The challenges of the Wellington construction industry in winter will be nothing in comparison to the situation Upper Hutt's Bruce Glasgow will be facing for the next three months.

On Wednesday 1 August Mr Glasgow will be flying out to Indonesia where he will be putting his training as a plumber/gasfitter to use as an aid worker for New Zealand Red Cross.

The deployment to Indonesia will be Mr Glasgow's first for New Zealand Red Cross and he is excited about the prospect of starting his mission and putting his skills as a tradesman to use.

"I have spent my whole life dealing with the New Zealand building industry and I think it is time to do something a bit more meaningful with my skills," said Mr Glasgow.

During his three month mission Mr Glasgow will be based in Banda Aceh and together will fellow Red Cross aid workers will be working on shelter and construction projects.

While it may have been 2½ years since the South East Asia tsunami hit Indonesia there still remains a lot of reconstruction work to be done.

After the tsunami hit, there were approximately 67,500 people living in tents, with another 78,000 in barracks and a further 300,000 staying in hosted accommodation.

To help provide shelter to those who have lost their homes the international Red Cross Movement have spend the past 2½ building transition shelter. When Mr Glasgow arrives in Banda Aceh he will help to complete the project as the Red Cross closes in on their target of constructing 20,000 transitional shelters.

When Mr Glasgow begins his mission his will not be the only Kiwi face in Banda Aceh. He will be joining fellow New Zealand Red Cross aid worker Kevin Duignan who has been in Indonesia for over 18 months working to organise the logistics of the construction project.

The transitional shelters Mr Glasgow will be helping to construct stand 2.5m square with a steel frame and are built using weatherboard. A team of five construction workers take on average two days to build the shelters and move families into their new homes.

And while the shelters may only be transitional, in many cases they will form the basis for more permanent housing in the future.

While this may be his first mission for New Zealand Red Cross, Mr Glasgow has had previous experience working in the Pacific including working in the Cook Islands a few years ago helping to repair cyclone damage.

Mr Glasgow is due to return home to New Zealand in early November.