Captions by Catherine de Chalain. Edited by Tracey Dawson. www.able.co.nz Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2016 RELAXED MUSIC Good old Robbie Burns. He stands here as representative of the first European migrants to Dunedin ` two shiploads of God-fearing Scots, including his own nephew, who arrived in 1848. Ever since then the city has been shaped by new arrivals, from those arriving in the gold rush to the international students who flock to Otago University today. I grew up in Fiji, and moving here to what was then one of the whitest places of NZ had its challenges. But these days I feel part of a community that genuinely embraces diversity. Let's go north of the Octagon and find out how multicultural this city is. In this episode of Neighbourhood, we'll join in the celebrations of Dunedin's Iranian community. Ramadan is one of those holy months that most of the Muslim are fasting in the sympathy of the poor or hungry people, and also because of, uh, improving the` in spiritual things. A woman from the Netherlands looks back at the past. And I remember especially during the last few weeks of the war, um, we had to hide in the cellar. That was quite an` a scary time. I remember that. We'll hear the rhythms of Ghana. It's in the blood. My family ` my dad was a drummer, my mum was a dancer, you know, and my other siblings ` you know, they all drum. It's up to you to take it upon yourself to share with the world what your grandfather left or your dad left behind. You know, just spreading the tradition and culture of your country. And a Croatian priest joins with other faiths in support of refugees. Dunedin churches really try to join together ` and not only Christians, I would say. It` It is also work with our Muslim friends ` sisters and brothers ` and it's a great opportunity to show when we are all united around cause for justice and peace, uh, all our differences, we can put them on second place. I'm Marisiale Tunoka and this is my neighbourhood. THEME MUSIC PEACEFUL MUSIC Dunedin has been in the press lately for the warm welcome we've given new refugees from Syria. But this community hasn't always embraced people who look different. Being dark-skinned, living here in the south, you're always aware of racial slurs ` midnight, boonga boy, any name you can think of. In my final year of school, I got into so much trouble acting out because of the bullying, my mum sent me back to Fiji. It was the best thing for me. I re-established my sense of pride and identity, and came back after three years as a changed person. It's one of those profound experiences that has gone on to shape my life. 'I didn't like stairs. I didn't like the cellar. I had escaped from stairs that went into dark cellars. '"I want coffee bones," I said. "You mean beans," the man said. 'I went home and ground the bones in our new coffee grinder. Beans and other magic words came later.' I think I would have been 8 in '45. It was dark ` that's all I remember, and there was a little window that, um` it had a blind. It went down and, um,... But that` that was all, and I don't know` There wouldn't have been much food, and how, um` I know feeling hungry. And I remember especially during the last few weeks of the war, um, we had to hide in the cellar, and, um, the Germans were... trying to stay there, and` but the Allied forces had slowly moved up. Um, that` I remember playing in the rubble, and, um, the night the` a V-1 rocket hit just the area close to our house, and it did, um, hit... Well, all these houses were damaged, and it meant that the last few nights we were in the cellar with another family ` a young family with three children, three girls ` and that was quite a scary time, I remember that. And sitting on the staircase and... the door being opened and th-the gun pointed at me. Think that this was` but any Germans here. The father and his wife wanted to go and see his sisters who were sitting in the cellar across the road. And he wanted to go, and my father said, 'No, don't go. It's not safe yet.' But he went and he` The father went across the road and he didn't come back. And my father went and had a look and, um` and came back and said, 'Yes, Jan has died.' REFLECTIVE PIANO MUSIC When I started to write stories of what had happened, it became all clear and it` Yeah, it did help me a lot. The novel is about a woman who has wartime experiences, and she goes to NZ, and she has so` she's so homesick that she makes herself an orange garden. And that's what it was called ` The Orange Garden. I rewrote a whole lot of the stuff from my point of view. CHEERFUL MUSIC This painting is an amazing memory. It's a painting of the area` in the area where I grew up. It's a painting of the church in Warnsveld, a small village in the eastern part of Holland. This house had a beautiful tree in