Our Stories, Our Voices, Our Identities: The New Zealand Resettlement Storybook

By Abann Kamyay Ajak Yor

The New Zealand Resettlement Storybook is an introductory narrative to encourage relationship building between resettled people and New Zealand society. The stories in this book recall the lived experiences of individuals from a forced migrant background, i.e., those who were forced, because of civil war and persecution, to leave their country of origin without having the choice to immigrate. These narratives are human stories of hope and resilience that give different voices and space to tell their life stories beyond settlement. This is a sequel to the book “Beyond Refuge: Stories of Resettlement in Auckland”, published in 2016 and second print in 2021.

This book has been compiled by the author for the Aotearoa Resettled Community Coalition (ARCC) as a part of his strategic leadership role to engage and connect with wider stakeholders, including service providers, policymakers, the media, and educational institutions, politicians, and the public. The book serves as a guide, resource, and tool to equip the audiences with resettlement knowledge. These narratives bring a greater understanding of the journeys toward smooth settlement and positive integration at local, regional, and national levels. The book captures ethnic diverse background voices that foster sustainability and help maintain the storyteller's own cultural identities.

The storybook shares these human struggle and success stories with love and compassion to all Aotearoa, New Zealand (resettled people and host society) and the world. It recognizes the Aotearoa New Zealand hospitality and the opportunity that allows time to become a healer for some of the individual storytellers as they recover from the past and discover their new home dreams. The spirit of willingness to tell a story and share personal confidences opens a larger audience to hear directly from people who have lived through traumatic experiences. The book aims to change people's mindsets and worldviews through storytelling. And it will take you along the journey of 20 individuals’ new residents and citizens of New Zealand. They openly share their resettlement journeys, from leaving a country of origin, a country of asylum, and finally starting a new life in Aotearoa, New Zealand. The personal accounts will improve readers' general knowledge and understanding of the resettlement journey. It creates an awareness that can lead to more positive settlement and integration outcomes for resettled people. New residents/Resettled people are not asking for a special privilege; they want to be treated like any other New Zealander and to be respected as human beings.

The storybook publishing is an aim to create self-reconciliation via active participation for new residents/resettled migrants of Aotearoa, New Zealand, opening cultural and economic contribution to their new home. It is also to fill the public and service providers knowledge gap to support the healing process by building confidence to adapt to new home culture and enlightenment of recovery and resilience from historical trauma. The storybook offers to listen to participants collective voices and respect their priorities with recognition of individual opinions that laminate the mission of guilt and ongoing trauma.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris NZ
• Release date: Feb 3, 2022
• ISBN: 9781664107069

Abann Kamyay Ajak Yor

The author is the General Manager of Auckland Resettled Community Coalition, his strategic relationship role a community advocate, and educator. He has been working in the resettlement sector in Aotearoa New Zealand, Auckland for more than 15 years promoting relationship building between resettled people and service providers. He represented attends UN Submits in Geneva, Switzerland on behalf of forced migrant background communities and engages New Zealand parliamentarians in Wellington on the plight of refugee background and resettled people in Aotearoa New Zealand. Abann lived in Syria as an asylum seeker after fleeing South Sudan and Sudan’s civil war two decades ago. He came to Aotearoa New Zealand in 2005 with his nuclear family. He is a community-driven person easy to approach and he helps many individuals and groups of ethnically diverse background communities beyond the Aotearoa Resettled Community Coalition.

Book preview

Copyright © 2022 by Abann Kamyay Ajak Yor.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,

recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,

without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

The stories contained in this storybook are all personal accounts of new residents

from forced migrant backgrounds. They shared their forced displacement,

re/settlement journeys and lived experience highlighted opportunities and

challenges in their life.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and

such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 02/02/2022

Xlibris

NZ TFN: 0800 008 756 (Toll Free inside the NZ)

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www.Xlibris.co.nz

825595

Aotearoa Resettled Community Coalition (ARCC)

Abann Kamyay Ajak Yor

Publish … September 2021

Book impression, preparation, and project management

By Abann Kamyay Ajak Yor,

Individual stories authors assistants

By Gatluak Pal Chuol

Proofreading and Editing

By Dr Bruce Hunker, John Stewart, James Ibell-Roberts, and Stewart Devitt

Figure 1: World map of each storytellers country of origin to Aotearoa New Zealand (personal illustration 2021)

image001.jpg

The sixteen storytellers in this publication originate from twelve different countries across the world but have all made Aotearoa New Zealand home. Their countries of origin are Burundi, Colombia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kurdistan (Iraq), Myanmar (formerly Burma), Saudi Arabia, Somalia, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, and Tanzania.

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Figure 2: Hongi – Abann K.A Yor & Rama Ormsby (2016)

Indigenous South Sudanese welcomed by indigenous Māori of Aotearoa New Zealand

"When Māori greet one another by pressing noses, the tradition of sharing the breath of life is considered to have come directly from the gods. Through the exchange of this physical greeting, one is no longer considered manuhiri (a visitor) but rather tangata whenua (one of the people of the land)."

