The Shanti Niwas Charitable Trust organised a Christmas party for elders of South Asian origin on December 18. Over 250 seniors attended and the Springs Road hall was packed to capacity.
Ataur Rehman along with fellow trustees Ashok Gaur, Roshni Golian and Indu Bajaj addressed the gathering and distributed gifts. A birthday celebration of some senior citizens was an emotional affair where the seniors sang the traditional “happy birthday to you” and blew the candles before cutting the cake.
A befitting depiction of the birth of Jesus Christ was enacted with enthusiasm by the seniors, complete with the three wise men who showered gifts on the newly born Jesus.
Trust volunteers Pushpa Prasad, Sam Naidoo and Jaya Thapar, the youngest of them all, spoke on the occasion. A soul stirring performance by a group of African drummers ushered in the festive spirit and got everyone dancing.
Santa Claus made a dramatic entry and distributed gifts to everyone. The day concluded with a sumptuous meal cooked by the volunteers for all those who were present.
Shanti Niwas Charitable Trust Inc, a non-profit organisation, has a proud history of working with socially isolated senior citizens of Indian and South Asian origin living in the Auckland region.
Initially, culturally appropriate services for older people of diverse cultural background were initiated by experienced social worker Indu Bajaj, Q.S.M and M.S.W, in January 1994 under the umbrella of Methodist Mission Northern.
At the time she came in contact with several older migrants of Indian descent who seemed to be facing difficulties in adjusting into New Zealand society due to barriers such as cultural shock, generational gaps, language and communication barriers, loneliness and social isolation, dependence on family support, emotional stress, child minding pressures, lack of knowledge of health and welfare system, lack of community links, transport and mobility issues and elder abuse and neglect.
She felt there was a great need to establish services in order to provide guidance and assistance to older people so they could have a good quality of life. As we all know, added barriers of different languages and cultural backgrounds can create feelings of exclusion and isolation which in turn can lead to depression and mental health problems.
Her goal towards giving the best as Social Worker was achived in November 1998, when the trust was legally established under the name of Shanti Niwas Charitable Trust Incorporated and became financially independent in January 2003. The trust has been registered with the Charities Commission (CC26135) and for goods and services tax.
Indu Bajaj’s incredible involvement in various community projects has provided great support to the elderly of South Asian origin. She is aptly supported by Nilima Venkat who has been with the trust since 1998. She has a degree in social work and is passionate about working with the elderly to bring about positive changes in their lives. Nilima is also the General Secretary of the Asian Network and the President of Indian Womens Club.