the garden ` uh, a walnut tree ` and I remember in the autumn how I'd get up early and I could gather the walnuts from the` from the road. The person who painted this was really very special. He was our GP, Dr Tarta. I remember the day before we left for NZ, he invited Bart and me to come over and to say goodbye, and he said` he had` what were we going to do all these weeks on the ship? And, uh` And then he suggested he'd` he would ring the art shop in town in Zutphen to open up so that we could buy painting materials, and it meant that we had something to do, and I thought it was very wise because he... he knew when you are on a long trip and you're away from home, things can go awry, and it was just really special that he did that. It's still` Because it is part of who I am. I think by writing about it, that has made me more aware of` that it` these things happened and accept them and go with that. PEACEFUL MUSIC I'm an actor, and the Fortune Theatre stage just off the Octagon has been the scene of many different roles and shows, from an Irish immigration officer in Jack and the Beanstalk to an awkwardly shy stripper in Ladies Night. The Fortune Theatre has been my definitive stepping stone into the NZ acting career. We're all performers in Fiji. We like to act, sing and entertain. Growing up, if you had any kind of talent, you had to perform in front of the aunties and uncles at every special occasion. (CHUCKLES) When I moved to NZ, I acted all through school. I just loved it, and mum was so proud to come and watch. She'd bring the whole family ` the entire Fijian community ` and since then it's been really satisfying sharing my identity with a wider audience. BONGO DRUM MUSIC Who taught me to play? I will say the community. So growing up as a child, you see them do it. You see your family ` your uncles, your other extended family ` doing it. You have no other option, you know. It just something that you also involve yourself. But as a kid you don't drum. You only do a lot of listening. You only enjoy what your grandfather or your dad, you know, did. It's up to you, you know, to take it upon yourself to` to share with the world what your grandfather left or your dad left behind. You know, just spreading the tradition and culture of your country. This drum is from Ghana ` made in Ghana ` specially made for me, but I just want to make it clear or just want people to know that, uh, djembe ` that's the name of the drum ` is not originally from Ghana, but it is from West Africa, and me calling myself an artist and, uh, ambassador for Africa, I don't play instrument only from Ghana. I play instrument all over Africa. It's in the blood. My family... My dad was a drummer; my mum was a dancer. You know, and my dad's siblings, you know, they all drum. We all played. I used to play the tuba. Luckily for me, in Accra, the suburb that I lived in ` cos it's a very poor area ` uh, close to me was a centre set up by the government of Ghana, uh, to train the poor kids in that area, so at the age of 9 and 10, I always go to practise. Learning, learning, learning, learning, learning, and after that, you know, when I got to the age of 14, 15, I` they` they said to me` the government said, 'Hey, now you have quite a lot of knowledge. Do you wanna work with us? 'Stay in the centre so that the young ones that are coming ` you train them as well.' QUIRKY MUSIC 2013, I moved to NZ. The ages that I teach now is primary school kids, um, senior high school and, uh, the uni. I-I teach the club and socs at the University of Otago, and then` and then to the public. You know, I run workshops for the public and perform at festivals. Yeah, anything music, anything they need African drumming, I'll be there. (CHUCKLES) PEACEFUL MUSIC We are currently at the Regent Theatre in Palmerston North, and I'm here performing as a special guest, uh, with Manawataki drummers in Palmy. So the first rhythm will be Moribayassa, followed by another rhythm called Yankadi Macru, and then the last dance is a choreographed dance, but, uh, followed by a traditional rhythm, so those are the three things we're doing tonight. Yeah. UPBEAT PERCUSSION MUSIC I see myself as an ambassador of Africa, not just Ghana. West African dance and African dance move the whole body. It's not just the movement of just an arm or one particular leg. That is why I would encourage everyone to` to also give it a try. It's not music from a machine or system or something. You see the drummers right in the corner. They're playing for you, so it feels like you guys are connected. It's amazing. NZ first ` everywhere in NZ ` and then from there we go out of NZ. So the first` we offer full course in the country, and trying to make sure every` every corner in NZ is doing this ` you know, enjoying music ` and then from there we can be thinking of out