The Cultural Debate
You may have seen the article on overseas nurses working in Aged Care in Sunday Star Times 22nd April.
It makes interesting reading. It
is unethical to bring people to New Zealand on false pretences. Promising
people work that may not be available and putting them in unsatisfactory
accommodation is immoral and not the New Zealand way. We should not lower
ourselves to the level of the corrupt societies many of these people have
come from. We are better than that. You can read more on this here: Agents-trick-nurses-into-signing-bonds
However there is another article below this that caught my eye and that
was that residential facilities are providing cultural workshops for residents
to understand the wide variety of cultures that are now looking after them. Helping
them get to grips with having people around them that don’t know their
culture.
While this is obviously very helpful, am I missing something here? I
admit to not knowing the form these cultural evenings take nor do I know
who is providing them but I am sure there will be many very positive outcomes
from them.
But what has happened to the other cultures coming into New Zealand, learning
about the culture of the person they are looking after?
When I do my training I always take an opportunity to talk about understanding
the person in their care and their culture. There is a higher proportion
of Pakeha’s receiving care by people other than their own culture.
Now I am not saying this is bad. I think it is wonderful and they
do a great job but to understand Person Centre Care (as
I spoke on in last month’s newsletter) they need to understand the
culture of the person they are looking after too.
You may call the residents racist but adjusting to a huge multi-ethnic
society that is now what New Zealand has become, is not easy for them. There
will be parts that they adapt to easily but others they will find difficult. The
shift is so dramatic for them, acceptance can be difficult.
Each person only knows what they know of and for themselves. It
is more difficult for the older population to understand the new environment
in which they are now living.
While I accept integration into a new society is not easy. Human nature
being what it is, we will gravitate to those we feel most comfortable around
which is our own culture, but in order to understand Pakeha New Zealanders,
migrants need to mix extensively with them to. This is how integration
occurs.
While I have never lived in another country apart from New Zealand, whenever
I have visited another country, I prefer to get in amongst the locals to
find out about them. I choose not to go on organised bus or sightseeing
tours, I walk amongst the locals to get a feel for the country and talk
to the people.
When I have shifted to another city in New Zealand, I have had to get to
know the culture of the location so I have always got involved in the community. This
is how I got to understand the new environment in which I was living. New
migrants have to do the same.
This does not mean they and their culture are not important and they don’t
matter. Of course they do? This is how we create a fair and
just society for all.
I believe we need to spend more time on helping the new migrants understand
the Pakeha culture as well as the Maori culture to help them to integrate fully
with us. This is how acceptance occurs.
It is also time for Pakeha’s to own and accept that they do
have a culture too as I believe this has been forgotten along the
way. We
have spent so much time apologising to so many ethnicities we need to own who
we are and not apologise for being who we are – yes Pakeha New Zealanders.
If you missed the article you can see ithere: Rest-homes-tackle-racism-issue
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