Chch city motivated me to stand for local board elections: Manish Pandey
Experiences of the garden city Christchurch have been instrumental in motivating a software professional to step up for local board elections.
Manish Pandey is standing for Halswell-Hornby-Riccarton Community Board Candidate to represent Riccarton under The People’s Choice banner (The People’s Choice is the local party of the Labour Party).
Mr Pandey believes that his life has been changed, irreversibly, after living in Christchurch and seeing this beautiful city coping with some of the gravest challenges that this country has experienced in the recent past.
His first tryst with the city’s resilient and compassionate spirit was way back in 2010 when the house in which he was renting was badly damaged in Christchurch earthquakes leaving him and his friends suddenly homeless.
It was then that he and his friends were invited by a Good Samaritan, a complete stranger, to stay at their home for almost a week and that too without accepting anything in return for his generosity.
That act of generosity, especially in the hour of the monumental crisis, made a significant impact on the otherwise normal life of Manish Pandey, where he was busy in day to day endeavours to make his life better in this newly chosen country of residence.
“It was the first time that I understood the importance of community,” Mr Pandey said.
“I realised that often, when individual human capabilities are found overwhelmed in the face of bigger challenges of life, it is the community that comes to rescue with a spirit of resilience and compassion.
“I decided to give back to my community, my extended family. I joined Riccarton Community Patrol as Volunteer Patroller in November 2011 and Christchurch Multicultural Council in January 2012,” Mr Pandey told The Indian Weekender, explaining his motivation behind an active community life.
“I joined Christchurch Multicultural Council which gave me the opportunity to work and know different cultures in New Zealand.
“I was actively involved in New Zealand’s first Multicultural Strategy launch by Christchurch City Council.
“I served Christchurch Multicultural Council as Secretary for 2016-17 and am currently serving as the Vice President of Christchurch Multicultural Council,” Mr Pandey said.
However, it was another tragedy that the garden city has recently endured in the form of the Christchurch mosque attack that Mr Pandey was further compelled to step up his commitment to the local community by putting forward his name for local board elections.
“We all as a county have been impacted by the March 15 incidents and since then we have felt that there is an immense need for stepping up engagement with the ethnic communities,” Mr Pandey told the Indian Weekender.
Mr Pandey migrated to New Zealand in 2008 as an international student studying Post Graduate Diploma in Information & Communication technology.
Experiences of the garden city Christchurch have been instrumental in motivating a software professional to step up for local board elections.
Manish Pandey is standing for Halswell-Hornby-Riccarton Community Board Candidate to represent Riccarton under The People’s Choice banner (The People’s...
Experiences of the garden city Christchurch have been instrumental in motivating a software professional to step up for local board elections.
Manish Pandey is standing for Halswell-Hornby-Riccarton Community Board Candidate to represent Riccarton under The People’s Choice banner (The People’s Choice is the local party of the Labour Party).
Mr Pandey believes that his life has been changed, irreversibly, after living in Christchurch and seeing this beautiful city coping with some of the gravest challenges that this country has experienced in the recent past.
His first tryst with the city’s resilient and compassionate spirit was way back in 2010 when the house in which he was renting was badly damaged in Christchurch earthquakes leaving him and his friends suddenly homeless.
It was then that he and his friends were invited by a Good Samaritan, a complete stranger, to stay at their home for almost a week and that too without accepting anything in return for his generosity.
That act of generosity, especially in the hour of the monumental crisis, made a significant impact on the otherwise normal life of Manish Pandey, where he was busy in day to day endeavours to make his life better in this newly chosen country of residence.
“It was the first time that I understood the importance of community,” Mr Pandey said.
“I realised that often, when individual human capabilities are found overwhelmed in the face of bigger challenges of life, it is the community that comes to rescue with a spirit of resilience and compassion.
“I decided to give back to my community, my extended family. I joined Riccarton Community Patrol as Volunteer Patroller in November 2011 and Christchurch Multicultural Council in January 2012,” Mr Pandey told The Indian Weekender, explaining his motivation behind an active community life.
“I joined Christchurch Multicultural Council which gave me the opportunity to work and know different cultures in New Zealand.
“I was actively involved in New Zealand’s first Multicultural Strategy launch by Christchurch City Council.
“I served Christchurch Multicultural Council as Secretary for 2016-17 and am currently serving as the Vice President of Christchurch Multicultural Council,” Mr Pandey said.
However, it was another tragedy that the garden city has recently endured in the form of the Christchurch mosque attack that Mr Pandey was further compelled to step up his commitment to the local community by putting forward his name for local board elections.
“We all as a county have been impacted by the March 15 incidents and since then we have felt that there is an immense need for stepping up engagement with the ethnic communities,” Mr Pandey told the Indian Weekender.
Mr Pandey migrated to New Zealand in 2008 as an international student studying Post Graduate Diploma in Information & Communication technology.
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