of NZ. CHEERS AND APPLAUSE PEACEFUL MUSIC There are currently over 750 students with Pacific heritage ` both NZ- and Island-born ` studying at Otago. Hey, bula. Hey. Bula, bruz. Bula, bruz. Hey, Sid. Oh! Every year, we all pitch in to welcome the new arrivals from Fiji ` make sure they know where to find the people and services they need, make them feel connected to their Fijian heritage and the greater Dunedin community. The Pacific Islands all pull together down here ` us Fijians, Samoans, Tongans. Wherever you are, having a cultural connection is really valuable. Mm. Yeah? (CHUCKLES) True. Very much. GENTLE MUSIC My first idea of becoming a priest was when I was ending my primary school at the age of 14 in my home parish back in Croatia when a visiting priest came to the church. He told me, 'You might be a priest,' and I was thinking, of course, 'Oh no, definitely not. That's not for me.' A couple of days later, I said, 'Yeah.' I thought I could be a priest. Even in the moments of, uh, turmoils and all the` all the things from what we go as human beings, I always felt very strong call to be what I am, and I am gladly doing this ministry. I'm very happy that I'm called to be that. My work is primarily` I'm an Anglican priest, so as a priest in the Church. Of course, because of my background ` being a Roman Catholic in my past ` I can very easily link to my Roman Catholic friends, so I wear very different caps. I can go from the Roman Catholic spectrum to the Presbyterian one, and it's more inclusive, I would say. It's` I work in a very ecumenical context. In our Anglican tradition, I think ` like across all the Church traditions ` we know that the Bible can be read in many many different ways ` sometimes good, sometimes bad. During my minor seminary, I was in fact living in my home parish, and those years were years of our war for independence in Croatia, so, uh, we had lot of refugees who came to our parish. My home parish itself is over 9000 people ` 9000 to 10,000 people. But at one stage in 1993 ` which I remember ` we had more than 1200 refugees over there, and many displaced people from other parts of Croatia. It is one of the moments which I always say even in the situation of craziness, there was very deep humanity and good rapport and relationship which existed, even between those who might be considered as warring parties. GENTLE GUITAR MUSIC Recently I had the opportunity to go to Croatia to make a surprise trip for my sister's 50th birthday, so I decided to spend a week assisting in the refugee transit camp with a Croatian NGO called Centre for Peace Studies, and, um, it was great experience of giving some of my free time for a cause which I believe is` I'm very passionate about. Being there and meeting people is experience which no one can take away from me, and that is one of the things, um, which I often say ` if you are suspicious or if you have problem with certain group of people, go there and meet people and you` your` all your prejudice and everything will just disappear. GENTLE PIANO MUSIC Dunedin churches really try to join together ` and not only Christians, I would say. It is also work with` with our Muslim friends ` sisters and brothers ` and it's a great opportunity to show when we are all united around cause for justice and peace. As much as I know ` because of course Red Cross is the organisation in charge of it ` most of refugees, of course, are Muslim faith. We met today, uh, because we are usually meeting ` all of us ` in very different, uh, settings. We came together to hear from each other what are our experiences until now, what are the practical issues that are coming from the ground with resettlement. Of course we are in the month of Ramadan, so culturally there are a lot of things which we have to be learning about each other. Every day we have, uh, a meal at the mosque, so we all meet together from the Muslim community to have our, uh, 'break fast' ` you know, breaking our fasting, actually. So we all meet together. It's, uh` It's public invitation for everybody to come into` into the mosque. For me it's felt like ` I don't know if it's the same for all of you ` but a real gift that the refugees have given to the churches here ` something to work together towards, to be united, to, um` yeah, just really rally together and work as one. MAN VOCALISES Ah, you're here. Tell me ` I'm asking what was his job in Syria. What did he do? (SPEAKS ARABIC) (SPEAKS ARABIC) Hospitality. Oh, hospitality. There is hope. There is future, for sure. Thank you. MAN VOCALISES, CHILDREN CHATTER Dunedin has got great heart. And I remember when I came to Dunedin, I had a semi-empty house, and in` in a week my house was filled. It was made home. We believe that all this action and all this commitment which is being seen, response coming from the