29 Nov 2015

Adrienne Jansen and Helmi Al Khattat - Stories from the Taxi

From Sunday Morning, 10:06 am on 29 November 2015

Many of us have got into a taxi and instantly become engaged with the driver in a lengthy discussion about his or her life. Where are you from? What was your home country like? What do you think of NZ?

Authors Adrienne Jansen and Liz Grant have asked these same questions for their book, Migrant Journeys - New Zealand Taxi Drivers Tell Their Stories.

The book draws on the natural curiosity that many of us have when we get into a cab and starts questioning the person behind the wheel and how they came to be driving in NZ.

The authors spoke with 14 migrant taxi drivers from as far away as Somalia and Croatia.

"When people tell their own stories, that's what really changes our view of things," Ms Jansen says.

Wallace talks to Adrienne Jansen, and Baghdad-born Helmi Al Khattat shares his own amazing story.