Captions by John Ling. Edited by Anna Bracewell-Worrall. www.able.co.nz Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2015 REFLECTIVE MUSIC Mt Maunganui is a small coastal town on the North Island's East Coast. Officially it's part of Tauranga, but true Mounties know that this place has a character all of its own. My husband and I have lived in Mt Maunganui for nearly four years now. It is our home and the place we would like to live forever. Sometimes it feels like you're on holiday 365 days a year. This is my second home ` the place I come back to every couple of months to work with my sister. There is so much fresh local produce on offer. It's great to be able to get a bag of avocados from only $3 from the side of the road, and for a small town, it's got big-city perks like great coffee, fashion and food. Mum was born in Wellington and Dad in Zimbabwe, but both sets of grandparents came from India. However, we both grew up in Whanganui, so I guess you could say we're Kiwis seasoned with a little international spice. And we'd like to introduce you to some other people that have made Mt Maunganui home. We'll meet a man from Brazil who carries on his skin the marks of the master craftsmen from all over the world. I got my first tattoo when I was 16. That was th-the coolest thing in the world. When I got out on the buses, make sure I hold the bars up here so I could show my scorpion, and I thought I was the man. I was just a little kid. (CHUCKLES) A woman born in Poland shares the keepsake that helped her persevere during some tough times. When I look at the book, it's, like, a real gratitude. It's really memories and pride that I've done it, um, against all odds. We'll meet an Indian woman who has made it her mission to help some of the more vulnerable people in her community. I thought, 'Let's continue my journey, because... it was very very inspiring.' So I immediately said, 'Yes, yes, I want to do it.' And I... I was just going there as a volunteer. And a woman from Trinidad shares the secrets of her grandma's recipe for roti. I've heard stories where people would actually, you know, steal roti and things off the table and shove it in their handbag, uh, because it was just something that people really really desperately wanted to try at home. I'm Tanisha. And I'm Verena. BOTH: And this is our neighbourhood. UPBEAT MUSIC REFLECTIVE MUSIC Although I trained as an accountant, I'm passionate about food, so last year I took a leap of faith and started a chef's course at the Bay of Plenty Polytechnic. Then the opportunity arose to compete on MasterChef, and I haven't looked back since. I work in outback Australia, caring for patients in remote communities. It can be tough work, with long hours, limited resources and very sick patients, but it's also very rewarding, as the doctor is such an appreciated and integral member of the community. I work three weeks on, six weeks off, and when I'm back in NZ, I swap my stethoscope for an apron to work with my sister. Food is all about memories, and we'd be hard-pushed to find a family memory that doesn't involve food in some way, shape or form, but for some new migrants, a single memento can bring back a flood of memories from their childhood. (PLAYS VIBRANT TUNE) I started piano, I was 6. My first teacher didn't recognise my talent. She said that it's actually, uh, useless. I'm totally not worth putting effort into teaching music. Musically deaf. Tried to discourage my parents from further education. Very grateful to my parents they did not listen to that opinion. My name is Magdalena James. I was born in Warsaw in Poland. So I grew up in '80s. 1980s. That's the time politically not the best in Poland. That's when you could see not many things in supermarket. Mainly vinegar. Um, every special items, you have to have a docket from your place work to be able to buy milk, to be able to buy meat, cheese, everything. There was long queues to wait for. POIGNANT MUSIC When I was about 3 years old, I started singing, and I would sing every day. Um, everything, whatever I was doing, I was singing. My father even recorded some of my, um, improvised songs. He loved music himself, so he was very happy to hear our passion ` my and my sister. So he decided to send us to music schools. That was the good part of that times. Music education was very easy accessible, um, and affordable for all as long as we could pass exams. DREAMY MUSIC This is my treasure. This is a music diary which, um, my father started for me when I was 6. That's the beginning of my music adventure. It carry on for every exam that I had to pass. Every year, two exams. He would made a decoration and state all the programme I was playing, and then I asked my, um, teachers to put the mark and sign it for me, and that tells all the history, all the struggles, all the ups and downs. But it tells all the progress I made. You know, everything I played. All of that, I could play by heart. My father put in a lot of effort. You know, the... he, as a scientist, he used to work at night, and if my exam was the next day and he didn't have time for it earlier, he would spend the early hours of the morning just to fill it in. We're talking 2 o'clock, 3 o'clock in the morning just to be sure that it will be done. Um, he would never let me down, and it wa-was always... surprise. When I look at the book, it's, like, a real gratitude. It's really memories and pride that I've