Local service providers come together for Tauranga's first-ever Latin Expo.
Tauranga’s first Latin Expo has been hailed a success after filling the Cargo Shed.
The expo was not just about food and dance: its main aim was to connect migrant communities to organisations that offer free services to help them settle in their new country.
“We’ve got people that don’t know how to approach organisations because of the language barrier,” said Latin Community Tauranga president Karen Gibney.
“The idea is to help them get a better job, a better-paid job instead of jobs where they’re not able to utilise what they studied back home.”
For Carlos Santamaria, from Panama, the expo showcased valuable services.
“Coming to this event is important for migrants. For me, it’s an opportunity to connect with organisations that we didn’t know existed.
“A few things migrants might need to know are, for example, organisations that help to upskill people.
“To help with the CVs, get jobs that are in accordance with their skills. Several times migrants come and they are very skilled people but they just don’t know their way around.”
Many immigrants defaulted to industries where employment was readily available, rather than following a career path for which they trained at home.
“They might be working in hospitality when they’re actually a trained engineer,” said Suki Xiao, a life coach working in Tauranga.
“It’s about getting that overseas experience really singing out as transferable skills on to their CVs.”
The language barrier and confidence levels could be major challenges to starting again in a new country.
But Xiao said fitting in seamlessly should not necessarily be the goal.
“I don’t assimilate as much as I think I need to, to fit in. There’s still discrimination. As much as we don’t like to admit it, it’s still happening. It’s getting Aotearoa New Zealand to value the diversity that we have in our communities.”
The local branch of the Citizens Advice Bureau also attended.
“We work with a lot of immigrants to Tauranga and New Zealand and provide free, independent advice to anyone on any subject that’s near and dear to them,” said chairwoman Christine Buckley.
Employment, visa and tenancy issues are common topics of interest to immigrants.
“We have an immigration adviser, so for any immigrants who have issues with [their] visa particularly or are looking to extend work permits or whatever, we provide that.”
The Tauranga City Council helped immigrants understand how city waste services work.
“They’re trying to move to a new country and adapt to our way of doing things and we’re trying to educate them on how to use our waste and kerbside services,” said council senior waste minimisation officer Gabriel Hurford.
“A lot of these people have different systems so we’re just trying to educate them on how to do it in Tauranga the correct way so we can get all of these items recycled.”
The council has also translated selected brochures from English to te reo Māori, Spanish, Samoan, Punjabi, Mandarin and Tongan.
A focus on respecting the ocean and understanding how to be safe in it also played a part in the expo.
“Immigrants have a lot on their mind when they first get here and water safety is not usually the first thing on their mind,” said water safety advocate Kurt Cordice.
“Unfortunately, it can be the first thing that they run into because the waters here are not like where we come from.
“The way we do things in some realms are not necessarily well suited to the communities coming in and ‘business as usual’ doesn’t really serve them.”
Follow-up workshops and seminars were being planned to help migrants understand everything from getting a driver’s licence to making a CV shine.
“We have counselling services, subsidised driving classes, and free English classes and hobby sessions,” said Multicultural Tauranga’s Olivia Hong. “We’re here to break down the barriers.”
