South Canterbury agencies have banded together to create an emergency information poster to help migrants when they move to the region.
The posters aim to help provide essential but simple information for migrants when they move to South Canterbury.
The idea for the posters came about after the first meeting of the agencies, where they realised the need for something to help migrants understand information regarding New Zealand’s emergency services.
Fire and Emergency Mid-South Canterbury senior adviser community readiness and recovery Donna Lindsay said the posters would help educate migrants through the simple information and pictures.
The back of the poster featured numbers for services and agencies who they could contact for help, or they would be passed on to someone else who would be able to provide support.
‘‘We found that some migrants were too scared to call in case they had to pay, or they didn’t know the number.
‘‘The posters will be printed in nine different languages and we have made the posters as pictorial as possible to make it easier tounderstand,’’ she said.
The printing of the posters was sponsored by the Timaru District Council, and they had a magnet on the back so they could be placed on the fridge.
This would allow migrants to locate the information sheet quickly in an emergency.
It would also allow emergency services to get important information, such as what languages the person spoke, and help make a decision about whether or not a translator would be needed.
She said many migrants ended up living in isolated areas and it was important that they were not forgotten.
‘‘We have a pretty caring community and I wanted to thank everyone who was involved in the process of bringing the poster to the community.’’
Multicultural Aoraki general manager Katy Houstoun said it was nice to have the collaboration of all the agencies.
‘‘Donna has been the driving force behind this and she has been so supportive and passionate about it.’’
She said they planned to add the posters to the welcome packs they give to migrants when they arrive in South Canterbury, and to give some to farmers to put in their farm houses for their workers.
Firefighter Steve Ochsner said migrants had so much to learn when they arrived in the country, and this sort of information could be lost.
‘‘They need to understand what to do and there is potential for this to be used for tourists, but we are bringing this to migrants first as they are the ones who are permanently living here and will need it most.’’
Multicultural Aoraki events co-ordinator Maturo Siaosi said getting the posters translated so people understand was amazing.
‘‘I’m from Samoa and the Samoan population in Timaru has grown.
‘‘For them to understand this and have it in Samoan to make it easier for them — I’m very happy this has happened.’’
