Dear Fellow Rose Trustees
I want to tell you all about my visit last night to the big end-of-year event for the Poonga- Tamil Community Education Group which we have donated to over the last five years.
It really was a most sparkling and heart-warming event, with lots of children involved from pre-schoolers to tertiary students, all there in glittering costumes or beautifully presented saris, with parents and volunteer teachers. Obviously a huge amount of work goes into the children's performances, training that has gone on every Sunday when Poonga meets throughout the year.
The stated philosophy is "to integrate with the mainstream" while also trying to keep the Tamil language and culture alive. For the first time the early childhood group, dressed in paper cutout "puipuis" , did a Maori action dance, as well as their own cultural dances. It was a joy to see --- and the kids obviously loved some of the eye-rolling, tongue- poking moments. Anne , who has just finished her Early Childhood Diploma to add to her other professional qualifications in social work trained the kids for the Maori dance, as on the NZ curriculum, Te Whariki.
There is no doubt Poonga does a marvelous job of supporting the Tamil families it is involved with on five levels--- pre school (where 63 children are enrolled); Tamil language teaching; Bridging School, which links the children to the NZ curriculum ; examinations conducted in Tamil through Australia and internationally from Year 1 to 10; and a parent group which offers first aid and health programs.
Best December wishes again---more coming!
