Sarah – Browns Bay
“I text message my friends quite a lot to find out where I’m going.
We go for walks in the morning, and connect that way. My friend text me this morning saying that she’s leaving home, because she lives up in Whangapāraoa which is quite a away from where we live. I usually text back saying, fine. And it’s usually me texting her saying if we’re going to walk in the morning!
I’ve grown up on the Shore all my life. My friend and I have known each other for over 40 years now. We met at school, and this is the one way we can keep in contact without having to see each other all the time, which can be up to six months at one stage, because of the distance.
What I like about Auckland is, here on the Shore, the closeness of the beach. I grew up within five minute drive to the beach, waiting for my father to come home from work, and going to the beach.
I know having social connections is very important. If we have places where we can go, like libraries, we can have meetings about where we can go and make friends, like the non-English speaking people have groups where they can go and practice their English and have English people making friends with them. I find that’s very helpful for those sort of people. It’s up to the individual to go and make those things happen, but it’s good to have those things in place, and that’s, I guess, how Auckland can be more cohesive.
I enjoy diversity. I have no problems with immigrants – unless they make problems for me. Then that’s a different story. I’m 56 years old and having grown up in this country it’s gone from predominantly English to Indians, Arabs, all sorts of people, which are really quite interesting. I like to know their stories and how we can help them, and how they can help us with different things. Humanity means that we get on together – that we learn to be nice to one another, which is a very subjective thing.”
