Refugees and migrant communities supported - Annual Report 2019/20
E Tū Whānau’s violence-free and whānau-centred kaupapa is proudly Māori and is also inspirational to our refugee and migrant communities.
Auckland’s Aotearoa Latin American Community (ALAC) has built on E Tū Whānau’s practical support and connections to develop its own brand of cross-cultural community action.
Many of ALAC’s founding members came to Aotearoa decades ago as refugees from political oppression and violence. It is natural for them to reach out to recent refugees from Asia, Africa, the Middle East and South America.
In the 2020 school summer holidays, ALAC led the Project Tamkin holiday programme in collaboration with E Tū Whānau, the Māngere East Community Centre and Manukau City AFC, a football club. The Project took Muslim tamariki from Mt Roskill to South Auckland, where they met new people, ate Latin American food, played a range of sports and, importantly, were taken on fi eld trips to understand more about their city and the environment they live in and how to care for it. At the programme’s core was an opportunity to celebrate, embrace and promote social cohesion.
E Tū Whānau’s Jenny Janif was recognised for her service to refugee and migrant communities by being made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) in June 2020.
“It was a real success for tamariki from diff erent cultures to learn about and explore Māngere East.” E Tū Whānau kaimahi Jenny Janif, one of the organisers
