Human Rights Commission

Te Kahui Tika Tangata

On the Bright Side: Paenga Hihiko

Hui-tanguru / February 2007

Kia ora. Anei te mihi ö te Kaihautu Whakawhanaunga ä Iwi, mo ngä mahi nui, mahi whakamana i te tangata i roto i ngä kaupapa Whakawhanaunga ä Iwi i Aotearoa. Here are this month’s acknowledgments from the Race Relations Commissioner for positive contributions to race relations in New Zealand.

Ministry for Culture and Heritage

For website classroom resources for the Chinese New Year, February 2007. The Classroom is a special feature on the NZHistoryNet website that supports teachers in delivering programmes in NZ history, including material relating to the cultural diversity of people in NZ. A regular feature in The Classroom provides resources specific to race relations and NZ history in time for events such as Race Relations Day, Waitangi Day, Chinese New Year and Maori Language Week. The aim of the web resources is to give teachers ideas on how to use these events and resources in their programmes. The Chinese New Year for example can be used as a springboard into other aspects of Chinese New Zealanders and their experiences. This coming month the Classroom will feature resources for Race Relations Day on 21 March. Visit New Zealand History Online for more information about currently featured online classroom resources.

Shiranthi Fonseka, Victoria University

For an Overview of Race Relations Research in 2006. Shiranthi was contracted by Victoria University’s Centre for Applied Cross-Cultural Research to provide an overview of race relations research in 2006 for the Human Rights Commission’s report on Race Relations in 2006. The Centre has contributed a research overview for the annual race relations report for the past three years as part of its contribution to the New Zealand Diversity Action Programme. The overview gives an indication of the wide variety of research that is being conducted, and will be a useful resource to researchers and students of race relations. Race Relations in 2006 will be launched on 9 March as a contribution to discussion on race relations in the context of Race Relations Day on 21 March. It will be available at www.hrc.co.nz from 9 March.

Canterbury Museum

For Around the World in 30 Lounges, March-May 2007. In this exhibition, participating communities have recreated a living room typical of their home country. Six different community lounges will be on display at a time, changing every two weeks over a ten week period. The exhibition opens on Saturday 3 March with lounges from Egypt, Italy, Samoa, Korea, Somalia and Afghanistan. Around the World is a joint initiative between Canterbury Museum and the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna O Waiwhetu celebrating cultural diversity in NZ. Running parallel to the Museum exhibition, the art gallery is hosting Around the World in 3 Discussions, a series of public debates considering the themes of multiculturalism, migration and national identity. Around the World is funded by the Todd Foundation Centenary Fund 2006 and produced with the assistance of the Office of Ethnic Affairs and the Ministry of Social Development’s Settling In programme.

Outward Bound

For the launch of the Otautahi Southern Cross course, February 2007. This new course from Outward Bound was launched in February. It is a joint venture between the Outward Bound Trust, the Christchurch City Council and the Human Rights Commission and aims to build connections and understanding between young people of different ethnicities in Christchurch. It follows on from the successful mullti-ethnic course for young people from Auckland held in association with the Human Rights Commission for the past four years, and the Aoraki Bound courses organised in association with Ngai Tahu from last year. The first Christchurch course will take place in June. Outward Bound will also be hosting an event at the New Zealand Diversity Forum in Auckland in August to promote the value of these courses in fostering intercultural communication. Visit Outward Bound’s website for more information on courses.

Te Runanga o Kirikiriroa

For the Waitangi Day Commemoration, 2007. Thousands of Hamiltonians took up the invitation of Te Runanga o Kirikiriroa to commemorate and celebrate Waitangi Day by the lakeside at Innes Common on a very sunny Waitangi Day. The event, like others in cities and towns throughout New Zealand, celebrated the Treaty’s vision of peoples living in harmony with each other and the cultural diversity of New Zealand today. There was a wide variety of cultural performances and all ethnic groups in Hamilton were celebrated. Stalls provided food for thought and food to eat. The Runanga started life as a charitable trust under the guidance of the Maori Queen and former Hamilton Mayor Sir Ross Jensen in 1987 to represent the diverse Maori community of Hamilton. Today it is a major social and community services delivery agency with over 80 staff. The annual Waitangi festival is an opportunity to connect with the entire Hamilton community. Visit their website at www.terunanga.org.nz .

Auckland Embroiderer’s Guild

For Auckland in Threads from around the World, March 2007. The Guild is celebrating the diversity of cultures in New Zealand by holding an exhibition of embroidery from a variety of ethnic groups. The exhibition was timed to coincide with Race Relations Day, and will be held from 4-22 March at the Aotea Gallery, Aotea Centre. On display will be pieces of work by New Zealanders from Afghanistan, Bolivia, China, Denmark, Eritrea, Laos, Poland and many other countries. The aim of the exhibition is to break down barriers and build new friendships, as well as to encourage wider participation in the preservation of embroidery traditions.

Pacific Underground, Christchurch

For the Vitu-Pacific Arts Festival, January-February 2007. This is an annual four day festival that gives Christchurch a taste of the Pacific through traditional and contemporary art forms. Events included a range of music such as The Musical Island Boys barbershop quartet, comedy from The Laughing Samoans, and performance theatre from Pacific Underground in their work Island Summer which featured a 25 piece guitar orchestra. The celebration was hosted by Pacific Underground and funded by Creative NZ, The Canterbury Community Trust, Christchurch City Council and supported by Cultural Precinct venues.

