Zulkarnayeen Sattar, with wife Nyssa and mother-in-law Christine Johnston, reacts to becoming a New Zealand citizen. Photo / Michael Cunningham
Every year more migrants are choosing to call New Zealand home. Imran Ali talks to some of our newest citizens.
His dyslexia became an anathema to even his parents who shunned him but Zulkarnayeen Sattar used it as motivation to forge ahead in life.
Support came via his grandmother who gave him whatever little money she had and the then 16-year-old from Chittagong, in southeastern Bangladesh, left for Auckland to study with just a bag of clothes.
That was 16 years ago.
Last week, he stood shoulder to shoulder with other proud migrants who received their New Zealand citizenship at a ceremony at the Whangārei District Council.
It's been a roller coaster ride for the 32-year-old who, after working at dairy farms in Palmerston North, Taupo and Morrinsville, got married to his "best friend" Nyssa Sattar who hails from Whangārei and bought a house in Onerahi.
While working at Carters construction sites in Whangārei, he applied to train as a police officer and is looking forward to graduating sometime next year.
"I was very poor when I came here. All I had was enough money to get through fifth and sixth form at Mt Albert Grammar so I knew I had to work to facilitate my living," he cast his mind back.
Growing up with dyslexia was tough because sufferers were looked down upon in a traditional society like Bangladesh.
"Teachers picked up the condition at school and since then I was shunned by teachers and even my mother who was a school teacher, and was moved to the back of the class.
"That shunning became the driving force. What was a problem became a gift when I moved to New Zealand where I got the support and encouragement that helped me get this far.
"Interestingly, my dyslexia sort of dissipated when I began school in Auckland. It has never become a hindrance in whatever goals I've set to achieve in life."
Sattar was initially motivated to became a dairy farmer but wanted to work in an area where he could help the community.
"Since I've lived in Whangārei, I've unfortunately seen people going into crime so I want to encourage them to move away, that there's better things to do in life. I can hopefully tell people 'well, if I can do it, anybody can'."
The urge to help others doesn't stop there.
Sattar is a member of the Onerahi Fire Brigade and volunteers at SPCA every second Sunday, cleaning kennels and walking the dogs.
Whangārei Mayor Sheryl Mai administered oaths and affirmations to 59 people who became New Zealand citizens.
Mai described the event as a "momentous occasion", saying she was proud the new migrants chose Whangārei as their home.
Many would have been living in Whangarei for sometime, she said, and have interesting stories to tell about their journey from their birthplace to New Zealand.
Twenty one people from the United Kingdom, 12 Indians, eight Filipinos, four Irish, three from Israel, two each from South Africa, Russia, Canada and Thailand, one from Bangladesh, one American, and a Kenyan received their citizenship.
Mother of four Hothan Kosar Issack from Kenya was among them.
While pregnant with her fourth child, Issack did foundation courses in nursing with NorthTec and is aiming for a three-year applied bachelor in nursing course.
"I fell in love with the work nurses and midwives did when I had my babies. They were all born in Whangārei Hospital and I saw how the nurses cared for us which really inspired me to one day work in that profession."
Born in the Kenyan town of Wajir but spending most of her formative years in the capital Nairobi, Issack is married to laboratory scientist Sharmake Ibrahim who hails from Somalia.
Ibrahim acquired New Zealand citizenship prior to his wife and came to complete his last two years of secondary school education in Christchurch, where his father lived, in 2001.
The youngest of four brothers and four sisters, Issack said leaving Kenya after marriage was hard but she was happy with how things panned out for her family.
Her family, however, has one regret and wished they could find others from Kenya or Somalia who could speak their language, Somali.
"You live in Whangarei for a long time, meet people from different cultures but you still struggle because there's no one here to talk to in our own language," Ibrahim lamented.
Figures from the Department of Internal Affairs show 2530 people became New Zealand citizens in Northland between 2014 and 2018.
Nearly 60 per cent - or 1508 people - got their citizenship in Whangārei, 845 in the Far North district, and 177 in Kaipara over that period.
At 773, those from the United Kingdom topped the list, followed by 362 from South Africa, 202 Filipinos and 180 from India.