Fusion supports former refugee and migrant young people through youth development and mentoring programmes. These provide recreational activities, life-skills, leadership development, encouragement of personal and social skills and an introduction to local community activities and opportunities. It promotes a sense of connection, belonging and participation among young people new to New Zealand.
Current programmes engage with young people from Naenae College and Hutt Valley High School.
To watch a short video about Fusion made for the Human Rights Commission Diversity Forum 2016 click here. (external link)
The students are enthusiastic about this programme, and immensely enjoy it. They benefit from the leadership and role modelling provided by the Fusion mentors and from the opportunity to act as leaders themselves. They also benefit from the chance to interact and cooperate with a wide range of other students from different year levels, stages in their English language learning journey, ethnicities and backgrounds. We have noticed a much stronger sense of connectedness and camaraderie among our refugee background students since the programme commenced. We believe the Fusion programme that our young people have been involved in both complements and extends the work we do here in school, and that it is a very valuable tool and resource to help these students develop confidence and connections, and to grow as individuals and members of a community. Angela Sellwood, Head of English Language Learning, Naenae College
I have learnt two things from this programme. First one is believe in yourself. Second thing is how to get out of your comfort zone. This information has inspired me and made me a better person. Fusion young person
It made me confident in myself because most of the time it’s hard for me to interact with other people but this programme helped me. I loved the people that are working with us. Fusion young person