Exhibitor Info
It was all under one roof
By Gouri SatyaIt was all under one roof!
From immigration to jobs, education to settlement, support to resources, educational courses to computer studies, MYOB to English learning, banking to labour - all information under one roof! Around a hundred kiosks brimming with people, making enquiries and collecting all data they need! And the entry at no expense. The admission was free!
Cut off communication and information, man goes off to the medieval days. Communication and information keeps him breathing, more so now, the days of information technology. Communication and information has made the world a global village. But man‚s thirst for these two basic needs is never ending, but ever growing.
If this can happen within a country for its own people, imagine the need of the migrants and refugees, who choose a different country for various reasons. Their need is all the more. For them, information is needed more for their survival, for a normal life like the rest, for becoming a part of the mainstream of that country. They need to be informed.
The Migrant Expo 2005 just did that. The second chapter of a unique experiment made available all the information and a host of other products and services required for migrants, refugees and even international students under just one roof, and for two days - May 21-22. Venue: Convention Centre at the Alexandra Park in Greelane of Auckland.
The sponsors of the expo were Telecom and Unitec. Along with a host of other service providers, they also actively took part and spread their messages - connecting the world and educating the masses. Three major banks " ASB, ANZ and HSBC " were also there, showcasing their services available in their world-wide branch networks.
A lot more information was made available in the form of The Migrant Handbook 2005-06‚ and the Expo‚s official publication The Migrant News‚. Information was available in abundance!
To boot, there was a job fair with a recruitment agency and employment advisors on hand for the large number of job-seekers visiting the Expo. Not just education, training and health, there was a business show and a cultural fashion show as well.To know the historic event of the country to which they have migrated, there was the ŒTreaty of Waitangi Information Programme‚, put by the State Service Commission, one among the Government Departments which did not let go the opportunity to showcase their services.
Other government agencies which had put up their best comprised the office of Ethnic Affairs, Ministry of Education, Department of Labour, Inland Revenue, Auckland Regional Migrant Resource Services, Auckland District Health Board, New Zealand Fire Service, Tertiary Education Commission, and Auckland City Council. As elections are round the corner and not to miss the franchise, there was the Electoral Enrolment Centre.
The gamut of information and services available was amazing: Jobs, career, recruitment, settlement, immigration, education, business opportunities, banking, insurance, internet, mobile phones, phone cards, road safety and more.
Training, Whitireia Community Polytechnic, MSL Training Group, Manukau Institute of Technology, Southern Institute of Technology, Auckland University of Technology (AUT), South Seas Film & TV School, and Media Design School with their offer of courses and careers, both long-term and short-term.
Health education too had a wide variety for the visitor -- from naturopathy and pranic healing, child care to mother‚s health, nursing to rehabilitation. Participants like Green Prescription, Pranic Healing, MAMA Maternity Information Services, Trans Cultural Mental Health Service, Starship Children‚s Health, Southern Cross Healthcare, South Pacific College of Natural Therapies, Well Women‚s Nursing Service, Asthma Auckland, Diabetes Projects Trust and Watersafe Auckland offering a wide variety of free counseling.
There was Western Union, which offers excellent service for sending or receiving money from abroad in matter of a few minutes, Woosh Wireless, which links the world with broadband internet, Henley-Smith Law and Wright Stell Lawyers for legal counseling, Future Plan Financial Service for all financial planning, and the Crewcut Franchise Group Ltd., to name a few.
Even VIPs did not like to miss the show. Among them was Pansy Wong, National Member of Parliament.
After reading all these you want to say three cheers to the organizers? No, don't! Just say two cheers! Keep the next cheering for the next Migrant Expo. Because they will always do better than the last!
Don't miss the next Migrant Expo. For there is every chance of you finding a job or bettering your career.