The House of Friends
Most of the residents of the House of Friends are Asylum Seekers. They have not yet got their Work Permit. They live on a very tight budget and most of them have no transport.
This situation sometimes drags on for several months while their cases are processed by the authorities.
It is not easy for them and they need to get a sense of the place they are living within, some sense of reality.
It is very important to provide some programs, some activities to help them to overcome the despair of the uncertainty and that sense of living with their lives in suspension, with no achievements or the growth every person strive for.Amir, an Iranian boy of eighteen used to say when he was waiting for his decision “Life is too short, life is too short, I can not wait”
He was anxious to resume his education, to be able to learn English, acquire some skills to find a job. He had the attitude we all expect and look for in our children.
He will be a good citizen of New Zealand.
The House of Friends organizes educational activities with residents and other migrants.
A sight seeing trip to Bastion Point, Mission Bay, Mt Eden Summit, Auckland Museum give us opportunity for lots of questions and answers, the introduction to them of the Treaty of Waitangi. The beginning of an education about difference, about similarities, about respect for one another, about the futilility of prejudice.
In one word, about loving your neighbour as a Nigerian man told me.And that is the beginning of Peace.