Source: https://www.nzmanukagroup.com/find-out-more/news/archive/hongi-maori-greeting

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Dedication

About the Author

About the Book

Foreword

Introduction

Our Stories, Our Voices, Our Identities

Living with The Trauma of Human Trafficking

I’m The Product of My Background

It’s A Matter of Doing Our Bit

It’s All in A Name

Seeking Refuge in Circles

A Flashback to My Background

The World has No Eyes to See

My Story of Seeking Asylum

New Zealand Saved Me

Prisoner at The Age of Five

Pulling Myself Up

The Wrong Phone Call That Changed My World

A Proud Aucklander

What You Put In is What You Get Out

Reshaping My Life

I have Brought Africa to New Zealand

Conclusion

Appendixes

Key Contributors

The Storybook Background

Ten Settlement Self-Recovery Tools

Glossary

Terminology Definitions

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Telling stories is human nature. It is how we connect and understand one another, and what has happened in our journey up until this point, but every story is different. Every story is unique in its own way. I would like to sincerely thank the whole support team, especially our funders for the resources that have enabled us to complete our second story collection – Our Stories, Our Voices, Our Identities: The New Zealand Resettlement Storybook. I thank Aotearoa Resettled Community Coalition (ARCC) staff and volunteers for their time and hard work in collecting the stories and giving feedback. This story collection would not have been possible without your support throughout its development.

The most important thanks go to our storytellers, the brave, courageous and dignified individuals whose stories make the book. Your understanding that our hardships and numerous challenges as new residents and citizens of Aotearoa, New Zealand deserve to be heard, in the form of beautiful stories, is the critical piece of the puzzle that has led to this inspirational collection. You all deserve special thanks and appreciation. I believe that your stories will have a significant and positive impact on the settlement and integration process in Aotearoa New Zealand.

As well as those whose stories have been shared, it’s a great privilege and honour to extend my acknowledgement and appreciation to those whose statements have made a key contribution to this publication: Adeline Guerra, Asif Ahmed, Dr Bruce Hucker, Celia Brandon, John Stewart, Tayyaba Khan, Tim Maurice and Trevor Gray. Thank you to all of you. A special thank you also to the ARCC Board and staff for your support of this work, and to the organisation’s critical friends for their unwavering support.

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to the individual storytellers and their families, and all of our coalition’s families. This book is also dedicated to the victims of the ongoing conflicts in the world – the innocent men, women, and children – and to the displaced populations around the globe who are seeking protection, safety, and healing.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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The author is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Aotearoa Resettled Community Coalition (ARCC) and is a community advocate and educator. He works with diverse ethnic communities and individuals in the Aotearoa New Zealand resettlement sector at the local, regional and national level. He is the recipient of multiple awards for his outstanding commitment to community development and social practice, including the New Zealander of the Year Local Hero Award in 2016. He is a fellow of the New Zealand Winston Churchill Memorial Trust, has received the New Zealand Red Cross Resettlement Sector Award and has twice represented the forced migrant background communities of Aotearoa New Zealand at the Geneva Annual Tripartite Consultations on Resettlement (ATCR).

Community-driven and easy to approach, he helps many individuals and communities from ethnically diverse background. He supports many university students, from undergraduates and postgraduates to PhD candidates, with their research projects, and has received certificates of appreciation for his ongoing contribution to educational fieldwork and the enhancement of student learning. He is a visionary with clear objectives and well-developed strategic thinking. He has strong advocacy, leadership and management capabilities and takes a human rights-based approach to community issues.

The author has established and maintained strong networks with the diverse resettled communities of Aotearoa New Zealand. He has completed a number of formal qualifications, including a Graduate Diploma in Not-for-Profit Management, a Postgraduate Certificate in Social Practice, a Postgraduate Diploma in Bicultural Professional Supervision and a Master’s Degree in Indigenous Studies. As part of his work in the Aotearoa New Zealand resettlement sector he is a published author, with books and research papers to his name. Since the organisation’s foundation in 2006, he has been an integral part of ARCC. From his lived experience and understanding, he believes we are all obliged to offer a helping hand to support those in need and dear to our heart.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Our Stories, Our Voices, Our Identities: The New Zealand Resettlement Storybook is an introductory narrative on the resettlement experience, which can encourage relationship building between resettled people and wider Aotearoa New Zealand society. The stories in this book recall the lived experiences of individuals from a forced migrant background. Those who were forced without any choice, because of civil war or persecution, to leave their country of origin. These narratives are human stories of hope and resilience that give the space to share life stories, and the opportunity to gain greater understanding. This is the sequel to the publication Beyond Refuge: Stories of Resettlement in Auckland, originally published in 2016 and reprinted in 2021. The stories here were collected and written in 2017 and 2018 after these initial publications successful launch.

