Nikao couple Ian and Jackie Sanderson don’t have a lot, but what they do have, they care very much about.

The couple have been on Rarotonga for 35 years, having fallen in love with the island during a family vacation, and subsequently worked and retired in the Cook Islands.

Now they are putting out a plea for some good old-fashioned generosity.

Ian doesn’t sleep too well, and likes the company of his DVD player to watch “wholesome” movies during the early hours of the morning.         

“I am a 91-year-old pensioner living with my 89-year-old wife Jackie here on the back road in Nikao.

“The request I make is something I myself could of one time handled, but years have taken their toll, making the even smallest task virtually impossible for me to accomplish.

“It is now for me to find some kind hearted carpenter or handyman that I have to turn to for help.”

The couple share a 20-foot container home which contains a tiny kitchenette, bathroom and their bed.

They both struggle with mobility.

Their television is wall mounted, but it’s a tight space, and the DVD player currently sits in an awkward spot on the neighbouring kitchen bench, just next to their bed.

“Please, is there such a kind hearted carpenter or handyman somewhere out there who could put up for us a very small shelf in our container home situated on the back road in Nikao to house a DVD player that would allow us to watch non-violent movies through our television set?” Ian asked. 

“I don’t sleep at all well at night, so having a television set that I can play wholesome videos through would be nothing short of a dream for us.”

The couple came to Rarotonga from New Zealand about 35-years ago with their two children for a family vacation.

It had been Ian’s long-held dream to live on a Pacific island and they decided to settle in the Cooks where they were both offered jobs.

They subsequently settled on Rarotonga, Ian retired aged 77, and Jackie, aged 70.

“The people are nice, we get looked after so well,” Ian said of living in the Cooks.

“We now have our New Zealand pension, we had to fight for it.”

Anyone keen to help the couple out is encouraged to contact them on 24185 or by email bushhaven15@gmail.com.