I will never forget. I'll never forget the moment when I saw the photo of Aylan, the three-year-old boy who was washed ashore after his tragic drowning. I'll never forget thinking to myself this is not real. because we are made from flesh, bones, a brain, over 700 trillion blood cells and a heart which makes us human beings. It is that heart that makes us human. It is that heart that makes us different from all the other creatures. It is that heart that loves and cares for each other. Or so I thought. As a 15 year old, I guess I was expecting more from humanity. If we truly cared and loved each other this wouldn't have happened. Aylan and his family would be safe because, in the end, we killed Alan. I mean look at it. Not even the fish, the sharks or any of the other creatures in the ocean had the heart to kill him, but humans, we did! We have made our own world so dangerous that, for Aylan's family, water was safer then land. I'll never forget the sadness in his father’s eyes when he was explaining what had happened to his children and his wife right in front of his eyes. I'll never forget the first time I saw Alan. For a moment, I thought he was my cousin. They are the same age and my uncle's family are facing the same tragic situation as Alan's family. Alan was not a migrant. He was not a refugee. He was a little boy. A 3 year old wanting to play safely, away from violence and war! I once believed that we were better: stronger and smarter, because we were on top of the food chain and nothing could beat us. But how did we use that power? We only cared about ourselves. We only cared about how much was in our pockets. Because we all know, the more you have in your pocket the more important you are. We forgot about those with empty pockets and empty stomachs. We forgot about Aylan and his family. Where is Aylan now? Where did our forgetfulness leave him? Aotearoa is 268,021 km². Our population is 4.5 million. Our land is beautiful. When I was young, my family taught me the value of sharing, of working in a community, of being part of something bigger than myself. There is so much we can share. We don't want to be the kid that doesn't share. Closing our doors, our borders and ourselves from those seeking help is not what our country stands for! It is not what I was taught! I'm a refugee. Being here today is a great honour to me and I'm willing to do everything to save one life because that one person could be the person that saves the world! I'm now a New Zealand citizen and have been for a couple of years. New Zealand has given me a future to look forward to and I know it can for hundreds more! It is simple: people are dying and we can save them. New Zealand, I know we can save hundred of lives and we need to act together as human beings. This is not a one person issue. It is what we Kiwis stand for. It is right. Aylan and all the others that have died are gone and, as much as we wish we could, we can't bring them back. But let's make Aylan the last. Let's put a stop to hatred and stand up. What sets us apart from other creatures is that we love and care for each other. It is that which makes us human. If we ignore all the deaths, if we let more people end up on the shores, we can no longer call ourselves human. Nor can we tell our children they are human! I don't want to find more people on shore. I want to welcome them to our beautiful country. I want to show them what life can be so much more. I want to show them happiness. I want them to know that New Zealand is a place of peace, a place of acceptance. I'll never forget Aylan.
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Saving Lives - A Sister Speaks Out (Radio NZ) It can become normalised if it has been going on for years and years. It’s important to create awareness and break the silence around domestic abuse. – Rida Noor (sister of murder victim Sidra Noor) Chinese Herald Story World TV (see 13:00-14:25) Central Leader Indian Newslink Jan Logie, Green Party MP blog To mark Youth Week 2015, Shakti Youth launched the “Find Your Voice” campaign at “RE-GENERATE” to highlight the experiences of children and young people witnessing violence. This was a night of powerful speakers and poetry that created a space for voices, which are not often heard; voices which are often ignored or silenced. Find Your Voice was initiated in honour of Rana and Sidra Malik, a mother and daughter who were murdered in Ranui last year. Sidra was 18 years old when she was killed at the hands of her father. We remember them with this campaign by reaching out to all the other young people who may be dealing with similar issues in their homes. We were honoured to hear Rida, the sister of Sidra speak about her experiences of her father. Rida described herself as a fighter, but when she talked to people about the psychological torture, and nobody would understand because it was not physical abuse. Sehar opened the launch by sharing her personal story and journey experiencing family violence in Aotearoa / New Zealand. Our Shakti Youth team presented on the different aspects of the project: what was learnt through the research, which involved consultations with safehouse staff, counsellors and focus groups in four different high schools across Auckland. The poets, Oksana and M, shared powerful and evocative poems that strike at the heart of the issue and gave insights in how young people experience and interpret domestic violence. You can read Oksana’s poem “I See” on our blog. The launch ended with a video about depression made by Mehwish and Sehar. The Unseen Shadow drew attention to the importance of support and friendship. The posters will be pasted around central Auckland near high schools to reach out to more young people who may be dealing with violence at home. The new resources developed will be distributed to high schools around Auckland and used as talking tools for workshops to increase awareness. We plan to mobilise youth to join the movement to end the cycles of family violence. If you would like to help us distribute the posters and brochures, or would like us to do a workshop at your school or community group, contact [email protected] The ‘Find Your Voice’ project is a Shakti Youth campaign developed to raise awareness about the effects on children and young people witnessing violence in an abusive relationship between their parents, with a focus on Asian, Middle Eastern and African youth in Aotearoa/New Zealand. We aim to encourage other young people to start challenging the occurrence of family violence, which is still normalised amongst Asian, Middle Eastern and African communities. We can bring about greater hopes of eliminating family violence and culturally sanctioned abuse against women, girls, and children in the generations to come. Thank you to all the schools, students, artists and graphic designers that participated in this project: Auckland Girls Grammar School, Lynfield College, Aorere College, Epsom Girls Grammar School, Tema Pua and Kirk Prowys. Special thanks to Auckland Council for funding this campaign.
Shakti Youth is hosting a FREE full day script-writing workshop where you can explore some of these experiences of family and community tensions related to being an Asian, Middle Eastern or African young person in Aotearoa/New Zealand. We are producing a short film to address some of the ways these inter-generational culture tensions can turn into bullying (I-C Bullying). This workshop will cover some basic skills of script writing and help generate material for a script to address inter-generational cultural conflicts/bullying. We have 15 spaces available for young people (under 30 years old) interested in sharing their stories. There is also the option to act in the video if you wish! When: 10pm-4pm, Sunday 10th of May 2015 Where: Manukau Medical Centre, 18 Manukau Station Rd, Manukau City. Lunch and morning tea provided. Renee, a second-generation Chinese Kiwi, is a poet, playwright, paediatrician, medical researcher and fiction writer. Renee has collaborated on visual arts works, film and music, produced and directed theatre works, worked as a dramaturge, taught creative writing and organized community-based arts initiatives. She organises community arts events such as New Kiwi Women Write, a writing workshop series for migrant women. She contributes to The Big Idea which links NZ's arts community. Renee has written, produced and toured four plays: Lantern, The Bone Feeder, Under The Same Moon and The First Asian AB. Her children's play The Two Farting Sisters (in collaboration with Petit Workshop) also premiered in 2015. Please send your registration before 5th of May 2015. Due to limited spaces, we may prioritise younger people and those willing to be in the video, as well as making sure a range of ethnicities and stories are represented. Email [email protected] if you have any questions. This project is funded by Te Punanga Haumaru. |