Our Auckland West centre were contacted by Kaipatiki Project, an environmental group in Auckland who offered to donate a hebe plant to each former refugee, the idea being that as the plant puts down roots, so do our learners.
Nicola Sutton, our Chief Executive flew up from Wellington to visit our class for former refugees in Massey, where we sang together Te Aroha and the class was blessed by a prayer from the Qu’ran and one in Burmese from the Bible. This was followed by a huge morning tea and learners were invited to sign a condolences book at the memorial table.
125 plants were collected and given to our learners who were shocked and grieving, as we all are, and this small gift was really appreciated as a sign of acceptance and welcome to NZ. They wrote thank you letters which showed their appreciation:
