New campaign to “Bridge the Gap” between migrant youth and parents
Auckland is becoming more ethnically diverse but more needs to be done to resolve intergenerational cultural conflicts
in migrant families. Shakti is premiering short films to “Bridge the Gap” between migrant adults and young people at
6pm, Friday 29th of Januaryat Papatoetoe High School. This campaign promotes intergenerational dialogue to address
family issues related to cultural conflicts and migration.
“Young people from migrant and refugee backgrounds often struggle with feeling trapped by different expectations from
the dominant culture to their families.” says Mengzhu Fu, Shakti Youth Project Coordinator.
“On one side, the parents don’t find it easy to raise their children on the traditional way of life suitable and
appropriate to their own culture. And on the other side, young people can feel a lot of pressure or embarrassment over
the attitude of their parents or grandparents,” says Suman Ramavat, Centre Coordinator at Shakti Legal Advocacy and
Family Social Services.
This event will feature speakers from young and older generations from different cultures sharing their thoughts and
experiences. The films were written and directed by young people from migrant backgrounds. The stories reflect Chinese,
Indian and Tamil experiences but speak to some common issues across migrant and refugee communities.
Bridge the Gap encourages involvement from Asian, Middle Eastern and African adults and youth to speak to their own
communities to find healthy ways of coping with the cultural conflicts within families to prevent bullying and violence.
A multilingual website will also be launched after the premiere for further discussions and resources: bridgethegap.org.nz
ENDS