Asya Mohamed Abeid

“I moved to NZ from Zanzibar and settled in Avondale in 2014, after completing my Masters in Computer Systems and Networking in the Ukraine and Business Management and Administration from Tanzania. Even though I had all these qualifications, it was really hard to get a job without having any NZ experience. I couldn’t even find volunteer work so I started looking around locally at things different groups were doing. 

In 2018, I started the Sisterhood, a grassroots initiative bringing women from diverse backgrounds together. The group's purpose was simple yet profound: share skills, support one another, and foster a sense of belonging. We started as a group of 7 women from all over - not just African or Muslim communities - there were Christians and people from Malaysia and Thailand. It was really great for those of us who were new to the country and had little or no family support. We’d meet at my place and we’d do things together, like if someone was sick or had a new baby, we’d prepare meals for them and clean or declutter their homes, and if someone was needing financial support, we’d put money together and give it to them.

As the group grew, I started introducing the newcomers to local parks in the Whau and beyond so that people knew of places they could take their children. It started with us having a BBQ and me running little parenting workshops.Then I approached the Ministry of Education and they provided some resources and funding that supported reading and writing together with our children. The funding enabled us to pay a Facilitator and a different parent from the group to cook and bring the food when we’d meet.

Recently we ran a workshop with EcoMatters to help families understand how to use their food waste bins at Avondale community house. We had a lot of people turn up so it was obviously something people wanted to learn about. Also with vulnerable families, say they have 5 sons, imagine them having to take them to a barber? That would take a lot of time and cost a lot of money so I reached out to a local barber I knew, we booked out Eastdale Hub and over two days he cut 45 kids' hair!

I’m now the Welcoming Communities Coordinator in the Whau Local Board area so I help newcomers navigate the systems and integrate into the communities they live in. If people need support to be connected with other organizations, or they need kai or English language lessons, for example, I can direct them to places that can help them, One thing we struggle with is economic development, it’s a difficult environment at the moment with people losing jobs, a new Government, and lack of NZ experience which makes it hard to get a chance.”