Beatriz graduated earlier in 2014 and did the child minding for the latest intake of refugee CIH families.
Beatriz has a new life in NZ now. Read her story:
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Wellington Refugee 2014-2015 Graduation
On 29 November 2014, 14 very exuberant Colombian and Burmese families graduated from the e-Learning Porirua CTC at the RSA. They spoke of their happiness to be in New Zealand and their joy of learning. The children were also fully engaged in the technology at the centre and keen to get their computers home. Thanks to tutor Peter, assistant Ibrahim, interpreter Jackie and child minder Beatiz, plus Tim and Graham and the whole team at e-Learning Porirua local provider for another successful intake. Certificates were presented by Abdi Bihi from Ministry of Education who fund this valuable work which provides opportunity for the whole family. Beatiz is from a previous intake and has worked very hard to improve her English, so now she is employed back into the programme to run the childcare for new families in training. Her whole family is making great strides in education and employment, with husband Angel now working using his skills as a motorcycle mechanic. We wish all the graduates and their families the best for the future. Nau mai haere mai welcome to Computers in Homes.
Seventy years ago, New Zealand said yes. Yes, we will give you safety. Yes, we will give you protection. And today, we still say yes.
30 October 2014 the Polish community re-enacted the journey of the first Polish refugees to New Zealand, 733 children, 70 years ago.
We are honored to be part of their journey and celebrations. Here’s what Molly, Red Cross refugee services manager, had to say from Pahiatua:
“Seventy years ago, New Zealand said yes. Yes, we will give you safety. Yes, we will give you protection. And today, we still say yes.”
We are honored to be part of their journey and celebrations. Here’s what Molly, Red Cross refugee services manager, had to say from Pahiatua:
“Seventy years ago, New Zealand said yes. Yes, we will give you safety. Yes, we will give you protection. And today, we still say yes.”
Polish refugee children on the train from Wellington to Pahiatua, where they were resettled in 1944.
Red Cross refugee Services are really proud to have been there then and that are still supporting refugee children and their families today.
Computers in Homes is also proud to be part of the resettlement process.
Palmerston North CiH Refugee
Twelve excited families from refugee background and their friends gathered at Freyberg High School on Saturday 8 November for the latest graduation of Computers in Homes.
We were welcomed by Freyberg ICT trainer Val Revill, followed by congratulations from Di Daniels National Coordinator Computers in Homes.
Then families had a tech talk from Dave Clark who will be installing the computers and internet in their homes. All this was translated by our very capable interpreters Asadullah and Poh.
Certificates were presented by Ministry of Education’s Abdi Bihi and proceedings were closed by Freyberg International Student Coordinator Florence Kelly. The children were happy when the speeches were over and we could share morning tea.
One of the Mums from last year’s graduation was saying how she had forgotten some of her learning and needs more training, so Di referred her to our free Stepping UP classes at Palmerston North Library in George St. These are managed by Palmerston North City Council (PNCC) and are free to all. No need to enrol on a long course, just pick and mix classes as you like, but bookings are essential and details can be found at:.
All the best to the graduating parents and we wish the children joyful learning and success in their studies!
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Computers in Homes Refugee Programme Update
Auckland and Palmerston North are training 12 families who will be ready to graduate in November. Auckland have their 3rd intake also underway and will graduate in December.
Nelson Refugee at Victory School
We generally run Computers in Homes for 15 refugee families a year in
Nelson and this time almost a hundred people gathered in Victory Community Hall
to celebrate their 2014 graduation on 16 September.
Special guests included Erika Ross, Regional Director Ministry of
Education, Hassan Ibrahim, Southern Regional Refugee Education Coordinator MoE,
Nelson City Councillor Matt Lawrey and Marion Street MP.
All expressed their congratulations to the graduate parents for the
commitment and tenacity shown to complete training to help their children with
their school work.
We were warmly hosted by Principal Helen Taylor-Young and school
coordinator Dianne Goodwin who has been working with refugee children and their
families for over a decade. Previous principal Mark Brown has now moved to
Newtown School in Wellington and is planning CIH for families there in 2015.
Erika Ross was called upon to present certificates and will feature some of our
photos in the next Ministry of Education bulletin.
One unique feature of Refugee graduations at Victory School is the
community involvement and how previous graduate families support the newly
arrived ones. Their wonderful children and older students entertain us with
dance and the parents sing for the guests. The costumes and music are an
amazing experience every time.
Another feature is how Computers in Homes provides opportunity for
personal growth and development of youth. Previous CIH graduate families have
provided fantastic interpreters, trainers and technicians who come back to work
on the programme and further afield. Dhan and David rose to the occasion as
trainers for this intake, and Dhan will go on as Family Liaison and Technical
support. Dhan is currently studying Computer Engineering, while David enters
tertiary education as an Engineering student at Canterbury University in 2015.
We wish them well in their journey.
Many thanks to all the amazing people who contribute and make this event
happen!
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Auckland Refugee
Salaam Alaykum, Mingalaba, Kia ora koutou and greetings to all
RYAN (Refugee Youth Action Network) as part of Refugees as Survivors (RAS) is hosting 3 classes this semester and the first group graduated on 11 October 2014. The other two groups will graduate together in December.
These first 5 families gathered at the RYAN Centre in Mt Roskill and despite a few operational hiccups we had a lovely time together. The computers arrived late but with a few frantic phonecalls and express delivery we got there in the end! Adel Salmanzadeh, Refugee Education Coordinator Auckland Ministry of Education, presented the certificates along with trainer Elfadil Sabeel and Family Liaison Patrick Saw who do a great job in tutoring and supporting the families. We are also grateful to our awesome Technical Support expert Hameed Sharifi who will set up everyone’s internet at home and make sure the equipment is running efficiently. Happy to report Hameed is also engaged in the schools’ CIH programme in wider Auckland and is currently supporting families from Ngā Iwi School in Mangere. (see Auckland CIH blog)
We were missing our friend and colleagues Parvathi Raghunathan who has gone to India on family business, and Dr Arif Saied who was recovering from ‘flu at home. Arif’s wife Fahima hosted us instead and it was wonderful to reconnect with her the following day at Gp2 training and see refugee women learning the skills of quilting. Here are also photos of Sunday’s activities at RYAN. I met the new Gp2 class training and look forward to their success also.
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Webinar: Generation to Generation: Empowering Newcomer Youth and Families
October 31 in New Zealand, Australia
The Computers in Homes National Coordinator will be presenting at the Learning Exchange Monthly Webinar under Empowering Newcomer Youth and Families.
To join the webinar, please click on the below link:
http://citiesofmigration.ca/
8:00 am AEDT Melbourne, Sydney
10:00 am NZDT Auckland, Wellington
Join Cities of Migration for a webinar to learn about award-winning programs from Wellington, New Zealand and Toronto, Canada that improve language and digital literacy for immigrant families and youth by removing barriers to technology, promoting inter-generational tutoring, and strengthening community relations through education.
The Computers in Homes National Coordinator will be presenting at the Learning Exchange Monthly Webinar under Empowering Newcomer Youth and Families.
To join the webinar, please click on the below link:
http://citiesofmigration.ca/
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