done it. Um, against all odds, I finished and I graduate as a Master of Arts from university. ALL SING IN POLISH Teaching was one of my dreams. Music is very natural for children. They very early start improvising. When children are 3 or 4, they will walk around and sing. Just try to sing. Making noises. It's so sitting in them. Children learn to listen carefully and to memorise what they hear. It's no better start for their life, is it? (SPEAKS POLISH) They all have Polish. One of the parents is Polish, and that's why the kids come to the school to learn the language. DREAMY MUSIC I feel like I've got two homes. One home is here with my little family, and one home is the one I'm homesick every Christmas. That's my home back in Poland. ALL SING IN POLISH Amen. (SPEAKS POLISH) I think Polish culture is so amazing. It has so much to offer. It's like a treasure by itself. I want my children to be able to go to see the country, to use the language, and to communicate freely in this language with my parents, my siblings and their families. REFLECTIVE MUSIC Mum grew up in Wellington, and Dad grew up in Zimbabwe. Mum went to Zimbabwe with her older brother with the intention of getting married. Not an arranged marriage as such. More of an introduction through connections. After Mum and Dad met and married, they decided to relocate to NZ. Mum's family was here, and it was a far better place for them to raise a family. Dad is a doctor. He was pleased to leave behind the poverty and racism that surrounded him in Africa, but he also had to leave his entire family to start a new life in NZ. There's always a certain sadness that goes along with that. Many new migrants suffer loneliness when they arrive in NZ, and they are cut off from community support and their family, but for some vulnerable women, the issues that arise from isolation can become even more serious. REFLECTIVE MUSIC I came to NZ in 2002. We were looking for the... peaceful... life, and that's why we decided to come... to NZ. NZ is the best part of the world, I must say. I came with my husband, my son and my mother-in-law. Yeah. We started our business in 2003 in Tauranga. The first shop name was Cameronian Dairy on Cameron Rd. We came to Mt Maunganui in 2007. Hot Spot Superette. Nice and hot? (CHUCKLES) Yeah. Nice and hot? (CHUCKLES) Yeah. Yeah. Just been at the beach. I like working at the dairy very much, because interacting with the customer, talking with them, it's amazing, and when it's busy and it's... it's` then it's really good. DREAMY MUSIC Across the road, there was a place called Shakti. By curiosity, I went there, and I asked them, 'What do you do and all?' Shakti, they deal with domestic` domestic violence, uh, victim among Asian, African, Middle Eastern, Indian and Fiji-Indian women and children and, uh, help them to live life full of dignity and without violence, and they integrate with the community. So they help them out and empower them. So I immediately said, 'Yes, yes, I want to do it.' And I... I was just going there as a volunteer. I thought, 'Let's continue my journey,' because it was very very... inspiring. So, in 2006, I studied, uh, biculturalism in social work. Migrant woman have a problem when they come here. Dowry abuse is very common in NZ. When the girl get married, the parents give them a gift` as a gift, some jewellery and some cash and all. But after coming here, they demand more money, all kind of things. The woman are afraid, sometimes, to go out. Violence in different form sometimes. Yeah. First thing's the safety, so we have our own refuge here. It depends what kind of crisis. We have 24-hours crisis line. So people can use that 0800 Shakti crisis line. So it's 24 hours. Today we are going to meet, uh, somebody, uh, who is coming here. One of our client. That's right. Yeah. That's right. Yeah. And she is also a victim of dowry abuse, so` and we have been helping her, as you know, that last 18 months. So I am here to meet her, and we'll talk. We're getting a lot of clients. You know, especially if the police is picking them up or we go to the hospital when the woman is cruelly been abused by the husband. And, um, there was, uh, one client we had to pick up at around 11 at night, because the hospital want to discharge her, and she wasn't safe to go back home. Namaste ji. Namaste. Namaste. Namaste. Namaste. BOTH SPEAK HINDI (SPEAKS HINDI) TRANSLATOR: I married in India, then I stayed with my in-laws for one and a half years, and then my husband sponsored me to come to NZ. I have a child back in India ` who is still left in India ` and when I came, my husband started demanding me for dowry, which was jewellery and money. He would verbally abuse me and physically abuse me. He wouldn't let me to talk to anybody. Only I was allowed to talk to my parents back in India, but in front of him, and he would tell me, 'This is my community. These are my friends. There's nobody for you here.' And it came to the point I had to break that silent to my grandparents, who were in Canada and told them what happened, and if I don't get out, I'll die here. Then Shakti called the police to rescue me out from the house. I stayed in Shakti's safe house for one and a half year. Living in NZ, it feels really good. The work Shakti has helped me through, through the government as well, and I'm really proud that what Shakti has done for me, and I'm very happy living here. Most of my confidence as