Communities help each other in face of Covid 19

Vivi Widyati (left) and Rizwaana Latiff prepare food baskets.

Nā tou rourou nā tōku rourou ka ora ai te iwi: with your food basket and my food basket, the people shall live on.

A partnership between local iwi Ngāti Kahungunu and the Migrant Welfare Group has brought this traditional whakataukī (Māori proverb) to life for the Hawke's Bay's migrant communities, says Multicultural Association Hawke's Bay president, Sukhdeep Singh.

For the past five weeks Sukhdeep has been wearing a new hat, working with the Migrant Welfare Group, part of the Hawke's Bay Civil Defence Emergency Management Group's
"network of networks" – a group of community organisations and agencies responding to Covid-19.
 
The Migrant Welfare Group is made up of the Office of Ethnic Communities (OEC) local advisor Rizwaana Latiff and the Hawke's Bay Multicultural Association.

OEC has been involved in a pilot project identifying resilience factors in communities, well before Covid-19. The model is based on a "hub" with "community champions" and aims to disseminate information to each community group. The champions then feedback to "base", who in turn refers to the appropriate agency and offers support. The champions are supported to build capacity in the community during the recovery period as well, Sukhdeep says.
 
"It became apparent by the second week of the national lockdown, that many migrant families needed more support and help.
 
"We knew right from the beginning of this response that migrant communities could be some of hardest hit, needing support due to language barriers, lack of awareness of the support available, and facing financial hardship."
 
Sukhdeep says they needed a way to give diverse multicultural communities advice and information, as well as provide ethnically appropriate food parcels to those who needed welfare support.

"We are looking at a three months' plan here. We would like to provide the long-term solutions for our vulnerable migrant families. We want to meet their short- and long-term needs, including immediate free food parcels. We have a dedicated team of need assessors who are here to listen to their story and help them to find the right support."

Sukhdeep says the need assessors are fully trained to make sure needs are met.
"Everyone in need of help is welcome to call us including international students new to the country, work or visitor visa holders and resident and citizen migrants."
 
This is where the Tihei Mauri Ora initiative, a Ngāti Kahungunu and Hawke's Bay District Health Board collaboration, in partnership with central and local government, stepped in.
 
Kickstarted to provide a welfare response to whānau pounamu (the most vulnerable), Tihei Mauri Ora emergency response centre coordinators Henry Heke and Tofilau Talalelei
Taufale suggested they join forces with the Migrant Welfare Group to support Hawke's Bay's multicultural communities.
 
Henry says it made sense to work together to help at-risk communities, especially when whānau pounamu included all peoples.

"This is a big step for us to support and help our vulnerable migrant community, made possible by forming these valuable relationships with Ngāti Kahugnunu and the Hawke's Bay District Health Board," says Sukhdeep.

The relationship with iwi began last year with the Multicultural Association inaugural Noho Marae at Waipatu Marae.
 
"This is a true relationship that shows us that we are at the table, not just sitting around it.
 
"We are achieving great outcomes and we have so many stories to share, such as how our local Sikh community has come together to provide fruit, vegetables, milk, rice, flour and bread to those who are doing it tough and Indonesian fruit grower supplying vegetables,
not forgetting the host of volunteers delivering the packs.
 
"We're incredibly grateful for Tihei Mauri Ora – the relationship we've formed shows how much we can achieve, when we all work together to help those most in need."

"Our volunteers are the heart of this initiative. This initiative is not possible without their continued support."

For urgent welfare support, call 0800 HBAYCD (0800 422 923)

For more information on COVID-19, visit www.covid19.govt.nz