community, will eventually help to all of us living in Dunedin to rethink our values and to rethink in which way do we treat everyone in this community in the same way. So it might be a good opportunity that we open ourselves even more so to everyone who is suffering in our midst. RELAXED MUSIC When we first moved to NZ, the toughest thing to get used to wasn't the weather. It was the different way that people socialised. In Fiji you could pop over to someone's house any time of the day, and Sundays was about visiting as many people as you could. If you walked past someone's house, they'd call out, 'Bilo tii.' (SPEAKS FIJIAN) And they'd invited you in for a cup of tea, a coconut bun or some Ika Vakalolo. Here you have to call and make an appointment. It's OK. It's just different. But it's still the food that brings us together. < MAN SPEAKS FIJIAN (SPEAKS FIJIAN) GENTLE MUSIC Being honest, the media is not nice to Iranian and even Iran, and some people thinks that we drive` I mean, we ride camels sometimes. I say, 'No,' and sometimes they say 'Oh, why don't you wear burka?' I said, 'No, this is my picture in Iran.' I have a kind of traditional family. We practise Islam but, like, it's a matter of choice. Um, m-my mother has hijab, but I don't have. Uh, it wasn't such a thing being forced by parents in my` I was free in my family. Iran is ruled by Islamic laws, so it is obligatory in, uh` you should wear hijab as a woman` adult woman in the public area. So, like, when I'm in the street, yes, I do wear hijab, but my hijab is not like Saudi Arabia ` we're wearing burka or something like that. No, it's something fashionable nowadays among young generation. Ramadan is one of those holy months that most of the Muslim are fasting, um, in the sympathy of the poor or hungry people and also improving the spiritual things. I do fast some days, but today not. (LAUGHS) We have gathering, we eat Iranian food. We have a gathering. So after 5 o'clock, 5.30, they break their fast, and they mostly eat some sweet stuff and some hot drink like tea or coffee, and then after that they eat dinner. I'm going to make tachin tonight. It's like a rice pudding` rice cake. We have to boil the rice, then using these ingredients plus the chicken. It's a yum one. SERENE MUSIC So, I have to brew the saffron here. So I have to add boiling water to that one and leave it for a few minutes. Meanwhile I have to mix the eggs and yogurt, then I mix the rice with this combination and then make it layer by layer with the chicken. NZ has a very open-minded people and they accept you the way you are, no matter what is your religion and what is your nationality. It's the wonderland. I call it wonderland. It's full of nice people, beautiful nature, cold weather. (LAUGHS) So, yeah, this is the dish that my mum and especially my aunt taught me how to cook, and, yeah, whenever I cook, it kind of reminds` it reminds me of her. I came to NZ in 2015, and I came here because of my PhD application. I got a PhD application here at Otago University. I'm studying biochemistry. People says that I'm a good cook, so I think you have to ask my friends. (CHUCKLES SOFTLY) CHEERFUL MUSIC Association does celebrate Iranian cultural events such as Norooz, such as Yalda Night ` which is the longest night in the north hemisphere. And, uh, yeah, we want to be friends as Iranian in Otago as well. When you have a kind of association, it means that you have a place that you can go and start speak Farsi. Yes, and it is very important, because most of time you just miss it. You just miss to talk Farsi with somebody that knows Farsi. We are far from our home, so it can help us to feel better. And I think it's part of our culture. Yes, exactly. In Iran, always we have parties. We're, um, getting together to, uh, set up parties like this. And, um, it's, um, our culture, so we try to keep this culture in this country. Yeah. It makes me happy, yeah. Making people happy, it makes me happy. Yeah, why not? It's` It's` I'm super happy to, uh, like, be in role of such a thing, and make` gather people and, like, uh, make people happy and seeing their laughter. (SINGS IN FIJIAN) Oh yeah. Oh yeah. This is my son, Cali, and he's growing up proud of his Fijian heritage. Sometimes it seems like a long way away from a tropical island in the Pacific to the chilly streets of Dunedin. Last time it snowed, all the PIs were out on the street helping move cars, shovelling snow and having snow fights. It was a pretty rare sight. It's a pretty strong community here, and my hope is that my son doesn't have to put up with the racism that I did. It's about acceptance and tolerance. And if we do that, then we're building stronger communities. Captions by Catherine de Chalain. Edited by Tracey Dawson. www.able.co.nz Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2016