Miss Robertson Migration Story

On Monday, our teacher Ms Robertson invited her mother to come in and speak to our class about why she migrated to NZ. The reason why she was asked to speak about her migration story was because our social studies class was learning about migration. She told us the story about her migrating to NZ and we had questions to be answered. Here are the questions and answers about her story.

1. How many years has Ms Robertson been in NZ ? (think about what year she arrived in NZ)

She arrived in 1962, so she’s been in NZ for 55 years

• Push: She was a only 18 years old when she came to NZ on her own.
• Pull: She payed for her sister and brothers fairs

2. What sort of work did she do when she first arrived in NZ ?

She worked at the hospital in Cornwall Auckland.

• Push:She didn’t understand the language and she was new to the life of NZ
• Pull: She asked questions about what to do everytime and she knew what to do and enjoyed the job.

3. What do you remember about how Mrs Robertson was brought up by her parents ?

Her parents was the 1 voice that they all had to listen to because they had better ways of doing life.

• Push: The kids weren’t allowed to talk back to their parents because they’ll give them a hiding.
• Pull: They obeyed their parents, the words that her parents gave them helped their lives become easier

4. What was the main reason why Mrs Robertson was sent to NZ ?

To come to New Zealand and work to get money, so she can send it to her family in Samoa to build their expected home. But mostly have a better life in NZ.

• Push: She was the only family member that was sent to NZ to work and get money for their family in Samoa
• Pull: It was a good opportunity for her because when she finished helping her family in the islands, she enjoyed her life.

5, What did she do with her first Pay packet ?

  Every week she got her pay packet, she sent it to Samoa to help build their home.

• Push: She had to put money together and every week she’ll have to go and send it to Samoa
• Pull: She’s using her money wisely by sending it to Samoa to their family, to help them with the house.

6.What things did she need help with  when she first came to NZ ?

When she came to New Zealand she needed help speaking english because she was in NZ.

• Push: Not knowing how to speak english can be a problem when she’s working because part of the job is to ask questions and she wasn’t a confident speaker.
• Pull: She can learn a new culture and have it as a second language

7. What did you enjoy or find most interesting about Mrs Robertson story ?

I enjoyed the way she described her journey migrating to New Zealand from Samoa. She had a good reason why she came to NZ and work hard for.

• Push: She was expected to come to NZ by herself without any of her family members. She also didn’t know how to speak english when she arrived.
• Pull: She was the first member in her family to experience a new life and try new things. Also she learnt how to speak a new culture which was english. She lived a better, easier life.