1 (UPBEAT MUSIC) Captions by James Brown. Edited by Glenna Casalme www.able.co.nz Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2017 (RELAXED DUB MUSIC) Henderson is the beating heart of West Auckland and where you'll find true westies, as well as people from all corners of the world. Over one-third of people living in West Auckland were born overseas. (RELAXED DUB MUSIC CONTINUES) I'm Kurdish. We are the world's largest nation without a state, one of the most oppressed people of modern history. There are approximately 44 million Kurds around the world with no country of our own. Today Kurdistan is divided between Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria. Henderson was such a welcoming place when we first arrived, and I jumped at every opportunity this wonderful community offered me. Today I can say I've worked for the UN, I'm New Zealand's first Kurdish female lawyer, I've helped set up a university scholarship for refugees, and I was lucky enough to be named Young New Zealander of the Year. I really believe that Henderson is a place where newcomers can thrive. In this episode of Neighbourhood, we'll meet a woman from India who has found being a police officer means that she can help those most at need. My communities come with a lot of baggage, where they don't have a lot of trust and confidence with the authorities. And this is what my role is ` to break those barriers, encourage people to come forward. (PLAYS DRAMATIC PIANO MUSIC) A local man born in Iran shares the music that speaks to his heart. I love my country. One of the things that... it's always with me ` the images that I've got, the stories and the people that I know ` relatives, friends. We'll meet a former refugee from Burma fulfilling the dreams of her parents. Education is really important for my family, especially because Mum was being a teacher. She knows how important it is to be well-educated. And that is the main reason why we moved here, yeah ` for a better education, for a better life, yeah. And a Henderson man born in Zimbabwe lets his music do the talking. The lifestyle is all I ever think about, you know. And when I say 'lifestyle', I don't mean, like, material things. I just mean, you know, to have a holistic lifestyle, to be able to make the music I wanna make, be able to be the man I wanna be. I'm Rez Gardi, and this is my neighbourhood. (UPBEAT MUSIC) (REFLECTIVE MUSIC) My dad's family is originally from the Kurdish region of Turkey, and my mum's family is from the Kurdish region of Iraq. With the Iran-Iraq tension and Saddam Hussein's genocidal campaign against the Kurds, it was no longer safe for them to remain there. They were forced to flee to Iran. Ultimately, Iran wasn't a place that my family could be safe either. Like so many people worldwide, they just needed a place that they could be secure and reach their potential. (INTRIGUING MUSIC) My role being an ethnic people's relations officer, it's part of my role to come and engage with my ethnic communities ` with the men and women and children as well, at the same time. The role requires me to educate my people to understand how to settle in New Zealand in a manner where` Sometimes my communities come with a lot of baggage, where they don't have a lot of trust and confidence with the authorities. And this is what my role is ` to break those barriers, encourage people to come forward. I come from a very conservative family. Both my parents come from the rural part of Punjab. Yeah, they were very conservative, and I was the only child till I turned 10, and then my sister was born. So we are only two sisters. I think I was quite young to... to be married, and... there was a bit of an age difference between my husband and I. How old were you in this one? I was around 16�. WHISPERS: Wow. Mm, yeah. He was dependent on some... alcohol and... smoking, which is not culturally accepted for Sikh religion. So these sort of things were really... (SIGHS) sort of brought our relationship on a very cold start from the beginning. And I came back to my parents' house. It was a year, two years, and then became three years. And I spoke to my mum. I said, 'Let's make a passport. Let's try for a visa. 