SBW gatecrashes Dunedin homework session for former refugees

A homework club for former refugee high school students got a surprise when Sonny Bill Williams dropped in. Photo / NZ Red Cross

The usual homework distractions paled in comparison when All Black Sonny Bill Williams surprised pupils at a homework club for former refugees in Dunedin.

The towering midfield back crashed the weekly club at the Dunedin Public Library on Wednesday sending the high school pupils and Red Cross volunteers into a state of shock.

Red Cross youth co-ordinator Sakhr Munassar said his college youth resettlement case worker, Eman Ghandour, invited the All Black to the homework session via Twitter, however nobody knew if he would turn up until he did.

"We had a strong reaction from the students and the volunteers, there was shock going around everywhere."

Former refugee and Balmacewen Intermediate School pupil Ahmad Al Hussien, 13, particularly connected with Williams.

Sonny Bill Williams helps out with homework in Dunedin. Photo / NZ Red Cross

Sonny Bill Williams was invited via Twitter. Photo / NZ Red Cross

"He (Ahmad) told me after that he had become friends with Sonny Bill and that he would also be famous one day, " Munassar said.

Ahmad's friends had been teaching him how to play rugby.

Not every pupil knew who Williams was at first, but once they heard "All Black" they appreciated the significance of who he was, he said. "Some of them did recongise him though because he visited them when they arrived in Auckland." Williams' visit lasted about an hour and he spent one-on-one time with many of the children, Munassar said.

"The visit showed that people do care about them. They are young children but they do feel a lot.

"Most of them had been living in Lebanon doing hard labour and he didn't come for me, or Red Cross, he came for them."

-Otago Daily Times