"Mainly because I have walked the migrant journey myself and I understand the challenges migrants have when coming to a new city. They don't know anyone, don't know who to go to, so thought I would be able to make some change and help some people along the way."
He says he was humbled to receive the opportunity to be Welcoming Communities co-ordinator, and is excited that he can make someone else's journey a little bit easier.
Raj says the role includes working with a range of government agencies such as MBIE, Immigration New Zealand, the Settlement Support network, DIA, and the police, plus a whole lot of volunteer groups, including the Rotorua Multicultural Council.
It is being a co-ordinator between all these, pulling them together and trying to come up with a benchmark for how migrants can settle in well.
The role will also include looking at some of the challenges that employers and education institutes may be facing as they gear up with the borders re-opening, he says.
From a council point of view, he will also help connect council services to these groups.
Raj has only been in the role for three weeks so far, but he is enjoying meeting all the migrant groups and interacting with the agencies, as well as seeing a different side of council after being with it for three years in a different role.
He says his priority right now is meeting as many groups and individuals as he possibly can, doing a stocktake of where things are at, and seeing what needs there are and what gaps need to be plugged, before coming up with a framework on how to tackle these.
Raj says successful cities around the world have a welcoming outlook.
"People bring different skill sets, different styles and different thinking patterns, and that diversity enriches the whole community.
"It brings a broader worldview when we have different groups represented."
He says with our strength in tourism and hospitality, along with a strong Multicultural Council, Rotorua already does well in being a welcoming city.
"We probably need to work on helping new families and new migrants to settle in better - different people's needs are different, so it's being sensitive to that and then seeing how best we can help them settle in."
This week is Welcoming Week — Te Wiki o Manaaki, which is an annual campaign to showcase and celebrate how communities across Aotearoa and the globe are working to be more welcoming places for all, including migrants.
Raj says this week is celebrated with different activities around the country. Since the programme is very new in Rotorua, there was not time to set up local activities for this year, but this campaign will be a target for next year.