'If I get the visa, then we will talk to Dad. Let's just do initial steps.' So I had to leave my kids with my parents at that time. I didn't have their custody with me, so... I had to leave them behind, and I` my kids and I were separated for six years. (POIGNANT MUSIC) And that's when you first arrived in New Zealand. Ah! And how old were they both when they first arrived? Parneet was 14 and Barry was 12. Oh, they were quite young. Yeah, very young. A bit older than you ` how old you are now. (LAUGHS) But, yeah, they were young. (INTRIGUING MUSIC) It was two years constant working towards achieving my goal of joining the police. And then, finally, it was 8th of February 2004 when I flew to Porirua, Wellington, to join the Wing 217. (CHUCKLES) My kids are very proud of Mum being a police officer. My daughter was once told at her class, 'So, your dad is a taxi driver or they own a dairy?' This was something which she was said, and she said, 'No, actually, I live with my mum, and she's a police officer.' And when she told me that, I felt the real pride in her statement. (CHEERFUL MUSIC) So, do you know what time you did last time ` 2.4km? Yeah, nine and a half` 19.5 minutes. OK. Let's see what you do today. Yeah. It should drop another minute today. Every time you do it, it should come down to lesser and lesser, yeah? I will try my best. Oh, it's the group which I have started since last year. It's a voluntary running group where we few police officers come and help the recruits who want to join the police ` so they are in process of joining the police. They are in the application stage and all that. And since I am doing this role where I want to promote more ethnic officers in the police force, so this is a great opportunity for me to help these people who are in that journey. (RECITES ARABIC PRAYER) This is the Al-Murtaza Islamic centre, situated in Glen Eden. So I'm based at Henderson Police Station; it's within my area. I'm the first born-Indian female police officer in New Zealand. There was no... nobody who was born in India and has joined the force. So often I get a lot of feedback from other... both men and women that they see me as a role model and I inspire them to join the police. It's a great honour. So, the situation here is that, um... We will do with the lady` girls here, OK? So, you are... walking on the street; you are all alone, coming from school, and there's a car; a stranger comes and he stops and he is asking you to jump in his car. So, tell me, what would you do in that situation? If he says, 'I'll give you lollies,' just say, 'No, I don't want lollies; I already have lollies at home,' and then just walk away? If you're near... still near the school, we can shout for help. You can also call 111 if you have a phone with you. The culture here is... (SIGHS) very... beautiful. You are not punished because of your marriage status or that you are divorced. So I love it. If I ever have to decide any job again and I'm reborn, this will be my first priority. I love it, yes. (PEACEFUL MUSIC) This is my mum. Hello. This is my dad. Hey. And these are my nieces. BOTH: Hey, Rezi. My parents met as teenagers in Iran as part of a Kurdish human-rights movement, where they fought against the persecution and injustice against Kurds. They have the most insane, inspirational and fascinating stories about their experiences as freedom fighters. They taught me that when you're so fiercely passionate about your cause, nothing will stand in your way. (REFLECTIVE MUSIC) I was born in Iran ` Tehran, capital city. In revolution time, they just banned all the music. In that time, I only 6 years old. And you couldn't actually hear music from the radio. But people, they had cassettes. They had lots of cassettes. And they` this is the way they hear the most music. They've got` They had lots of, as my dad had. (UPBEAT MIDDLE-EASTERN POP SONG PLAYS) He was playing pop music. And most of his music was very happy music, which is... all the, I think, children likes happy music. (CHUCKLES) When something is banned and illegal, how could you play loud? You can't. If you had music in your car, they took it. You can't. This is just illegal. You can't have it. And then` And they beaten you for having cassettes. (POIGNANT MUSIC) I had a very musical family. Music is always in my house because my dad plays piano. I remember that those times, it's, in a way, a highlight to my life. And still I remember how I was` emotional I was and how reaction to the music. (PLAYS LILTING MELODY) The santoor has got a very long history, as Persia has got a long history. It goes back to 3000 years ago. It's a very, very old instrument. I'm a teacher and composer, and both of them is very important for me. (INTRIGUING MUSIC) The national anthem was composed by Rouhollah Khaleghi, who was a great composer. But after the revolution, they` This is, like, belongs to the previous regime, which was the Shah regime. But I'm still thinking that even national anthem is not belongs to anyone. It belongs to people. It belongs to history. (PLAYS ROUHOLLAH KHALEGHI'S 'EY IRAN') I'm getting so emotional when I'm play this. I just arrange it for the piano, for myself. So this is my arrangement. (CONTINUES PLAYING) I love my country. One of the things that... It's always with me, the images that I've got, the stories and the people that I know ` relatives, friends, um, teachers. I've got so much benefit of having music in... in my life. You can talk through your instrument; you can, you know, express yourself. You can talk to the people; people can understand you ` what are you