15 September 2021 at 11:25 am
Kia noho haumaru – stay safe
A word on wellbeing from Sahinde Pala, Director, Student Experience and Global Citizens, Education New Zealand Manapou ki te Ao.
The uncertainties of COVID-19 continue to impact us all. With Auckland into its fifth week at Alert Level 4, and the rest of New Zealand operating under Delta 2, looking after our collective wellbeing is more important than ever.
We know that while many international students are doing well, others may be struggling with the demands of the pandemic both here in Aotearoa New Zealand and on their families and friends overseas. I’d like to acknowledge the continued hard work by staff members, student associations, homestay providers and others supporting international students over the past 20 months – thank you for your incredible manaakitanga.
If you work with and support international students, please find some resources below that might be useful to complement your mahi.
The NauMai NZ COVID-19 page (in English and simplified Chinese) is currently updated almost daily, providing trusted information for international students on alert level settings, vaccinations, health and wellbeing resources, support options and more. This information is also replicated on the NauMai NZ WeChat mini programme.
Other resources include:
New content continues to be added to NauMai NZ. We recently added a new video welcome to the homepage, and we encourage you to share with your networks to raise awareness of the platform.
Finally, I want to acknowledge that this week is Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, Māori Language Week. The 2021 theme is ‘Kia kaha te Reo Māori’ (let’s make the Māori language strong). You can find resources, videos and inspiration at https://www.reomaori.co.nz/.
On that note, I’d like to leave you with one of our favourite whakataukī (proverbs):
Ko te manu e kai ana te miro, nōna te ngahere. Engari, ko te manu e kai I te mātauranga, nōna te ao. The bird that consumes the miro berry, owns the forest. However, the bird that consumes learning, owns the world.
Ngā mihi,
Sahinde Pala
Education New Zealand Manapou ki te Ao Director Student Experience & Global Citizens
