develop an eating disorder and why she's now on a mission to educate other women.
MEET RUSSIA'S BRAVEST WOMEN
When Alexei Navalny died in a brutal Arctic prison, Vladimir Putin thought he had triumphed over his most formidable opponent. Until three courageous women - Alexei's mother, wife and daughter - took up his fight for freedom.
IT'S NEVER TOO LATE TO START
Responsible for keeping the likes of Jane Fonda and Jamie Lee Curtis in shape, Malin Svensson is on a mission to motivate those in midlife to move more.
