Nelly | Casebrook, Canterbury

“My challenge is not more-so myself. My challenge is more the elderly in the community, just dealing with them. There’s so many of them that are still scared, especially with the Coronavirus and everything that’s happening around the world.

So, a lot of it is more the challenges that they have, and just being more supportive towards them, especially with the Pacifica group. 

So on a Tuesday Tangata Atumotu Trust hosts a group of elderly Pacifica, and it’s mainly women, because they deal with crafts. So, they’re making little bits and pieces, bracelets, necklaces, a lot of the cultural designs that they come up with, and whatever they can put their hands together in making the crafts for themselves, and for people in their family or community. It’s a way for them to get together, to get out and about, and to socialise together. It’s actually quite rewarding in itself. I’m just a driver, but I have so much fun with them, they laugh and they’re able to just be themselves and get out and about. 

I got involved because one of my cousins works there. So, she needed help one day, and I really had nothing better to do. But I think the rewards have been more on my end than for them, just getting to hang out with them, and hearing the stories that they tell, and just the funny things that they come up with. There’s challenges within that, in that a lot of them being elderly can’t walk as far, everything has its own challenges, but the rewards at the end are so much better. I was born overseas, but raised here in Christchurch. Schooled here, and Christchurch is pretty much my home. Love it to bits.

The majority of the people that we’re traveling with at the moment are Samoan, they just stay strong within themselves, and they’re very supportive of each other. It’s good cultural, I guess, not so much upbringing. Well, there’s always upbringing with it, but it’s just being culturally aware and just staying in touch.”