Meera | Avondale
“That’s a lovely question, because I came, on Saturday I came to this Avondale Community Centre, to serve, to help people to cook food. So, my job was to cut vegetables, and we had a chef, Trevor and I just helped him, and every time when I cut something and I give it to him, he goes, oh thank you Meera, thank you Meera.
That makes me feel nice. So, I think it’s more helping the community. I think that makes me feel special and I love doing that type of job.
I started making food for the Avondale Community Centre, and it made me feel very happy, and people go, oh this is nice, and that is nice, and that makes me feel very happy that I’m doing something good for the people around me. I think that’s making me feel, and I’ve started this last, from last year I’ve started doing this. So, I’m just enjoying myself, that making me feel special, and making me feel very happy.
What makes me feel special is when people come and talk to me, and make me feel nice. So, it’s the same feeling other people have within them. When I think, this makes me feel happy, so I keep looking at other people and think, I have to do something for them so that makes them, even a smile from them makes me think, I have done something for people which has made them feel special. So, when I come to the community centre, I just go around talking to people. I have noticed when I come here that people just smile at you and take your attention so that they need you. They need you to go and talk to them. So, I think that is what made me feel that I should do that for the people to, you know, make them feel happy and feel nice.
I was born and brought up in India. I got married when I was 21, and then I moved to Dubai. I was in Dubai for more than 15 years, and then I came to New Zealand and it is when I came here, I think, I always loved to serve people, and that’s my passion, actually but I didn’t get that opportunity when I was in Dubai. So, when I came here, this was my, it’s only last two years I think I was made a coordinator for Mother’s Kitchen, which is under the wing of Embracing the World.
Embracing the World is an organisation run by a Holy Mother called Hugging Saint; she is very famous all around the world. So, under that wing, there is the Mother’s Kitchen and youth program. So, I am the coordinator for, that and I started from last year.
Mother’s Kitchen is run by a Holy Mother called Mata Amritanandamayi, or Amma. Worldwide she’s called as Amma, and she does a lot of humanitarian service around the world. Her aim is to serve the poor, serve the needy, and help people who are ill. That is the main thing that attracted me to her, and in New Zealand, we do have an Amma group, and with the Amma group, we have Mother’s Kitchen.
I’ve started serving food in the Auckland City Mission, and it is only last two months I came to know about the Avondale Community Centre. So, I just started coming here, now. So, I come and serve food, I come and donate clothes. Where I can help people; I just do that for them.
I think about from when I was small, I had that within me, that, I have to do something for the community, but I didn’t get an opportunity when I was in Dubai. I was more looking after my own children. So, I didn’t have that. When I came to this country, I think I went into the internet and I saw how people around in this country do a lot of service for the community. I think that triggered my interest more. So, when I got this opportunity to do Mother’s Kitchen, I thought, yeah this is what I really wanted in life. So, this is what is making me feel very happy now, that I go around and I’ll try and see who needs help, and just go around trying to help people.
I told you, Auckland City Mission to serve food, and I used to cook food and take it there and serve food, and it is going around and helping people who are in need, and maybe even next my project is to look into old people who really need our support to sit and talk to them, and do something for them, helping people out and that thing, and Mother’s Kitchen is all about helping people.”
