Spinning a yarn: Refugees meet to learn English and sewing

From Checkpoint, 5:54 pm on 9 June 2023

It started as an opportunity to learn English and is now a weekly gathering, not just involving words but a thread and needle, too.

Every Thursday a group of women - some of them refugees - meet to learn English and sew together in East Auckland. 

It started as an experiment and is now a weekly ritual - every week more members trickle through the door.

General manager of adult education at Rise Trust, Natasha Audi, runs the programme and said over the last month the group's confidence has sky rocketed. 

"Their English has really grown and their willingness to speak in English so very different from when we first started so they're coming in very eager to practice their English, because this is one of the few opportunities they would get in their week." 

Members are from all different places and at different stages on their language journey. 

"Most of our class are from Afghanistan some of them are literate in their own language and some are not, so there's a couple in this class that have not picked up a pen or a pencil in their own language."

18-year-old Roqia Noori moved to New Zealand from Afghanistan just over a year ago.

While she knew a little English before, she signed up for the chance to upskill. 

"I want to learn sewing and enjoy it with people."

During this session she was making an apron. 

Roqia is a tough critic of her own English, but when asked if she was enjoying the class and what she liked about it, she said: "How we are sewing and talking together."

Because some members have recently arrived, they make items to set up a home, like pillow cases and toiletry bags. 

It is the highlight of the week for many, not just about learning English or sewing, but a chance to have a laugh. 

Audi said a lot of the time it was at the state of her sewing skills. 

"While we're sewing I don't know what I'm doing and they laugh because they probably don't know that I'm saying that ... I feel like it just takes away all the, I don't know, any angst or any nervousness around it because their teacher's kind of learning too."  

Thankfully she has Liliani to help out. She has been in the game for almost 50 years and knows her way around a machine. 

Most of the women had not used one before, but were eager. 

The group is also funded by the local Rotary and Tereora Academy. 

In the future they were hoping to expand beyond the classroom walls and find a more permanent space. 

Making change, one stitch at a time.