News from the Ground | “Mt Roskill Collective”
Mt Roskill Collective in Auckland was established in 2021 with the collaboration of NZ Ethnic Women Trust, Wellbeing Charitable Trust, Project Tamkin and Ariana Support to take a coordinated approach in responding to the needs of refugee and migrant background communities of Asian, African, Middle Eastern and Latin American (Asian and MELAA) origin.
The Collective of these female-led organisations was formed during the COVID-19 lockdown to advocate and cater for the needs of the more vulnerable refugee and migrant communities. Utilising a team of volunteers with the support of professionals in various state agencies, the Collective successfully delivered culturally appropriate food parcels, conducted welfare checks, organised vaccine campaigns and translated COVID-19 fact sheets.
The work has since grown and evolved, responding to varying situations and community issues. The Collective was also very active during the 2023 Auckland floods when they mobilised to provide emergency shelter and food parcels and assist with the clean-up. They have supported the NZ Census and the Electoral Commission to engage with small, harder-to-reach communities. The Collective is also involved in organising Ministry of Education Ethnic Community Learning Hubs in Auckland, helping to reach families who have difficulties understanding the New Zealand education system and are less engaged with the schools. Influencing factors can be language barriers, intergenerational trauma, and differences in expectations A report by the Education Review Office (ERO) in 2023 indicated that Asian and MELAA background students experience widespread bullying, racism, isolation, and a lack of cultural understanding from fellow students and teachers. This is concerning when one in four students are predicted to be from these ethnic backgrounds by 2043 (Education Review Office, 2023). Notably, students with MELAA backgrounds reported very low wellbeing (Education Review Office, 2023). The Learning Hubs aim to provide families with opportunities to understand the New Zealand education system better and support families' participation and engagement with schools to foster a more culturally competent school system (Ministry of Education, 2021).
Some of the work done by the Collective is unseen but impactful for the individual families in need. Within the Collective, the community connectors are leaders in the refugee and migrant communities with extensive networks. They discover families or individuals experiencing difficulties, collaborate and pull in resources to assist. The Collective leaders stated that their lived experiences, credibility, honesty, and ability to work at the grassroots level with the genuine desire to empower individuals, families and communities enable them to work with the most vulnerable members of the refugee and migrant communities.
Author: Dulani Abeysinghe, eCALD® Educator, Consumer Engagement and Co-Design Lead
Picture:From the left: Fadumo Ahmad (NZ Ethnic Women Trust), Eva Chen (Wellbeing Charitable Trust),Jamila Slaimankhel (Ariana Support) and Jennifer Janif (volunteer).
The Collective can be contacted through their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/MtRoskillCollective.
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