Volunteers ease lockdown life
Whether it’s help with daylight savings or sharing the joys of feijoas, volunteers are helping Nelson’s former refugee community get through lockdown.
At a time when life has revolved around immediate family bubbles, Red Cross volunteers have ensured that recent additions to the local community aren’t being forgotten through regular checks during the coronavirus lockdown.
Nelson couple Geoff and Sue Cooper are volunteers helping a family from Myanmar who arrived in December.
Sue said living in close proximity to each other had made checking in on Thang Lam, his wife and young child an easy undertaking, despite not being able to spend time at each other’s home.
‘‘When we were out walking – three or four times a week – we’d go via their place and talk to them from a distance, wave from the street.’’
The Coopers have also helped the family come to terms with some new concepts of their adopted country, including the time shift of daylight savings and why Anzac Day was celebrated.
Sue also provided some chocolate treats over Easter as well as printing off the prime minister’s Easter egg design for the family’s five-year-old child to colour in and display on their window.
She had also introduced them to the taste of a Kiwi seasonal favourite.
‘‘We showed them how to eat a feijoa – they’d never come across one before ... and all of this from a distance.’’
A keen cyclist, Geoff had managed to source some bikes for the family and occasionally would meet them while taking a ride around the block.
‘‘It’s been a really good situation and I think they’ve coped really well, ‘‘ he said.
Mary Sullivan is part of a group of volunteers supporting a group of three former refugee families who live in the same housing complex.
As the country went into lockdown in March, she worked on her own to ensure that the three families had everything they needed.
Having lived in Cambodia as well as undertaking previous work with refugees, Sullivan was able to bridge the cultural barriers to ensure the families were prepared.