This book has been compiled by the CEO of Aotearoa Resettled Community Coalition (ARCC) to engage and connect with wider stakeholders, including service providers, policymakers, the media, educational institutions, politicians and the wider public. It serves as a guide, resource, and tool to equip its audience with resettlement knowledge. These narratives bring a greater understanding of the varied journeys towards successful settlement and positive integration. The book and its stories capture voices from diverse ethnic backgrounds and help to maintain each storytellers’ own cultural identity.

The collection shares stories of human struggle but also success in the face of adversity, doing so with love and compassion for the benefit of all of Aotearoa New Zealand and the world. It recognises New Zealanders hospitality and the opportunity that time provides as a healer for each of the individual storytellers as they recover from their past trauma and discover their new home and rekindle dreams. The spirit of willingness to tell a story and share personal experiences allows a larger audience to hear directly from people who have lived through traumatic experiences. The book aims to change mindsets and worldviews through storytelling, taking you along on the journey of sixteen new residents and citizens of Aotearoa New Zealand. They openly share their resettlement journeys, from leaving a country of origin, arriving in a country of asylum, and finally starting a new life in Aotearoa New Zealand. The personal accounts will improve readers’ general knowledge and understanding of the resettlement journey, creating an awareness that can lead to more positive settlement and integration outcomes for resettled people. New residents, like those whose stories are shared here, are not asking for any special privileges. All that they want is to be treated like any other New Zealander and to be respected as human beings.

FOREWORD

Resettled people from forced migrant backgrounds continue to face critical issues as the root causes of settlement and integration problems go unaddressed – for example, historical trauma and the impact of war and persecution. The traumas we as resettled people have witnessed or experienced live on in our memories. Even years later they can cause us fresh pain, each and every time we recall them (Tutu & Tutu 2014, p16). The existing resettlement system is not as effective as it could be, with significant gaps in listening to community voices. The system is holding the community hostage, with resources controlled under a condition of dependency and a lack of recognition of our contributions to the local community. The system to date has privileged those external to forced migrant lived experience, and has been driven by service providers and academics, not by resettled communities themselves and the real immediate needs of individuals and families.

Resettled people want to achieve better settlement and integration outcomes for their families and communities in Aotearoa New Zealand. Building a new life and a sense of belonging takes properly allocated resources, service commitment, knowledge and understanding. I have worked in the resettlement sector as a community advocate and educator for many years, working to achieve social justice for vulnerable and marginalised families and their communities. I work with people who are unable to even help themselves, those with a dependency mindset, due to the many barriers in the resettlement system, such as inappropriate policies, inadequate resourcing, lack of opportunities and failures of recognition. This storybook is one solution for positive change and advances new residents and citizens’ aspirations to be settled, integrated, and contributing to thriving communities. As we are aware of our problems, we are also aware of how to help ourselves to achieve positive settlement and integration outcomes.

This storybook was developed to support this aim, to improve settlement and integration outcomes. Every day we must deal with and respond to questions such as ‘Where are you from?’, ‘Why are you here?’ and ‘Why did you choose to come to New Zealand over other countries in the world?’. These questions come from all corners of society – non-governmental organisations, government agencies, the media and the general public. We don’t only face these questions, but also name-calling, labelling and stereotyping. The commonly used terms of refugee, former refugees or refugee background bring negative connotations and the assumption of being poor, helpless, weak, and often even a threat (with the accusation that we are taking peoples’ jobs and housing, and are a burden to the economy). This narrative not only overlooks the fact that Aotearoa New Zealand is a resettlement country not a refugee country. The newer residents hold permanent residents on arrival, which the end of their resettlement journey and the start of their settlement and integration journey in New Zealand.

The above questions, assumptions and stereotyping are evidence of the knowledge gap within the Aotearoa New Zealand public, and many institutions and agencies, of the experiences of those from a forced migrant background. Many new residents and citizens of Aotearoa New Zealand left their country of origin because of political or religious division and conflict. They then face new political agendas and a lack of resourcing in this democratic nation due to a lack of appropriate policies and political will. The challenges, struggles and suffering of resettled people in their new home come about through the deeply engrained mental models of Aotearoa New Zealand society. Kania et al. (2018) defined mental models as ‘habits of thought – deeply held beliefs and assumptions and taken for granted ways of operating that influence how we think, what we do, and how we talk’. The resettlement sector needs transformative change led by those of us from forced migrant backgrounds to alter the common and incorrect narrative and shift societal mental models.

The book has two target audiences, forced migrant background communities themselves and the wider Aotearoa New Zealand public and institutions. For resettled communities it promotes their stories, changing mindsets of fear of retelling their stories due to the impacts of wars and persecution and their historical trauma. It encourages independence (for our communities to know how to catch a fish) rather than dependence on government support (receiving a fish each time), so that our resettled communities can