Meet some of our refugee ākonga this World Refugee Day

World Refugee Day is celebrated around the globe on 20 June of each year. This annual event is a celebration of the resilience and achievement of former refugees who have made New Zealand their home.

The focus this year is amplifying the voices of children and youth,  showcasing the rich and diverse culture of our ethnic communities. In Hamilton, the celebration was on Sunday, 11 June, at St. John’s Collegiate School.

Image: Back L t R Fraida Najaf. Sharmake Ahmed Ibrahim. Regis Kaboyi. Mohamed Adam Abdisalan. Front L t R Mohammad Essa Danish. Ruben Fory Rios. Angelica Maria Aguilar Viveros. Abdul Waris Ahma

The Centre for Languages (CfL), Wintec | Te Pūkenga, has provided English language programmes for former refugees settling in Hamilton since the early 1970s. 

This year, there are 156 learners who identify as former refugees studying in the Intensive Literacy and Numeracy (ILN) programme or Pathway English as well as the New Zealand Certificate in English Language (NZCEL) programmes from Level 1 (Foundation) to Level 5. 

Despite the adversity in their daily lives – the language barrier, cultural differences, health, and housing issues, many of CfL’s refugee-background students have gone on to be successful in their chosen careers. World Refugee Day is an opportunity for Wintec | Te Pūkenga to celebrate these learners, as well as our current ones. 

Mohammad Essa Danish

Currently a student in the NZCEL Level 3 (General) programme, Essa came to New Zealand on 29 March 2022 from Afghanistan with his small family to be reunited with his brother’s family in New Zealand.

The biggest challenge for Essa in his resettlement process was the language barrier so he appreciated the opportunity to access free English study. He also found it strange at first to be in a country where people seemed to have a lot of freedom compared to Afghanistan, where there were a lot of restrictions. However, Essa is fine now with the freedom and has learned to enjoy it. 

As a young child growing up in Afghanistan, Essa dreamed of becoming an actor but the situation there made it difficult to fulfil this dream. In New Zealand, he realised that his dream was even less achievable once he did some research into the industry.

He is now resigned to training in construction after graduating from NZCEL Level 3 (General) so that he can get a good job and have an income. His main hope for the future is to be able to provide a good life and comfortable environment for his young family.

Farida Najaf

Farida arrived in New Zealand in August 2022 as a 19-year-old from Afghanistan, through Pakistan. Farida’s uncle, who came to New Zealand seven years ago, brought her family over because of the situation in Afghanistan. 

The first month in New Zealand was a challenge as she, her mother, and three sisters all had to share a two-bedroomed house with her uncle and her grandmother. 

Farida’s main challenge in her resettlement process is the language. Although she herself is a fluent English speaker, Farida feels that her English is still not perfect and struggles to understand the accent and to communicate with people.

She has also recently found out that as a new resident, she will not be eligible for a student loan and allowance. This upsets Farida as it means she will have to put her ambition of higher education aside for now. In Afghanistan, it would be impossible for girls to enter university at all and for this, she is grateful that she will at least one day have the opportunity to study her chosen subject, computer science.

For now, Farida is trying to complete NZCEL Level 4 (Academic) and will start looking for a full-time job once she graduates.

Regis Kaboyi

Regis was born in the Congo but grew up in a refugee camp in Rwanda. Life in the refugee camp was hard and Regis recalled his family of eight being housed in a 6-8 sqm house. Each person received a ration of around $10 per month for food and the family often had to go without food when the money ran out. Therefore, Regis was grateful when the New Zealand government granted the family refugee status, and they were able to settle in Hamilton. The family arrived on 9 November 2022.

Now he sees that there are countless opportunities for himself and his family – study, a job.

“As long as I work hard, I can achieve anything I want.”

Since he was a child, he was curious about how houses and infrastructure were built.

In high school in Rwanda, Regis chose masonry as his career path and learned how to build houses. He received a good grade in the national examination and is now hoping to continue in this field after his English studies.

Regis recounted some of the challenges when he first arrived in New Zealand. English was the main challenge, and then the climate, “but not too much".

Sharmake Ahmed Ibrahim

Sharmake was born and grew up in Kismayo, Somalia. He finished his primary school education there but didn’t have a chance to go to high school as the family had to move to a different city. Sharmake described the move as necessary as it was the only place he could get a DNA test to prove his familial connection with his father, who had already moved to New Zealand more than 20 years before. The family were mostly reunited when he, his older brother and younger sister, step-mother, and four other brothers arrived in New Zealand on 16 March 2022. 

His dream of meeting his father in this “beautiful country, New Zealand” came true and for Sharmake, there was nothing more that he wanted. His own mother and two younger brothers are still in Somalia and he would like to sponsor them to come to New Zealand.

“The biggest challenge in Somalia is the lack of security,” Sharmake recalled. “Without peace, it is impossible to make change to improve your future. You can’t do what you want to do,” he added.

Sharmake is fascinated by anything to do with technology. He wants to study software engineering at a university in the future. 

“You have to study to reach your goal,” he said.

His interest began as a young child growing up watching stories about people who created apps which proved useful for humans.

After studying English full-time in class, he spends his spare time learning about software technology.

When asked what advice he would give to any young people who would one day come to resettle in New Zealand, Sharmake quoted from a book about change he read before coming to New Zealand titled Who Moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson.

“If you do not change, you can become extinct!”