doing ` when you play instruments. So I think it's very important. (PLAYS MINOR CHORDS) (REFLECTIVE MUSIC) I've experienced life first-hand as a refugee in a crowded refugee camp ` the unpredictability of life, the constant threat of danger, not knowing where or when you're going next or whether you'll have access to basic fundamental rights such as food, shelter, water. I saw peaceful protesters abused by authorities. I saw people die from hunger strikes and disease, all as a child. That's why I never take the simple pleasure of cooking my favourite food, like dolma, with my mum for granted. (RESTFUL MUSIC) My parents were originally from Myanmar. They had to flee Myanmar because of the military regime. I was born in a Thailand refugee camp, and I was raised there for 11 years. And then we moved here in 2006. It was... so different to here. My memories would be living in a small community ` like, village. Houses that were made out of bamboo, floors that were made out of bamboo, walls that were made out of bamboo, and the roofs were made out of leaves. Food was... pretty limited back in the refugee camp. UN provided us with rice, yellow beans, oils, salt, chilli. And, yeah, I think that was the main ingredients. Mum always tried to grow gardens back in the refugee camp so we could have some things to cook off when there's nothing to eat. And none of my family, in my own family, have never been to` they have never been to university ` not my mum and my dad. I'm the first in the family. Today is graduation day. So my family and a few of our close friends come together to cook some meals to celebrate together. And mostly traditional meals. So, this is my best friend. This is my auntie. And this is my best friend's mum. And this is my mum. There will be more coming afterward to eat. Fish we cook with... mohinga soup. For the soup. So, mohinga, it's fish-based soup. So` And then we usually have, like... it's sort of like a fish stock, and then we eat it with noodles, and they we add on some crunchy peas and you can add in some eggs or... lime, chilli. So we` Before we put those fish inside the soup, we have to pound the garlic and onion and then we have to make a paste, so we have to stir-fry with, um,... oil. We heat the oil and then stir-fry the paste. Yes, we use a lot of garlic and onion, lemongrass in Burmese dish, and a lot of oil as well. Yeah. We were pretty much neighbourhood` Since Thailand, right? Yeah, we were neighbourhood back in Thailand camp. So, yep. We knew each other since we were... 9? 9, 10? Yeah. (OIL SIZZLES) (REFLECTIVE MUSIC) My dad passed away a year before we came here. That was... He died before Mum even applied for it, and even before UN said that we had the opportunities to apply to go to the countries, yeah. He would be really glad, yeah, that we made it this far. Education is really important for my family, especially because Mum was being a teacher. She knows how important it is to be well-educated. And that is the main reason why we moved here, yeah ` for a better education, for a better life, yeah. (UPLIFTING MUSIC) ANNOUNCER: Pasawhtee Kuku. (APPLAUSE) It was really cool. It's... It's a lot more chill and fun than I thought it would be, yeah,... because the Creative Arts students were really active and they were really fun, which was cool. So, the reason why I study architecture, I saw that as a life-changing opportunity for so many people. And one day I will go out helping all the poor communities out there that probably need shelter and things like that and help them out. And I find that a lot more... rewarding than just building houses and designing normal houses for people who paid me. Hi, Te Te. Hi. Congratulations. This is for you. Thank you! Also give you a hug. Aw! Here you go. Thank you. I've decided that I'm gonna continue on with my Masters of Architecture ` Professional ` next year to become an architect, yeah. During my gap year, I am being a teacher aide at Sir Edmund Hillary Collegiate. Standing at the Town Hall today, it's like a dream come true, because, from a very young age, I knew... that I always wanted to get a tertiary qualification. So it happened today, and I think it's so good, yeah. It's like... It was my vision, but now it's a reality. (GENTLE MUSIC) I didn't speak a word of English when I got here. English was my fourth language. But my teachers were so nice. In Pakistan, I was used to learning due to fear, not encouragement. But I also remember vividly how awful my experience was after the 9-11 attacks, because all of a sudden the other students realised I was different. For refugees and immigrants, it's not as simple as arriving in New Zealand and having all our problems fade away; it's not over. In fact, for some newcomers, it's the first time they experience racism face to face. (WHIMSICAL MUSIC) Back in Zimbabwe, my mum was a teacher and my dad was a top exec at one