"We've been facing a genocide since the early 19th century."
Ms David's mother's family had stayed in the war-torn country, but the current fighting with the Islamic State had now forced them to walk across the border into Turkey.
"To be forced out of our homes has been heartbreaking for our family."Today's exhibition at the National Library was "amazing" she said.
"For everyone to see that war is an ongoing thing that hasn't stopped and it actually affects everyone - not just a community, it affects the world."
Colombian-born Daniel Gamboa, 20, fled South America and arrived in New Zealand in June 2012.
When he was 8 his father abandoned him and his mother became their sole provider, eventually taking ownership of a restaurant to support them.
Their newly-stable lives changed when a terrorist group came into their restaurant, Mr Gamboa said.
"We heard they came to businesses to ask for money and one day they asked my mum to pay protection money, asking her to pay weekly."
They threatened his mother and said they would kidnap him or kill him if they didn't pay, Mr Gamboa said.
After fleeing Colombia and spending six unhappy years in Ecuador the two were offered the opportunity to move to New Zealand by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
"I believe this is my new country. I am a Colombian-Kiwi."His photo was prominently displayed at today's exhibition, which was "cool", he said.
On October 16, 1914, 8500 men and almost 4000 horses sailed out of Wellington Harbour in the early morning. The troops eventually landed in Gallipoli on April 25, 1915.
Internal Affairs Minister Peter Dunne opened the year-long exhibition, saying today marked the commitment and sacrifice by thousands of men, women and children during the war.
"When one looks at the statistics and the numbers of people involved and the proportion of the population that that represented, it's an extraordinary achievement that therefore makes the sacrifice that so many made so much more poignant and powerful.
"It was to be the war to end all wars, but unfortunately war and conflict are still with us and this exhibition and the ensuing programme of public events therefore serves as very salient reminders."
The context that gave rise to WWI included some of the issues that were still with us in today's Assyrian conflicts, Mr Dunne said.
One of the exhibits was a diary transcript written by a soldier who fought in Gallipoli.
Arthur Carbines' description of the campaign was written in a matter-of-fact manner that described the horror of the situation, Mr Dunne said.
"He tells us 'Past firing line, literally covered in shrapnel...1000 wounded left all day under shell fire - unable to get to them till dusk. Hard work getting to through the scrub and down the track with bullets whizzing around'."
Mr Carbines was killed during the campaign when he went into the field to recover wounded soldiers, Mr Dunne said.
The war was a "watershed" moment in the country's history, Mr Dunne said.
The display included accounts from a conscientious objector alongside a fervent supporter of war.
There was also a letter from an 8-year-old boy wanting to enlist, he said.
Exhibition curator Peter Ireland said the exhibits were chosen over the past 18 months.
"It's a small sampling of our really considerable holdings on World War I.
"I think we might be showing, for instance eight to 10 diaries from a collection of about 330 and we have 35,000 pages of digitised material from diaries and letters."
The display would be changed throughout the exhibition period in order to show more of the collection, Mr Ireland said.
"It was a really difficult decision on what to put in and what to leave out.
"I found looking at the material, some just spoke to you."
The library worked closely with some of the families who had donated material for the display, he said.
Also to mark the centenary of the departure, an interpretive sign will be unveiled on the Wellington waterfront in front of Te Papa tonight.
The sign provides historical information on the gathering of the troops and their departure to WWI.
It will be unveiled by the Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister Maggie Barry and is the first part of the Nga Tapuwae New Zealand First World War Trails project.
