Migrant Career Support Trust (MCST) organised a workshop recently, to empower women from all walks of life and ethnicities with the power of knowledge to acclaim their dreams and aspirations in the new digital world.
The workshop, organised on February 15, was partnered by ANZ Bank and NZICA to work collaboratively for creating this learning experience. The workshop was hosted by NZSE (New Zealand school of Education) Manukau where the attendees were welcomed with traditional Maori greetings and warmth.
This event was rightfully called “Empowering women in the digital age“, and focused on the same by explaining the importance of technology and its uses while also explaining safety measures against the potential threats posed by it.
The aim was to create awareness amongst women of different cultures irrespective of their age and backgrounds to move forward in the society with their head held high.
The founder of MCST Garry Gupta, who took this inspiring initiative, welcomed and addressed the gathering. He passionately spoke about how women when empowered can achieve work success and create an equal status for themselves in the society. He is working with the trust to bring about this transformation for the migrant community.
He said, “Our purpose for this workshop is to help migrant women substantiate their prowess and potential by creating awareness about digital world that can lay the ground for their success in NZ.”
Garry thanked the participants and expressed, “Our trust’s goal is to ensure that migrants can achieve economic independence and can instill confidence in themselves to take on the world and are gainfully employed with equal opportunities”.
It was then followed by workshop by NZSE which started with women holding hands and creating a circle of trust and enriching a sense of whanau. The workshop explained the importance of technology in this day and age and also the tools already available to add to the efficiency of people. The sense of community further thrived in various group activities where women gathered in groups and opened up about their ideas about the various aspects of technology.
A sense of achievement could be seen when women in their 60’s and 70’s were able to create their first ever email accounts! As rightfully said by Mr. Brijesh Sethi, the founder of NZSE “we want to create hope for the women in the society and build their confidence in achieving their aspirations”. He shared his desire to uphold the values of Maori Culture which has its roots in Whanau and Mana Wahine.
Another very educating workshop was held by ANZ Bank, where they explained at length to demonstrate the importance of digital banking and safeguarding against various frauds and scams. The presentation by Priyanka Kumar from ANZ was very informative and engaging where she answered questions on how to be empowered against any potential digital threats like online and phone banking scams.
Smita Kanwar, the Migrant Business & Community Development Manager at ANZ said, Our purpose at ANZ is to shape a world where people and communities thrive. Our people are proud to help people achieve incredible things – be it buying their home, building a business or saving for things big or small. We’re also committed to increasing the financial knowledge of New Zealanders in every community, through our programmes and tools to help build financial education skills among the most vulnerable members of community.
One of the attendees, said, “I certainly felt the positive energy in the ambience because of the humility of everyone who contributed in organizing this event and how it was facilitated smoothly. I strongly feel that these workshops can be a starting point for any woman who has her dreams and aspirations in life despite their challenges.”
A vote of thanks was also presented by Ashima Singh who is a solicitor and a trustee with the MCST. She gave every participant an opportunity to brave the chance of voicing their opinion. This activity furthered the confidence of everyone present and the sense of community was strengthened. The event was wrapped with a Maori prayer, a few prizes and lots of laughter.
Migrant Careers Support Trust is a non-profitable charitable trust that aims to achieve social equity; inclusion and social cohesion by better economic integration of the migrant workers and people from the ethnic communities, in the New Zealand society. The trust aims to provide support to migrant professionals, for them to excel their careers. This workshop was also supported by the Ministry of Ethnic Affairs via their community grant.
A fairly new organisation, the Migrant Careers Support Trust is focusing on creating such events in the future to help migrants & women fight for their economic independence and equality. These events are free of cost to ensure no one is left out because of any economic barrier. Hence anyone can participate without any inhibition and hesitation.
Please refer to their website www.migrantcareers.org.nz to ensure you are hooked to the upcoming events and make the most of it.
– contributed by Mehak Sharma, volunteer at MCST