Guest Speaker from Volunteer Kapiti

Hope you have all had a great weekend in the sunshine!  Long may it continue.  The trip to the church was very interesting (albeit it noisy and a bit hectic with all the children running around) and it was lovely to catch up a bit afterwards at the cafe.

This week: Friday 25th February we have a guest speaker coming to our morning session at The Kapiti Women's Centre - Christine Bongiovanni from Volunteer Kapiti.  Volunteering is a great way of meeting others, getting work experience and also getting a kiwi referee or reference. It may be a good stepping stone for some before applying for paid employment and Christine will be telling us how to become involved.

Employment Workshop:  I now have 9 people for the employment workshop and still need another three.  I have found someone who is willing to come and speak to the group on Friday 25th March in the afternoon 1-2.30pm at The Kapiti Women's Centre and really need people to confirm with me that they are able to attend.  There will be a creche to be available for an hour however there will be limited spaces and you will need to book in.  There will be a minimal charge for this of around $1.50 - $2 per child.

Lastly and most Excitingly: We have been asked to be part of a 'Race Relations Day Event' along with the Ethnic Forum Group and the Kapiti International Friendship Group.  This will be held at  Paekakariki Memorial Hall from 11-2pm, with set up occurring from 9am, on Saturday 26th March.  It is a family event so everyone is welcome.  As it is a 'bring a plate' event we all need to bring a plate of food from our homelands for others to share.  There is also the opportunity for you, family or friends to perform, sell goods (with a donation back into the kitty) and be compensated for costs if you wish to make something that everyone will want a taste of. 

We will have a stall at the event where you can present things with any musical items/performances to be on stage at a scheduled time.  If we could all spare at least 30 mins on that day to help it will mean that the work is shared and everyone can enjoy the event.  We had a few ideas about the children singing a nursery rhyme in various languages at the morning tea on Friday and so that we can clarify ideas I will have a brainstorming meeting on at my place next Wednesday 2nd March from 7.30pm.  This way we can work out what people are willing to do and when people can help.

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Hi Everyone.  Hope you have all had a good week and weekend - despite the seemingly constant drizzle and rain.  Finally feel like I'm drying out a little! The Waitangi Celebrations were really good with free bouncy castles and face painting for the kids as well as free refreshments for the adults.  Best of all they weren't too long!

I have only had feedback from 6 people about the employment workshop.  Please let me know ASAP if you are interested in attending a workshop about applying for jobs in New Zealand and other issues around employment. 

Talking to some members of the group it seems that volunteering is a good way to get into the NZ workforce, pick up some kiwi terminology used in certain positions and if nothing else get a New Zealand referee and reference.  I have booked (to be confirmed) someone from Volunteer Kapiti to come over and talk to the group about volunteering on Wednesday 23rd February at our shared lunch.  Until we have an employment workshop confirmed this could be a great stepping stone for those of you thinking about applying for jobs. 

So after some thought and a bit of response about the questions I sent out I have made some executive decisions.  Check out the events link for changes but to summarize;

• Friday 18th February visit to Rangiatea Church. 
• Friday 1st of April Buggy Walk. 
• Wednesday 23rd February speaker from Volunteer Kapiti. 

Hope to see you all soon.