Aotearoa New Zealand continues to mourn the lives of those taken on March 15. There has been an enormous response from the whole Aotearoa New Zealand community of love and solidarity in communities large and small. It gives us great heart to know that research indicates that this collective experience/trauma of emotions will lead to long term solidarity. The Muslim community have acted with such grace under the most extraordinary circumstances. When Al Noor Mosque Iman Gamal Fouda, who survived Friday’s attacks spoke, telling the people of Christchurch that NZ was unbreakable… "We are broken-hearted, but we are not broken. We are alive, we are together, we are determined to not let anyone divide us." The very foundation of Islam is the notion of peace, we as a nation have certainly witnessed this. Faced with incredible suffering Muslims throughout Aotearoa New Zealand have responded with warmth and generosity. 

Acknowledging the leadership of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Her empathy, compassion and love has been an inspiration not only to everyone in Aotearoa New Zealand, but globally. There has been global praise from Leaders throughout the world, thanking her for the way in which she has handled the aftermath of this massacre.

As His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum who is the Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE as well as the Ruler of Dubai,"Thank you PM @jacindaardern and New Zealand for your sincere empathy and support that has won the respect of 1.5 billion Muslims after the terrorist attack that shook the Muslim community around the world."

This little movie attached to this post is backed by Dave Dobbyn’s song written specifically for new immigrants landing on our shores, it is a celebration of our nations desire to both welcome and celebrate our diversity. What follows below are the lyrics to this song as well as the translation into Maori by Te Haumihiata

Arohanui, Wendy on behalf of ELP

Welcome Home

Dave Dobbyn

Tonight I am feeling for you

Under the state of a strange land

You have sacrificed much to be here

There but for grace as I offer my hand

Welcome home, I bid you welcome, I bid you welcome

Welcome home from the bottom of my heart

Out here on the edge

The empire is fading by the day

And the world is so weary in war

Maybe we'll find that new way

So welcome home, see I made a space for you now

Welcome home from the bottom of our heart

Welcome home from the bottom of our hearts

Keep it coming now keep it coming now

You'll find most of us here with our hearts wide open

Keep it coming now keep on coming now 

Keep it coming now keep on coming now

There's a woman with her hands trembling

And she sings with a mountain's memory 

There's a cloud the full length of these isles

Just playing chase with the sun

And it's black and it's white and it's wild

All the colours are one

So welcome home, I bid you welcome, I bid you welcome

Welcome home from the bottom of our hearts

Welcome home, see I made a space for you now

Welcome home from the bottom of our hearts

From the bottom of our hearts

Welcome Home lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Words & Music A Div Of Big Deal Music LLC

Nau Mai Rai

nā Te Haumihiata Mason

kei te aroha au ki a koe

e tānoatia nei e tauwhenua

rawa kore mai koe ki konei

ka toro te ringa ki tō kaha

nau mai rā, ki te papa, papa tipu

nau mai rā, te karanga a te ngākau

tū ana i te pari

horo kau iho te ao

kua ruha i te pakanga

rapua he ara hou

nau mai rā, tēnei rā tō kāinga

nau mai rā, te karanga a te ngākau

nau mai rā, te karanga a te ngākau

haere tonu mai, haere tonu mai

ko te ngākau tuwhera ka tū atu nei

haere tonu mai, haere tonu mai

haere tonu mai, nau mai haere mai

kua pōhiri te reo karanga, haere mai

kua pōhiri ngā maunga, haere mai

ko te ao tea roa o konei

te hoa tauwhai o te rā

mā te pango, te mā, me te pai

ka iwi kotahi te ao

nau mai rā, ki te papa, papa tipu

nau mai rā, tēnei rā tō kāinga

nau mai rā, te karanga a te ngākau

te karanga a te ngākau

Christchurch Terror Attack

I have felt so paralysed by the events of Friday 15^thin Christchurch and am still lost and unable to find an adequate response. It is just too difficult to comprehend and I never imagined such violent-fueled bigotry would invade our peaceful country.

It has been a weekend of: Horror

Hurt

Trauma

Pain

Shock

Sorrow

Devastation

Grief

Tears 

Loss of innocence

I felt my body closing down inside the intensity of all that was happening. Tears flowed without warning for families and friends of our Muslim community and our country. All our lives have changed forever. 

The people murdered and hurt were by-and-large migrants and refugees who had chosen NZ as their home, a safe haven away from the horrors of wars and torture that afflict far-away places. It is heart-breaking, because we are a peace loving country and as Jacinda Adern said: This is not us!

How could such hatred be in our midst and no one be aware? How did this happen? For Christchurch, a city still in recovery from the 2011 earthquake, this new assault is not due to nature but to a heinous hate crime. It will take a very long time to recover from this. 

It has certainly been a wakeup call for everyone in Aotearoa, NZ as to just how important it is, in a civilised society, to call out any form of racism. And we must also question the right of anyone to publicly state their bigoted views. Words do matter, especially in today’s media-dominated world. Just as we do not allow physical harm, neither should we allow verbal harm. 

The messages we send in our day-to-day conversations, as well as those we listen to, must at all times be checked to ensure they protectour world and all those who live in it. People have been talking about the pernicious effect of the internet in supporting these horrific events and what part these huge internet platforms are playing in encouraging this form of extremism. 

Gun control is again an issue here, and our Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has said simply “I can tell you right now, our gun laws will change”. 

We must not forget that at the heart of this is a group of people who will be haunted by this experience for a very long time. Last night, in my hometown of Hamilton we joined thousands of people who came out in support of the Muslim community to show solidarity at an evening vigil. Amongthe many Muslim spokespeople was our local leader Waikato Muslim Association's Dr Asad Moshin who graciously thanked people for the support: "We still don't know how this happened, but we won't let this change New Zealand. A lot of good has come out of this. People didn't know where the mosque was, where the Muslim community was. But we will keep this going. We are so overwhelmed, as a Muslim community, with the support. We are thinking how can we pay back this outpouring of support. Keep us in your prayers.” 

New Zealanders have been meeting all over the nation in their thousands to stand with Muslims in their grief and to show solidarity. They have been gathering outside mosques and in community spaces. Flowers and significant messages have been written in cards, fundraising has skyrocketed, people are talking to each other. As our Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the incident was “one of New Zealand’s darkest days” and that the victims had chosen to make New Zealand their home. “They are us,” she said. There is a very strong message to all in her words. ‘We are one people”. 

She also said that the person who perpetuated this violence against us is not us. Why not? We must ask ourselves: what happened to this person to generate such bigotry and hate? He stated that as a boy he was not interested in school education, that education had nothing in it for him. Was this the seed that, for him, set him down a path of pure evil? Can we see here the vital importance of engaging children in strength based education from an early age?

I thought it was ironic that we had just posted, last week, on YouTube (third in the series on Learning Stories) a video entitled 'PART 3: A child’s culture cannot enter a classroom before it first enters a teacher’s conscience’. Each of us in our own way through our daily lives can make a difference. Every day as we interact with people, those we agree with and those we do not, we can make sure that hateful racist comments are always challenged and never tolerated. Teachers can write Learning Stories that will make visible what we value in our communities. They are such powerful opportunities to demonstrate our care, compassion and empathy. A Learning Story is alsoa formidable platform to promote the best in everyone. 

Nga mihi nui,

Arohanui,

Wendy

Thank you to Stuff.co.nz for the use of photographs in this blog,  please find all photos at this site. 

In pictures: Christchurch shooting | Stuff.co.nz

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/111343030/in-pictures-christchurch-shooting