Imagine being forced to flee your home and all that you have ever known in order to survive. This is the exact situation that tens of millions of people find themselves in today. A refugee is someone who has fled his or her country owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion. The trauma of being uprooted from your home, your family, your friends, your support network, your country and all that you have ever known is life shattering. The process of then finding a place of refuge is a long and emotional journey.

Every year upto 750 (soon to be 1000) refugees arrive in New Zealand and begin the process of setting down new roots. This too is a tiresome journey. Imagine arriving in a new country and not speaking the language, not knowing the customs and not having a familiar support network. How would you feel? What thoughts would be running through your head? What challenges can you envision?

Our team, at the For Better Initiative, has run through this scenario and believes that education provides the key to enabling a brighter future. The For Better Initiative is a New Zealand registered charity that is working hard within the educational space. Our purpose and mission is to dismantle the barriers to education that people with refugee backgrounds face. Some of these barriers include english literacy difficulties, a history of broken education and financial hardship.

We will have initiatives running across the primary, secondary and tertiary educational landscape. Our model is based on working with education providers to design and implement purpose built initiatives. Join us on our journey.