Home Away From Home Ella Jones-Rawstorne September 2015
My Investigation about Immigrants Introduction Do you know what Cypress, Zimbabwe and Venezuela immigrants all have in common? They all hold onto their culture and traditions when they move to a different country. In the following I will explain how they all keep their culture alive when they move to a different country and how they keep connected to love ones.
My questions are what cultural issues and challenges do immigrants face when they move to different countries? How do immigrants maintain their family and cultural traditions? I wonder how the people from different countries keep their culture and stay together? How do family legacies and traditions keep people connected?
Q1: What cultural issues and challenges do immigrants face when they move to different countries? My 1st question was what cultural issues and challenges do immigrants face when they move to different countries? So I spoke to Andrea Yiappos and she gave me some information about her experiences. When immigrants move to a different country these are the challenges: Language is a big challenge for an immigrant. Knowing where to go for recreational activities. Knowing the laws. Driving rules. If they move to an English speaking country it can be difficult to find a job. Then I went to talk to Ms Wood our refuge teacher at QMC she told me some more challenges which were: A passport to get to the country the refuge wanted to go to A birth certificate so the country knew when that refuge was born Money to pay for food and other basic needs A job to get the money Education so their children could learn more e.ga at Wellington East Girls College they give a special uniform for Muslims that go to that school.
Q2: How do immigrants maintain their family and cultural traditions?
Again I talked to Andrea Yiappos and she gave me some information about how she kept her culture. She kept her culture by attending a Greek Church, visiting other Greek immigrants, by Speaking Greek at home and keeping up the traditions from Cyprus and eating traditional foods at home. My Dad said that he kept his culture by celebrating festivals that happen in Zimbabwe.
Q3: I wonder how the people from different countries keep their culture and stay together? Â
Andrea stayed in a community with other Greek immigrants when they went there the other Greek families that were already there helped them go to the doctors and drove them to places they needed to get to and helped them start a new life.
Q4: How do family legacies and traditions keep people connected? Helen Margaret Elizabeth Harding Rains Was my great grandmother and her sisters and brothers Violet Rapson Harding Rains, Gladys Rapson Harding Rains, Robert Russell Harding Rains, Doris Smedley Harding Rains, Florence Katherine Harding Rains, Iris Mary Harding Rains, Edward Reginald Harding Rains, Lucy Daphne Olive Harding Rains And Anthony John Harding Rains made lots of furniture and cutlery through their years. Legacies and traditions can keep you connected to lots of people. My Dads opinion was this "family legacies and traditions keep you connected with your culture and religion. It helps you connect with your past. It helps you connect to your family and ancestors." My granny told me that she has lots of legacies that keep her connected to her Mum and all her aunt's and uncles.
Case study 1: Andrea Yiappos’s Trip I had an interview with Andrea Yiappos and she provided me with some of her experiences. Andrea lived in Cypress with her family. She loved it there. They lived in a concrete house which wasn't safe. In 1974 the Turkish soldiers invaded Cypress after the 2nd world war. Andrea's Dad had to fight against the Turkish soldiers. A few months after the war had finished Andrea was born. After the invasion they had to live in refugee camps because the Turkish soldiers had taken their home. They were now refugees. When they decided to go to New Zealand the Red Cross paid their air fares for them (Andrea was only one year old when she went on the plane) but of course they had to pay them back. Six families came with them. They went in 1977 to New Zealand. They thought New Zealand would be easy to fit, but language was a very hard challenge for them. When Andrea went to school she didn't know much English and she had to spend a lot of time with the teacher because she didn't know what the other kids were saying. The lived in a Greek community in Newtown with other Greek families. When they went to the Greek community lots of the other people who lived there were Greek and they helped them go to the doctors and the lawyers. When they came to New Zealand they noticed that the weather was very different to Cypress's weather. After they moved Andrea's Mum started to learn English. When they moved Andrea adjusted very quickly because she was young but her parents still haven't adjusted yet. They went to court and got accepted into New Zealand and also to get their certificate of citizenship.