a person, who I am and, uh, throughout the journey, I found myself ` what I am. That was the so-social worker for me. I found myself, and I... found very, very, very inspiring, and I loved it. REFLECTIVE MUSIC Right now we have so many plans and ideas for the future, but eight years ago, Verena was in a very different place. We were terrified she would never walk again. I was in a tour group traveling through Jordan when, out of nowhere, a man started shooting at us. Six out of eight of us were shot, and one person died. Verena ended up with a bullet lodged in her spinal canal, which caused temporary paralysis from the waist down. A mere millimetre's difference could have fractured a vertebra and severed her spinal cord. It was a very near miss but still a long road to recovery and being able to walk again. This whole experience has reminded us that life is precious, and we need to seize the day. It helped us to decide to focus what we are passionate about ` food. Rodrigo Nasa was born in Brazil but makes the Mount his home. His passion is the art of tattooing. SERENE MUSIC I'm from Brazil, inland. Minas Gerais is a big state. It's more farming kind of a style. People were more judgmental that time and more conservative. So the tattoos was kind of something to be different than most of people. And it was hard for me. People used to point fingers to me on the streets, calling me crazy, because I had tattoos and stuff. Then, I only had one or two. (CHUCKLES) My name is Rodrigo Bernardes, known as Nasa. I've got tattoos from all over the world ` from most places I've been. For me, it was the best souvenir I could carry with me. Uh, one of my very favourite ones is this portrait from Goldie. Te Aho-o-te-Rangi his name. And, um, actually learned a lot about him later. Lots of things that w-we connect for things that he used to do and he used to like. So I have here dragon from... done from a Japanese friend. Symbol for protection, for strength in their culture. I have my tiki eyes from the... the Pacific, Polynesian. My son, little Max; my daughter, Cleo; and pretty much the passion of my life, the Harley mo` the Harley motor. Live to ride. Ride to live. I got my first tattoo when I was 16, asking my father every day, my mother every day. My father was very angry, because he had to sign a consent for me to go get it. So I got my first scorpion, and it was the coolest thing in the world. When I go out on the buses, I make sure I hold the bars up here so I could show my scorpion, and I thought I was the man. I was just a little kid. (CHUCKLES) I think I remember it was just a click ` I'm going to be a tattooist. So I bought everything, and I started at home for maybe six months, but straight away I wanted to be professional, and I moved to a little shop, and I was 18. I had my first shop. I was totally self-taught. It wasn't many ways t-to see, to learn how to do it. Pretty much trying. Making some mistakes, obviously, and learn from that. I'm a very joking person, but I do take serious what you gonna wear on your skin and take with you for the rest of your life. I always try to think how your tattoo's gonna look like in 30, 40, 50 years later. When you open someone's skin, yo-you connect to the person straight away. That person is open, and once his soul becomes vulnerable to you, yo-you can put a... a-a... you can put a bad feeling, a bad vibe to that person if you want it. That's why I always try, if I'm having a bad day, go outside, clean myself. Try not to tattoo anybody angry or anything like that, because it definitely will go to that person. So it is that magic. It's that energy that gets transferred to the person when you tattoo. WHIRRING Today we're doing some South American's old-style tattooing. So those patterns are from Indians called Munduruku. They are tribe from the Amazon, but they spread in different places in Brazil as well, and it's, um, the first part we're gonna do represents pretty much the crocodiles from the river there. I'm pretty happy so far, so now we start the shading. It's gonna give a little bit of a different view to the whole thing. A different shape. Beautiful, isn't it? Beautiful, isn't it? Yeah, nah, I'm rapt with it. That's why I'm here. He's the man, Nasa. Yeah, no wonder they like him. If you work on the... get rid of the pain, that'd be better. But, no, it's good. (CHUCKLES) Nah, yeah, I'm rapt, eh. REFLECTIVE MUSIC I live here now with my wife, Kate, my daughter, Cleo, my son, Max, and my two little crazy dogs. (CHUCKLES) Yeah, I see myself staying here in NZ. Definitely for sure in the Mount. I really love this place. Every time I go away and I come back, I'm driving back here and I see that little Mount there, I feel something so good. I feel, like, that's my place. People here, uh, welcome me. I'm respect for what I do. For my art, you know? For me, it was a big thing to tattoo Maori people. So it's all about respect from both sides, you know? And th-the sun, the sunshine, th-the white sand ` it's just a paradise. But don't tell everybody that. (CHUCKLES) RELAXING MUSIC Food was our main connection with our culture, and from an early age, our palate was accustomed to flavoursome ethnic food. And this is a family recipe for a simple delicious chicken curry, which is easy for the working mum. When you're a child, you wanna be the same as everyone, but as we've gotten older, we've learned to embrace our heritage more and