Chester Borrows: Migrants put many to shame

Chester Borrows PHOTO/FILE

MOST mornings I just eat my breakfast and do the crossword, listening to Morning Report on the radio and hearing the world's troubles in half-hourly news bulletins. You can get sick of the whingers, the whiners and those other "w" people it would be rude to label.

But on Wednesday I had breakfast with Zainder, a Year 13 student. In old language that means a seventh former, so a young lady aged about 17. She has come to New Zealand from Pakistan, having fled her homeland of Afghanistan.

The family got out of that country to get away from the oppressive regime that would have prevented education of women and girls and imposed a Middle Ages mentality on a 21st century people.

But Pakistan was not all that welcoming, and so the family couldn't really take part in society in that country either. The children could not attend school and were seldom out in public, but hiding away indoors in the home of those sheltering them.

A plan was hatched to emigrate to New Zealand, being sponsored by Zainder's uncle. Her dad had been killed and her mum and four children needed a better life, which was not going to happen in Pakistan. In preparation for the immigration process, they learned from a tutor who came to their house for two years, teaching the English language and other school subjects. It was important to be the best applicants for visas to come to New Zealand.

Zainder speaks very well and has been in our country for about 12 months.

The impressions Zainder has of our country are warm, welcoming and friendly. A country of huge opportunity. A safe country, with everything available for those who want it enough. She finds it queer that people complain about a lack of opportunity here when all you need to attain anything is determination. She lives 20 minutes' walk from the bus stop and the family has no car. They live very cheaply.

The family are without all the trimmings in life that most Kiwi families would take completely for granted, if not demand as a right, but they are happy and count their wealth in a currency you can't carry in your pocket or your purse.

I have come across a lot of folk in the past week who have been complaining about what they lack, instead of folk rejoicing in what they have. I have met a lot of people who want the world on a plate, and in Zainder I met someone determined enough to work hard to get what she had, relished the opportunities open to her, and savoured the success of what she was able to achieve. "You can do anything in this country if you are determined enough to do it," she said.

In gratitude for all New Zealand has done for her, Zainder volunteers for Save the Children and is a youth adviser for that organisation. She wants to go to university after she completes a second Year 13 so she will be in the best possible situation to succeed in the institution she would never have had the opportunity to attend in her home country, and she will study social work.

I was struck how this beautiful young woman, who had nothing, had so much she wanted to give. Her desire was not to accumulate wealth but knowledge, so that she could give it away to people who needed it. I learned so much over breakfast, and I would love to introduce her to all those other people who'd crossed my path this week. But I couldn't decide who I would introduce her to first. The ones who had their hand out demanding, those complaining that they wanted more, faster and at greater expense, or those who railed against the acceptance of refugees because they would cost us too much to house, educate and rehabilitate.

I think it would cost New Zealand too much to leave these people in their homeland and be denied their grace, charm, intellect and experience. Their goodwill, determination to succeed, and their willingness to share. What a marvellous opportunity we have to better ourselves by helping others.