scholarly journals Resettlement Experiences of Burmese Women from Refugee Backgrounds in Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Una Kamri-McGurk

<p>The resettlement experiences of Burmese women from refugee backgrounds living in Wellington are the focus of this thesis. Increasing numbers of people are being resettled worldwide, so it is important to consider how that resettlement process is being experienced. Burmese refugees are the largest group to arrive in New Zealand (NZ) since 2000, yet remain relatively unknown. This research explores subjective aspects of resettlement, such as how women feel about life in NZ, the kinds of difficulties faced in their resettlement and what could help to improve their sense of well-being in everyday life. My intention is to facilitate a collaborative process with a group of ten Burmese women using a qualitative approach that positions former refugees as active participants in their own resettlement. It is guided by a feminist methodology, recognising the significance of women’s experiences and the value of their knowledge arising from this. Specifically, I use the photovoice method, whereby the women use photography to record significant aspects of their lives as a vehicle through which we then explore resettlement. The women’s community networks are shown to play a major role in adapting to life in NZ. These networks are a source of support and information and provide opportunities for maintaining language and culture. The women appreciate the opportunities presented by life in NZ, such as education and healthcare for their children, adult education classes and the chance to cultivate their gardens. However, there is a sense of opportunities lost through lack of English language and work opportunities. Where the relationships work well, volunteers and home tutors assist the women considerably with adapting to life in NZ. These relationships provide information and assistance, but also help to bridge the gap between former refugees and the host community. Other such initiatives that bring together different sectors of the community would allow the women to participate more fully in the wider host community and create greater awareness of the individual stories of refugee-background communities living in NZ.</p>

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Una Kamri-McGurk

<p>The resettlement experiences of Burmese women from refugee backgrounds living in Wellington are the focus of this thesis. Increasing numbers of people are being resettled worldwide, so it is important to consider how that resettlement process is being experienced. Burmese refugees are the largest group to arrive in New Zealand (NZ) since 2000, yet remain relatively unknown. This research explores subjective aspects of resettlement, such as how women feel about life in NZ, the kinds of difficulties faced in their resettlement and what could help to improve their sense of well-being in everyday life. My intention is to facilitate a collaborative process with a group of ten Burmese women using a qualitative approach that positions former refugees as active participants in their own resettlement. It is guided by a feminist methodology, recognising the significance of women’s experiences and the value of their knowledge arising from this. Specifically, I use the photovoice method, whereby the women use photography to record significant aspects of their lives as a vehicle through which we then explore resettlement. The women’s community networks are shown to play a major role in adapting to life in NZ. These networks are a source of support and information and provide opportunities for maintaining language and culture. The women appreciate the opportunities presented by life in NZ, such as education and healthcare for their children, adult education classes and the chance to cultivate their gardens. However, there is a sense of opportunities lost through lack of English language and work opportunities. Where the relationships work well, volunteers and home tutors assist the women considerably with adapting to life in NZ. These relationships provide information and assistance, but also help to bridge the gap between former refugees and the host community. Other such initiatives that bring together different sectors of the community would allow the women to participate more fully in the wider host community and create greater awareness of the individual stories of refugee-background communities living in NZ.</p>


2009 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 664-671 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janine L. Wiles ◽  
Ruth E.S. Allen ◽  
Anthea J. Palmer ◽  
Karen J. Hayman ◽  
Sally Keeling ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
pp. medhum-2020-012038
Author(s):  
Rhonda Shaw ◽  
Robert Webb

In this article, we refer to the separation of solid organs from the body as bio-objects. We suggest that the transfer of these bio-objects is connected to emotions and affects that carry a range of different social and cultural meanings specific to the context of Aotearoa New Zealand. The discussion draws on research findings from a series of qualitative indepth interview studies conducted from 2008 to 2013 with Māori (the Indigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand) and Pākehā (European settler New Zealanders) concerning their views on organ donation and transplantation. Our findings show both differences and similarities between Māori and Pākehā understandings of transplantation. Nevertheless, while many Māori draw on traditional principles, values and beliefs to reflect on their experiences in relation to embodiment, gift-giving, identity and well-being, Pākehā tend to subscribe to more Western understandings of identity in terms of health and well-being, in line with international literature on the topic. Rather than reflecting individualistic notions of the body and transplantation as the endpoint of healthcare as do Pākehā, Māori views are linked to wider conceptions of family, ancestry and belonging, demonstrating how different rationalities and ontologies affect practices and understandings surrounding organ transfer technology. In the article, we focus predominantly on Māori perspectives of organ transfer, contextualising the accounts and experiences of our research participants against the backdrop of a long history of settler colonialism and health inequalities in Aotearoa New Zealand.


2021 ◽  
pp. 195-209
Author(s):  
Jodie Hunter ◽  
Roberta Hunter ◽  
John Tupouniua ◽  
Generosa Leach

AbstractThe COVID-19 pandemic has caused new ways of doing and being, both in education systems and beyond across the world. In the context of Aotearoa/New Zealand, the widely supported government approach focused on the well-being of the nation with a position that saving lives was more important than maintaining an open economy. As researchers and educators, we supported teachers as they worked with their students in their home settings. This provided us with an opportunity to explore a vision of a reinvented system of mathematics education beyond institutional and formal structures of schools. In this chapter, we present the analysis of the responses from 24 educators mainly from low socioeconomic urban settings as they reflected on how they enacted mathematics teaching and learning during the lockdown while connecting with students and their families as well as their subsequent learning from this experience. Results highlighted that the mathematical learning of students went beyond what was accessed by digital means and included parents drawing on rich everyday opportunities. A key finding was that by supporting and privileging the well-being of students and communities, the connections and relationships between educators and families were enhanced.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Sasha Francis