When they settled in Andrea's dad became a painter that painted houses. I was surprised that New Zealand accepts different cultures and traditions. New Zealand also provided them with a Greek community, a Greek church and a Greek school so they could hold on to their language. When she had children in New Zealand she continued to eat traditional food like: Souvlaki- a kebab with meat on it Spanakopita- spinach pie with cheese Tiropites- cheese in pastry in the shape of a triangle Baklava- flaky pastry with a cinnamon-spiced nut filling with sweet syrup coved all over it Domates Yemistes - rice stuffed into a tomato Tsoureki- A classic Greek bread Kourabiethes - A Greek almond biscuit coved in icing sugar In the holidays - Easter is one of the most important holiday’s. On Easter they paint boiled eggs red for a symbol of Jesus's blood. On the 29th of March they crack the boiled eggs if it doesn't crack you get good luck for the rest of your life. When Andrea was a little older she went back to Cypress for six months while she was there she missed New Zealand and
when she came back she was delighted to see the trees and feel the wind. New Zealand had a lot of Greek things for them like Greek music and Greek T.V. Lots of Greek families came and went to and from New Zealand. Family is really important to immigrants it helps you connect with all your past. Their elders came with them so the family had to take care of them and now she is in New Zealand and she has a new life with her new family.
Case Study 2: David Rawstorne’s Trip
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My Dad (David Rawstorne) was born in Zimbabwe and he moved to New Zealand when he was 11 years old. I thought he would be a good case study for my inquiry so I interviewed him. It all started when my Granny (Daphne Clarke) came to Zimbabwe from England and meet my Granddad (Ed Rawstorne) and had my Dad. He was born in Zimbabwe that was first called Rhodesia on the 3rd of November in 1965. When my
Dad lived in Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe was a British Colony. Zimbabwe was found by some explorers who went and explored the country. The main languages in Zimbabwe are Shona and Ndebele. Zimbabwe had lots of attractions like Victoria Falls in Kazungula and there are exactly 76 rivers in Zimbabwe. In 1965 Zimbabwe decided that they want to be an independent country and didn't want to be controlled by Britain. My Dad came to New Zealand when he was 11 because the fighting after independence was frightening for my Dad and my Grandparents. They investigated moving to Australia because my granny thought it would be safe. While they were in Australia my Granny and Granddad went to New Zealand on a holiday while my Dad stayed with my great Grandparents in Zimbabwe. When my Granny and Grandad were in New Zealand they found that it was much safer than Australia so when they went back to Zimbabwe and they decided to move to New Zealand. They travelled by plane and my Dad saw the lovely view from the plane window. When they moved to New Zealand my Grandparents became accountants for a job so they could earn money. They had English culture already because my Granny was from England so culture wasn't a challenge to them. My Dad missed the African dances (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFgBhMVgLtg), the African music (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_NvuP-E_lw) and the African art.
He also missed sleeping in the sun at his home in Zimbabwe. When my Dad came to New Zealand and was heading to his new home he had a challenge when they drove around the harbour and Dad had nightmares about the hills on one side or the harbour and the sea on the other. Another challenge was the spelling of the Māori words. My Granny has a lot of things that keep my Dad connect to his past like African soapstone sculptures and African furniture. The weather in New Zealand really different to Zimbabwe, it was hot in Zimbabwe and it is really windy here in New Zealand. In Zimbabwe they only had no forests at all. When they came to New Zealand they were surprised how many trees and forest New Zealand has. Also when my Dad first came here he skied for the first time in his entire life. Shona: Shuva iwe i. (English: Hope you enjoyed it.)
Conclusion In conclusion, I have learnt that immigrants have a lot of challenges and difficulty when trying to fit in to a new country but when they adjust they learn how to keep their traditions and overcome their challenges. Throughout this report I have noticed that people from countries that have African culture have lots of difficulty fitting in to a new country to people from countries that have English culture. The greater the differences, the harder the adjustment will be which makes sense to me. There are communities all over Wellington which help support the traditions and cultures and keep them alive for example, the Greek Community, the Irish Club, the Italian Club and many more. This way people can enjoy touches of their home country and culture while feeling settled in a new country. Overall through this investigation, I learnt about the challenges of immigrants and I can appreciate the challenges. I have only lived in one country and I would like to have an experience of moving to another to know the feeling of not being at home.
Bibliography All my information was gathered from my two interviews: • David Rawstorne (My Dad) • Andrea Yiappos (Fotene’s Mum)