Refugees bound for Dunedin are being offered three and four-bedroom state houses as preparations ramp up for their arrival next week.
With the April 22 arrival date for the first group of 45 Syrian refugees fast approaching, a mixture of excitement and nervousness is building for Red Cross staff and volunteers tasked with making the refugees' integration into Dunedin run smoothly.
Government departments are also busy preparing and it was confirmed yesterday 13 state houses in Dunedin had been set aside for the refugees to move into.
Housing New Zealand South Island communications manager Glenn Conway said Housing NZ was pleased to confirm it began the process yesterday of offering three and four-bedroom homes to refugee families.
‘‘Those families who accept the offer of social housing will be able to begin moving into these homes from the end of next week.''
Mr Conway said rumours some of the first group of refugees would be placed in Mosgiel were incorrect.
Housing NZ would not reveal the location of the Dunedin houses because of privacy concerns.
Red Cross volunteer team leader Leisa de Klerk continued to be impressed by the generous response from the city's residents.
Nearly 500 people had now volunteered to help and a steady stream of donated goods was still coming in, Ms de Klerk said.
Two rooms at Dunedin's Red Cross office were packed with items, with some goods needing to be stored off-site because of a lack of room.
It had plenty of linen and clothes, but was still looking for donations of kitchen items such as pots and pans, cash donations and other items including lawnmowers.
Everyone was ‘‘very busy'', but she was confident they would be ready when the first Syrians arrived next week.
Ms de Klerk is one of 11 new staff members who have joined Red Cross' resettlement team in Dunedin, after training in other resettlement locations around New Zealand.
Forty-five refugee support volunteers had completed training and would work with families, from the moment they stepped off the plane, offering local knowledge and a friendly face.
Among the new staff members were people from a diverse range of backgrounds, including former refugees, Arabic speakers and Dunedin locals.
Resettlement caseworker Rula Talahma was ‘‘very excited'' to be able to help because she grew up as a third-generation refugee in Palestine, and was taught in a United Nations school.
‘‘I wouldn't say that I fully understand the journey [of Syrian refugees] with all the trauma and the grief [they] have experienced, but I would say that I empathise,'' Ms Talahma said.
She would also be able to use her experience working with international organisations that helped people affected by conflict in the West Bank.
The work also fitted perfectly with her studies towards a PhD in peace and conflict studies at the University of Otago.
Immigration New Zealand (INZ) refugee division manager Andrew Lockhart said preparations were ‘‘well under way''.
‘‘This involves a collaborative cross-agency effort between INZ, the Red Cross, Work and Income, Housing New Zealand, the Department of Internal Affairs, NZ Police and the Ministry of Health, to name a few,'' Mr Lockhart said.
Meetings had been held in Dunedin with agencies, settlement service providers and NGOs and communities to support refugee settlement in Dunedin. Preparations would not suddenly stop once refugees arrived.
‘‘As an example, the Red Cross is contracted by Immigration NZ to provide settlement support in the community over the first 12 months.
‘‘This includes an orientation programme and connecting refugees to services they require, such as doctor's appointments, English language, education and employment.''
Volunteer Lorraine Marlow, who has been sorting through items donated for refugees since December, said the newcomers would be given warm clothing and bedding when they arrived.
She had been touched by the level of generosity of Dunedin people, with some spending hundreds on new items.
‘‘We had an 84-year-old lady who came in here who had terminal cancer and she donated a complete dinner set and a beautiful Wild South jacket - brand new.''
‘‘She was on her last legs and I just burst into tears when I found out.''
Sarah Knowles is among the volunteers assigned to a family. She said she had visited Syria and was keen to help.
‘‘I visited Syria when I was about 21 and I just thought it was a beautiful country and the people were amazingly friendly and welcoming.''
Her role would include helping refugees sign up for the doctors, taking them on their first trip to the supermarket and generally helping them integrate into the Dunedin community.
Fellow volunteer Chris Harris (27) said he was keen to help because his mother, Afife, was from Lebanon, which was a country where many Syrian refugees had escaped to as a result of the war.
‘‘I felt like I could give them a welcome to Dunedin that could give them some familiarity, like they wouldn't feel like complete strangers here.''