of the insurance companies. We didn't all leave at the same time. Like, my dad left first, and he was here for about a year before we came. My dad ended up cleaning dishes at the time; he was working four jobs, doing, you know, just anything he could ` cleaning toilets. It even took me looking for a job to kind of understand what held him back from getting that top job when he first got here. I had someone tell me, 'No, I can't hire you; I'll never hire a black man.' And that kinda just made me realise the climate that people like me are dealing with. So, you know, I understand coming from that situation where you're on top and, you know, being basically ground zero is quite humbling, you know. So I have crazy respect for him for doing what he did, because lord knows I couldn't do some of the things he's done in this life, you know. And I thank him every day and every chance I get. What's the topic of your thesis, again? Well, uh, the topic is basically I'm looking at the employment challenges faced by Africans in New Zealand. So, people like me. Yes, people like you, definitely. In other words, I'm trying to pave the way for the younger generations so that at least you know some of the challenges that we, the old people who came a few years ago, were facing in New Zealand, just so that at least you know when you face those challenges. (HIP-HOP MUSIC) I'm studying audio engineering, and I work as an audio engineer and social worker for the Te Karanga Trust. I'll be honest, eh. I've got African parents; everyone knows the motto of African or Eastern parents is basically, 'Lawyer, doctor, businessman.' It's very rigid and based on salary, kind of, what you can do for your future. And, you know, what I wanted to do is nowhere on that list, obviously, so there was a bit of resistance. But we got there in the end. I just basically had to just have a heart-to-heart with them and let them know this is really what I want to do. (PLAYS SOMBRE JAZZ MELODY) Every time I sit in this seat, I don't know what's gonna happen. I'm at the mercy of the music. It could be a house song; it could be a hip-hop song; it could be just some straight jazz. Anything can come out, and that's why I really enjoy making music, because... it's something that surprises me, and I'm the one making it. Yeah, that's a cool feeling. (JAZZY HIP`HOP MUSIC PLAYS) It's funny, like, I've now become the person that I needed when I was younger. RAPS: # It's not me and you, it's I. And we're one and the same, in the sense that we all die. # Bread ` that's the type of thing I think about when I'm lit. Today I'll be performing a song called Lifestyle, with my man Richard on the guitar. And there's also a saxophone and flute by JY from Yoko-Zuna. # Cutting our friends if they're set back. # All eyes on me. # Showing prop when I step up to the spot wearing all black. The lifestyle is all I ever think about, you know. And when I say 'lifestyle', I don't mean, like, material things. I just mean, you know, to have a holistic lifestyle, to be able to make the music I wanna make, be able to be the man I wanna be and not ever compromise and never lose my artistic integrity for, you know, for money and for precious things. # That lifestyle. # I gotta get it right now. # I'm trying to live that lifestyle. Man, I'll be honest. I love West Auckland and Henderson with all my heart because a lot of the support I get is from people from where I grew up, people from my old high school, people who went to intermediate with me. So, you know, it's a very... it's a community that likes to uplift its own. # Is you 'bout that life? # I gotta get it right. # Just got that life. # I gotta get it right. I hope my parents are proud of me. That's what I... Every day I wake up, I'm just trying to repay the favour that they've basically given me throughout my life. I hope I can make them proud, and if I haven't already, I'm working hard to get it done. RAPS: # His and her Beemer for me and wifey. # Push the pedal down with my new Nikes. # Baller Jordan with them Scotties bluffin', see me same day wearing something different. # His and her Beemer for me and wifey. # Pray that a stain never touch my white tee. # Baller Jordan with them Scotties bluffin', see me same day wearing something different. # (GENTLE MUSIC) Henderson is where I played on the streets barefoot, climbed trees and learned how to ride a bike. My Korean neighbours made me fall in love with kimchi, and my Romanian neighbours would invite me over for movie night with the kids. New Zealand is one of the most ethnically diverse nations on earth. Our biggest challenge is how we choose to live our lives and what kind of country we let New Zealand become. What we do as individuals and as a community makes all the difference. Captions by James Brown. Edited by Glenna Casalme. www.able.co.nz Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2017