Episode 4 - Arrun Pancha Arrun’s great grandfather stowed away on a ship from Gujurat, India bound for Fiji in the 1920s to begin a new chapter in life. He ended up finding a home in Tāmaki Makaurau and today his descendants call Aotearoa New Zealand home. This journey has included overcoming racism, building community in a new land and maintaining connection to cultural traditions through such things as food and sport
Episode 3 - Areeha Maryham As a young child Areeha was excluded and judged by her peers and teachers in Pakistan because of her religious beliefs. Eventually her family had to leave Pakistan because of this religious persecution and in Sri Lanka she found some peace through acceptance of her beliefs and her discovery of art. Settling in Aotearoa New Zealand has meant the start of a life filled with new connections and possibilities.
Episode 2 - Daphne Nock Daphne was born by Lake Victoria in Uganda, the daughter of adventurous Indian immigrants. The expulsion of Asians from Uganda in 1972 forced Daphne to settle in the UK where she confronted racism in many forms. As an educator she has confronted racial inequities affecting herself and her students as well as hard core right wing beliefs in her community, always with her sense of justice and compassion.
Episode 1 - Lenny Wills As a child Lenny felt different and not accepted by family and society - a misfit that fulfilled that feeling by rebelling and causing trouble in school when all they wanted was to be accepted and valued for who they are. Lenny talks of the challenges of being true to oneself when society sees you as ‘other’ and how important it is to feel safe and valued in one’s community.