This week, Siddharth Pilli joins the communications team on work placement from the Whaikaha program. He will be sharing stories with you across Semester 2.
Sylvie Hill
Sylvie Hall is a student who has participated in Unitec for two years and is part of the Whaikaha program, which has helped her learn about and celebrate the cultural, racial and religious differences of Unitec’s students.
Sylvie learned that on the Unitec campus, places of worship from different faiths are present. For example, Unitec’s campus contains both a chapel and mosque.
Sylvie met Muslim students (such as Neaheedah and Hamza) who found Unitec accommodating to their faith. Unitec also allows Mormons to preach on campus. Sylvie also entered the Marae, a building where students were taught that everyone is connected to a spiritual and important force.
Because of Unitec, Sylvie also learned about diversity and the importance of respecting other cultures. One instance of this occurred this week on Tuesday in Lynette Solomon’s Health and Well-Being lecture. During this lecture, Sylvie learned each culture has different food preferences that may shock other cultures. For example, many South Africans eat a sheep’s head, which they call a smiley.
Sylvie learned that it is important to be polite and respectful of other culture’s food preferences and to never respond with antagonism. Unitec also taught Sylvie about other languages. In Unitec, certain weeks are dedicated to teaching students about different languages and cultures in order to ensure that students from those cultures feel accepted and welcome.
During Samoan week, Sylvie celebrated the Samoan language and culture. Additionally, Sylvie also entered the Marae to greet new students and learn about the importance of Maori culture. Overall, Sylvie’s experiences helped her learn more about different cultures and religions. Sylvie learned that Unitec accepts people from all backgrounds and encourages harmony and tolerance.
About Siddharth Pilli.
I was born in September 16, 2002. I am blind in my left eye, with low vision in my right eye. I am interested in learning about other cultures and religions. My most useful skill is research, which I carry out using my braillenote touch.
Welldone Sid on your first article for The Nest. An excellent thoughtful piece! Well done!
This is so lovely! Thank you for sharing how much you and your classmates have learnt and grown to celebrate cultural differences, diversity and inclusivity at Unitec:)
What a great story! It was very interesting to read about Sylvie and what she has learnt since being at Unitec. 🙂