World Refuge Day celebrated at Hagley College Thursday 29th July 2017

The opening image here sums up the hospitable nature of the beautiful people we are lucky to work with at Hagley College every day. The willingness and joy in sharing one’s heritage and culture is palpable. In every classroom, the act of sharing food with friends, colleagues and teachers radiated a feeling of intimacy and kindness.

This delicious lunch was followed by a number of activities run in each classroom. These included men’s and women’s movement, Tai Chi, relaxation colouring, card and board games, Kahoot, arts and crafts and table tennis. These were designed to continue to mingle and learn about each other in a non threatening, fun environment. 

At 2pm we made our way to the cafeteria to meet Viyan, Linda, Bilal and Srijhana. These young people are members of the New Zealand National Refugee Youth Council. This council endevours to engage, connect and support refugee youth all over the country. There are no political, religious, ethical of cultural affiliations. They are simply refugee youth advocating for refugee youth.

Some intersting facts that got everyone’s attention;

• 65.3 million people have been currently forced to leave their countries.
  
• A mere 1% of those are given the opportunity to resettle in another country, like New Zealand.
  
• Colombia has the highest number of internally displaced people in the world. 

Once again, we had a terrific afternoon celebrating cultures within the Hagley Whanau. How lucky are we!?