Our team

Our friendly and supportive team includes qualified teaching staff, interpreters, learner support assistants and volunteers to support both adult refugees and their children while they are learning at the Refugee Education Centre.

Teaching staff

Interpreters

Interpreters are employed to provide interpreting and translation services for:

• Adult Resettlement Programme - twice a week
• English language classes - once a week
• Assisting at parent/teacher meetings - as required

Learner Support Assistants and volunteers

Learner support assistants and volunteers are trained to provide support in classrooms as needed.

“Mangere Refugee Resettlement Centre is where former refugees who arrive in New Zealand experience for the first time Kiwi kindness, compassion and generosity. It is the safe haven they finally reach after a long journey of suffering, uncertainty, pain and loss. But, despite the care and compassion, they are surrounded with, these former refugees soon realise that they now face another loss, although this is hopefully a temporary one, and that is the loss of communication as most of them arrive with extremely limited English. This is where our role as interpreters comes in. Interpreters are the bridge between the diverse cultures and languages and are the first familiar face they see from their cultures that they miss so much. We are these people’s voices until they find their own voice. Interpreters play a vital role in conveying the initial important messages at Mangere about life in New Zealand. We communicate the questions they have and more importantly the answers that reassure and help them to settle and find comfort in this totally new environment, a new land that is now home”.

Keda, one of our Arabic interpreters