Jason Kerehi, Masterton

For the Wairarapa Peace Treaty, February 2007. As part of the Origins Festival held on Waitangi Day in Masterton, Wairarapa people were given the opportunity to sign a Treaty that calls for a peaceful, tolerant and inclusive community. Created by Jason Kerehi, the Peace Treaty provides an opportunity for all cultures to sign and be a part of it. The Treaty is now touring Wairarapa schools and libraries to gather more signatures, and the final document will then be placed in the Wairarapa Archives.

Settlement Support Hawke’s Bay and Onekawa Aquatic Centre

For providing swimming sessions for women, February 2007. A request from the refugee community of Hawke’s Bay to hold women’s swimming sessions has received positive support from groups such as Idea Services and Sports Hawkes Bay’s Green Prescription participants, resulting in a weekly session for women only. The sessions provide an opportunity for new New Zealanders to learn about water safety and swimming skills in a culturally appropriate setting. The sessions are not limited to ethnic communities, and thus provide an added opportunity for refugee and migrant women to meet and interact with other New Zealand women. The first session was held on Sunday 25 February at the Onekawa Aquatic Centre.

Canterbury Police

For the Canterbury Business Crime Prevention booklet. In association with The Press and Trents Wholesalers, Canterbury Police have produced booklets in English, Chinese and Korean, aimed at the many small store owners who speak English as their second language in Canterbury. The aim is to educate store owners, especially dairy proprietors, on how to make their workplaces safer to work in, and to reduce the risk of them becoming targets of robbery, theft and burglary. Security signs have also been produced in partnership with Trents Wholesalers. These will be placed in the stores to notify the public that no large amounts of cash are kept on premises, shoplifters will be prosecuted etc. The signs are free and are distributed with the booklet. For more information contact rakesh.naidoo[at]police.govt.nz.

Refugees as Survivors New Zealand and Soccer 2

For the Refugees in Sports Initiative, 2007. Through a partnership with Soccer 2, Refugees as Survivors (RAS) is developing a series of programmes to achieve better access for former refugees into mainstream NZ sport. Soccer 2 offered to help after RAS consultations with Auckland refugee communities revealed many barriers to linking into sporting clubs and community activities. The programme aims to provide a ‘passport’and subsidy for young players from refugee families into local soccer clubs, the creation of an all-refugee RASNZ soccer team, the All Refs, for exhibition games, the development of a fund to encourage girls from refugee backgrounds to participate in culturally appropriate team and individual sport, and coaching clinics for refugee players. Visit their websites for more information on RAS and Soccer 2.

Auckland Malayali Samajam Inc

For the International Dance Fest 2007. The Auckland Malayali Samajam is an association of around 2000 New Zealand residents speaking Malayalam and hailing from the state of Kerala in South India. Their purpose is not only to preserve their language, culture and community but to also to enrich the diverse cultural fabric of New Zealand. Their International Dance Fest on 10 February drew a capacity audience at the Dorothy Winstone Theatre. One of the two Indian MC’s opened the proceedings with a comprehensive mihi in reo Maori before introducing an array of performers from cultures around the world – including highly popular items from Bulgaria, Samoa, Taiwan, the Middle East and of course some stunning dance performances from Kerala. It was a night to remember particularly because it was organised by a migrant community celebrating the cultures of other communities in New Zealand alongside their own. A further festival in Hamilton is planned for later in the year by the Hamilton Malayali Association. For more information visit www.nzmalayalee.co.nz .

RMS Refugee Resettlement and Auckland City Council

For the International Cultural Festival, February 2007. Auckland had the opportunity to experience the music, dance, and arts and crafts of over 30 nations at the Auckland International Cultural Festival. The Festival moved to a new and larger location this year at the War Memorial Park in Wesley, after many years at Potter’s Park in Mt Eden. This year the festival also hosted the inaugural Ethnic Soccer Cup. Thirty two teams represented their nationalities in the seven-a-side soccer tournament which was won by the Thailand team in a penalty shoot out 2-1 over the Croatian team. The Youth cup final was an all Ethiopian affair, with the Ethiopian Lions prevailing over the Ethiopian Sport and Cultural Team. The event included music and performances from many cultural groups including the Trinidad Steel Drummers, MIXIT Refugee Youth Arts Project and traditional dance groups from Iran, Ethiopia, Greece, Assyria, Finland, the Congo and many other places. It was attended by an estimated 30,000 people, and is a forerunner to the many multicultural festivals that will take place in “Multicultural March” in the lead-up to Race Relations Day on 21 March. For further information on the programme of festivals, visit the Human Rights Commission website.

If you would like to nominate a person or an organisation for acknowledgment please email positive.contribution[at]hrc.co.nz with the details. For information about race relations visit the Human Rights Commission website www.hrc.co.nz .

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On The Bright Side is part of the Human Rights Commission’s contribution to the NZ Diversity Action Programme. For further details visit www.hrc.co.nz/diversity

ENDS

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