<p>How are we to live? How do we sustain our emotional commitment to utopia? Answering these questions necessarily calls for a reconceptualisation of subjectivity and sociality, in order to overcome the depoliticisation, resignation and despair captured by the neoliberal subject. Drawing together qualitative and theoretical research under Ruth Levitas’ framework for the ‘imaginary reconstitution of society’ – Utopia as Method – I argue utopia is the otherwise that we navigate, create and learn of, together, through every moment. Where the neoliberal subject signals a collapse of subjectivity that contributes to the depoliticisation and resignation of our contemporary times, I offer an alternative account of subjectivity through Gillian Rose and Ernst Bloch. In an original theoretical encounter, I connect Rose’s concepts of reason and ‘inaugurated mourning’ with Bloch’s concepts ‘the darkness of the lived moment’ and the ‘not-yet,’ towards imagining subjectivity differently. Further, through six conversations with seven activist-philosophers from Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington) – Jen Margaret, Jo Randerson, Thomas LaHood, Richard D. Bartlett, Benjamin Johnson, Cally O’Neill and Kassie Hartendorp – I make visible already-existing emancipatory practices and subjectivities from within radical Aotearoa (New Zealand,) from which we can learn and locally ground our imaginings. Combining the conversations held with the activist-philosophers with the alternative account of subjectivity developed, I move outwards – from the individual and the particular to the collective – to specifically name five key modes of radical everyday practice: embodiment, not knowing, trust, care, and imagining. Understood as an articulation of docta spes, or a praxis of educated hope, these five modes capture a sense of everyday sociality imagined otherwise, as well as articulate a collaborative, sustainable and localised account of the emotionally demanding pedagogical pursuit towards the realisation and experience of utopia. An answer to the first question – how are we to live? – is thus processually found within the second question – how do we sustain our emotional commitment to utopia?</p>


Arts & Health ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Molly Mullen ◽  
Amber Walls ◽  
Maria Ahmad ◽  
Peter O’Connor

Author(s):  
Jason Paul Mika ◽  
Graham Hingangaroa Smith ◽  
Annemarie Gillies ◽  
Fiona Wiremu

Purpose This paper aims to examine indigenous governance and economies of iwi Maori (Maori tribes) in Aotearoa New Zealand. Research into persisting inequities amongst iwi that have settled treaty claims and the potential for intervention through new governance models and indigenous entrepreneurship contextualise the paper. Design/methodology/approach Kaupapa Maori (Maori philosophy) is used as an indigenous methodology to facilitate and empower transformative change, underpinned by Maori knowledge, language and culture. A multi-level approach is used to collect data from international, national and local tribal organisations. Validity is established through stakeholder engagement. Findings A central challenge in the post-treaty settlement context is exponentialising tribal capabilities because of the multiple purposes ascribed to post-settled iwi. Four themes, characterised as “unfolding tensions”, offer a critique and basis for solving tribal development challenges: how do tribes create culturally grounded global citizens; how do tribes rebalance wealth creation and wealth distribution; how do tribes recalibrate tribal institutions; and how do tribes embed entrepreneurship and innovation within their economies? Research limitations/implications As data collection is still underway, the paper is conceptual. Practical implications Five strategies to address unfolding tensions are identified for tribes to consider. Social implications Tribal governors and tribal members are implicated in the analysis, as well as the architects of post-treaty settlement governance models. Originality/value The paper contributes to theorising about tribal governance, economies and entrepreneurship.


2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-160
Author(s):  
Molly George ◽  
Reremoana Theodore ◽  
Rosalina Richards ◽  
Barbara Galland ◽  
Rachael Taylor ◽  
...  

Insufficient sleep is a strong risk factor for unhealthy weight gain in children. Māori (the indigenous population of Aotearoa (New Zealand)) children have an increased risk of unhealthy weight gain compared to New Zealand European children. Interventions around sleep could provide an avenue for improving health and limiting excessive weight gain with other meaningful benefits for whānau (extended family) well-being. However, current messages promoting good sleep may not be realistic for many Māori whānau. Using qualitative methods, the Moe Kitenga project explored the diverse realities of sleep in 14 Māori whānau. We conclude that for infant sleep interventions to prevent obesity and improve health outcomes for Māori children, they must take into account the often pressing social circumstances of many Māori whānau that are a barrier to adopting infant sleep recommendations, otherwise sleep interventions could create yet another oppressive standard that whānau fail to live up to.


2011 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 191-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon J Denny ◽  
Sue Grant ◽  
Jennifer Utter ◽  
Elizabeth M Robinson ◽  
Theresa M Fleming ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Amanda Wood ◽  
Jennifer Utter ◽  
Elizabeth Robinson ◽  
Shanthi Ameratunga ◽  
Theresa Fleming ◽  
...  

Abstract Body dissatisfaction has been extensively studied but, recently, the importance of body satisfaction and its attributing factors has received significant recognition. Also, there is an increasing awareness of the need for research examining body dissatisfaction and satisfaction in youth other than North American females. Thus, the current research examined the prevalence of, and the individual, social, and familial factors associated with, body-weight satisfaction among New Zealand male and female adolescents (n=9107). Data were analysed from Youth ’07, a nationally representative survey of New Zealand secondary school students. Overall, half of students were happy with their weight, with significantly more males than females reporting body-weight satisfaction. Students happiest with their weight were most likely to report healthy and supportive social and family environments, as well as higher levels of well-being. These findings are consistent with a growing body of research that suggests creating positive peer and family environments may lead to better developmental outcomes, such as body satisfaction, and also higher levels of well-being.


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