Inclusive, uplifting community outreach.
Working towards a more inclusive Aotearoa New Zealand.
Early on a fresh Saturday morning, excited members of Wellington’s migrant community meet at a community hall behind St Peter’s on Wellington’s Willis Street.
Many of them have been here before, coming along week after week to connect with others and learn new skills to help them to understand, navigate and settle into the country they now call home. On the agenda today is Haka 101 ahead of the Rugby World Cup Final the next morning, but they’ve also covered te reo Māori and sari tying, hosted celebrations for Eid, Matariki and Diwali and facilitated workshops with representatives from entities such as the Electoral Commission.
“We exist to break down barriers,” says Ekta Founder, Manjit Grewal. “’Ekta’ is the Hindi word for ‘unite’ and that’s exactly what we aim to do – to create a more inclusive New Zealand.”
A story of inclusion
Ekta’s story started in 2017 when a small group of volunteers began to work alongside newly settled migrants from India. The aim was to educate them on all things New Zealand – how to apply for a rental property, the school system, community services and getting a library card. As more people learned about the valuable support Ekta provided, its service offering expanded. In 2020, as New Zealand locked down and many faced additional financial struggles and unemployment, Ekta ventured into building a foodbank.
“We noticed that many migrants were in need, but they couldn’t find ingredients that were familiar to them in existing foodbanks, so we set one up,” says volunteer Ramu.
With demand since then increasing, the foodbank continues to operate from St Peter’s undercroft every Saturday morning. The doors open at 10am sharp, and a steady stream of visitors move through the building, picking up spices, eggs, fresh produce and big bags of beans. Many know each other, coming here every week to form friendships and new connections. “How is your son doing?” “Did you fix that window?” “Did you catch the game last week?” in English, Hindi, Fārsī, Arabic, Mandarin and te reo Māori ring out across the room.
Within 20 minutes, the visitors have come and gone, trestle tables are folded and packed away, crates are stacked, spice packets are counted so suppliers can be reimbursed and the van is packed ready for a second shift in the afternoon.
A friendly face
Around 4pm, a line starts to form outside the Wellington Opera House as new deliveries are unpacked, tables are reconstructed, milk is sourced from the dairy down the street, sandwiches, fruit and coffee are laid out neatly and a volunteer offers pieces of pizza to people in the line before food distribution starts at 4.30pm.
Manjit, a former country manager at Singapore Airlines, knows the importance of starting on time. “We used to have to report to the CEO if we were more than three minutes late,” he says. “It’s a bit like that here – it’s important we create certainty for people. They know we will be here every week – same day, same time.”
Families, couples, individuals, young and old – today, a group of over 90 people – patiently take their turn to pick up bread donated by Pandoro, a hot meal, fruit donated by Newtown Greengrocer, a cup of tea or coffee and a two-litre bottle of milk.
“Milk is a basic that so many people don’t have access to,” says volunteer Pankaj. “As soon as we started offering it, we attracted so many more visitors.” In 2022, Ekta gave out over 7,000 litres of milk to people doing it tough or experiencing food insecurity in our communities.
Nikau Foundation was delighted to support Ekta, providing a grant from the Margaret Neave Endowment Fund and Eva and Johannes Schellevis Fund to help with the cost of purchasing milk and developing an exhibition to showcase the history of the Indian diaspora.
Being able to supply milk every week is transformative for Ekta and the communities they work with. At a time when so many are facing financial and food insecurity, being able to provide basics every week with a welcoming smile, connection and conversation is truly impactful.