appreciate the differences in our upbringing. For instance, I didn't have an Indian wedding, but our older brother Samir is getting married this year with all the Hindu traditions and ceremonies. And we're really looking forward to it ` wearing brightly coloured saris, sparkling jewels and even getting some henna painted on our hands. Farah Gopaul comes from Trinidad and one of the things that excites her the most about living in the Mount is the opportunity to share her country's culinary traditions. DREAMY MUSIC My cultural heritage is Indian, so East Indian. That means that, going back 300 years, my great-grandmother arrived on one of the first, um, ships with immigrant labourers, um, to the Caribbean ` to Trinidad, in fact. Growing up in Trinidad, you` if yo-you` you are assaulted by food smells all the time, and, uh, I remember, um, my mum's little kitchen when we grew up in the compound. It was a, you know, little bungalow that we lived in and, um, yeah, she was always` that sound of the spoon hitting the pot, that was the sound you heard all the time. And one of the things that used to fascinate me growing up was going with my mum to the local markets. There was always crowded people haggling, um, and it was just really` really, you know, exciting, and I never could understand why Mum would, you know, walk around the entire market, trying to haggle for the best price when I thought everything was pretty cheap anyway, you know? This one is me learning how to make roti, um, and it's in Mum's kitchen. I've got the tava on, and I'm using one of the traditional dabla sticks there, and my grandmother was actually showing me that day, which is really really nice. So, um, we're both doing` got the same shot really. So this is Trinidad paratha roti, um, and I'm making it for the gourmet night market, which is held every Friday down at the Mount. Um, I, um, and my husband, we run a stall there and, um, we decided to do Trinidad paratha, because it is quite unique. Um, it is a very flaky, light, um, roti compared to some of the Indian rotis. Trinidad paratha is` was, uh, when I was growing up, you only had this at weddings and special festivals, um, religious festivals, and it was very much, um, what the Indian community would make. So people outside Indian community in Trinidad would not have really had this. I've heard stories where people would actually, you know, steal roti and things off the table and shove it in their handbags, uh, because it was just something that people really really desperately wanted t-to try at home. So the... what we're gonna do is roll these out. Not very big. Um, just a few inches wide, and stuff them with that butter, and you can do garlic paratha as well. So you can stuff them with garlic butter. From the centre, cut a little slit in it, and then start rolling. And start rolling there, and then we're gonna tuck that in underneath there, and we're gonna push the, um, cone end... end down. So it makes a little round shape. REFLECTIVE MUSIC I'm gonna baste it. I'm looking for those bubbles, and that means it's almost ready. So this is when we can start using the sticks to move the roti about. So we're just gonna start pushing it about, and it's really about... it starts to tear anyway because it is almost like a bit of a pastry. So it's starting to shred on itself. So what you'll find is if some of the edges are thick and they're not cooking evenly is, um` what you do is you get underneath the roti itself, and you rest it on... on the edges. So what I'm doing is just I'm resting it on the edges there and letting the edges cook. SERENE MUSIC Tonight, um, I'm here with my husband, James, and I'm also here with a friend's daughter, uh, Dana. She helps every Friday, um, and it works really well. Tonight has been awesome. We've met people from the Caribbean that have been attracted to the stall. So it's been really` really good fun. We had enough time to chat to people tonight. We've had a few curries before. That's pretty good. (CHUCKLES) Delicious. The roti's just fantastic. It's wonderful with the yum curry and, uh, very very enjoyable. I think that the... the paratha roti is so, uh, reminiscent of my childhood. Um, it really brings back the memories o-of all the women, and they were gossiping lots and sitting there. They would never let you know what they were doing. You know, it was it was all very secretive ` the whole roti-making thing. So you feel sort of, like, privileged to be actually doing, um, doing the roti-making now, and I really enjoy sharing the knowledge now. REFLECTIVE MUSIC I've been to India several times. We no longer have any family there, so it's purely as a foodie and a tourist. India's such a vibrant country, bombarding your senses from every angle. It's hard not to bring this influence back home. I've never been to India, so I'm looking forward to my first visit when we take a culinary tour there later this year. I'm sure it will be an incredible experience, although it won't change the fact that the Mount is now home to me. The Mount provides a respite from my time in the drought-stricken outback. People here accept other cultures' uniquenesses and differences. It's great to immerse ourselves in this amazing lifestyle that has drawn so many people here from all around the world. Captions by John Ling. Edited by Anna Bracewell-Worrall. www.able.co.nz Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2015