New Kiwi family’s first Christmas in Levin

It’s been five long years since Wisthon Suarez Quintero, Nelvet Mogollan Arcaya, their son Anthony and daughter Valeria left their home in Maracay, Venezuela, to finally find a safe place – Taitoko | Levin.

They arrived in August and this will be their first Christmas in their new community.

New Zealand Red Cross refugee settlement team in Levin are supporting them to feel at home, including settlement caseworker, Lesly Villa Higuita and a small team of dedicated refugee support volunteers.

Adopting different traditions

While everything is new and different, the family are all learning English, and with help from volunteers they are beginning to start again in their community. They are also busy planning their festivities. They share many similar traditions with New Zealand and also bring their own from both Venezuela and Colombia.

“It’s a very important time for all the family emotionally – and is mainly focused on children,” says mum, Nelvet.

Like many households who celebrate Christmas, they are decorating a tree and buying gifts for their children – which they’ll hide until 25 December. “As we lived in Colombia for several years, we have adopted some of those traditions too.

“On Dec 7 at sunset, the family will light candles to celebrate Día de las Velitas or Day of Candles – ‘to welcome Mary into our home’. We play ‘gaita’ music and sing songs celebrating the start of festivities,” says Wisthon.

Gaita is traditional folk music and dance from Maracaibo, northwestern Venezuela and dates back to the 1800s. It mixes African, Indigenous and Spanish rhythms.

“We love Christmas.” Nelvet describes their traditions, “On 21 Dec, we usually swap gifts with friends and family remembering the spirit of the season. We put up the ‘pesebre’ or nativity scene and on 24 December the children write a letter to baby Jesus”.

On Christmas eve Valeria and Anthony will be allowed to stay up late – past midnight. "We make ‘hallacas’ - a corn wrap with pork, chicken and beef and vegetables and a Russian salad. I miss our food a lot, but I also want to try the pavlova,” says Nelvet.

Courage to start again

It takes time to adjust to a new culture – and to start again. In Venezuela, both parents had careers before they had to leave. Wisthon was a high school teacher and Nelvet, an administrator at the same school. "I didn’t know we had courage until we were in Colombia. We arrived with nothing and had no support. We learnt to sew and we made clothes to survive. We are safe here,” says Wisthon.

Iwi and Red Cross welcome and support to settle

The local Red Cross settlement team supports the whole family to feel welcome in Levin.  Lesly, who was also a former refugee from Colombia, and local volunteers Pearl and Linda help the family to orientate themselves – such as attending school and medical appointments. “One of the things that  makes it easier is the friendship they give us – and we’ve been very welcomed by Māori too,” says Nelvet.

Muaūpoko iwi welcomes former refugees to Horowhenua, including performing a blessing at every newly arrived families’ home.

The family – used to the hustle and bustle of large cities – find Levin quiet comparatively, but they’re happy to be in their new home. Nelvet and Wisthon are already using the sewing skills they learned in Colombia to alter clothes for other people in the community with donated sewing machines.

This Christmas, Wisthon, Nelvet, Anthony and Valeria are over 12,500 kilometres away from family and friends, but their mobiles will be busy as they stay in touch with loved ones. Wisthon is looking forward to celebrating New Year and has expectations for 2025.

Looking ahead to 2025

“At midnight on 31 December, I’ll eat 12 grapes – one for each month of 2025 and make a wish for each. I won’t tell you what they’ll be as I want them to come true – but we’re thinking positively and hope the children settle well. I’ll also put some lentils in my pocket – a tradition which means we’ll have abundance and cash,” says Wisthon with a grin.

As with New Zealand and Venezuelan traditions, there’ll be hugs at midnight and dancing as they welcome in 2025. Traditionally, the family would gather at the grandparents’ house on New Year’s Day. This year, the family may catch up with other former refugees they met when they first arrived at Te Āhuru Mōwai o Aotearoa – Māngere Refugee Resettlement Centre and who’ve also settled in Levin.

Anthony, 17 and Valeria 11, have already enrolled at their schools and are taking extra English lessons to end 2024. They too have plans for the future. “I like cooking, I want to be a chef,” says Anthony. Valeria chips in, "I really like to sing, and I’d like to be a doctor”.

Lesly’s fluency in Spanish and English and her own settlement experiences, helps the family find their feet. She has just finished her degree in Aviation Management at Massey University.  “I am now on the other side and understand the difficulties. I try to make it easier for them than my own experience. The language barrier is the main thing to overcome because you can’t integrate when you don’t have the language; you can’t express yourself," she says.

Lesly also encourages anyone in the community who has a few hours to spare each week to volunteer with Red Cross in Levin. “You can never regret helping another person and help them to grow in another culture. It’s really fun, a different kind of fun, with no two days the same.”

More information

For interviews, please contact New Zealand Red Cross:

• email media.comms@redcross.org.nz
• or call the media phone on 04 495 0139.

Settlement and employment support services

Learn about our services supporting former refugees

Volunteer opportunities

If you would like to volunteer to help former refugees settle in Levin, please go to:

• Become a refugee support volunteer
• or contact the Call Centre on 0800 RED CROSS (0800 733 27677).

Lead photo: Left-to-right – Wisthon, Valeria, Nelvet and Anthony.