November is an incredibly busy time, you have people wrapping up their contracts, leases, exams, sport seasons and so on. Last night, UHMCC also wrapped up its Community Gathering for the year! 

The purpose of these huis are simple but incredibly important. It is a means of sharing what is happening in Upper Hutt with the people of Upper Hutt and the community. In this hui, UHMCC shared some of the highlights and key events since its previous meeting in August, and what to look ahead to. 

Opening with a karakia by Vice-President Kannan Alagappan, we quickly then had the President of UHMCC explain what UHMCC has been keeping busy with: Diwali, the Multicultural Festival, Multicultural Day in Parliament and more, with a side tangent of just how good of a suburb Upper Hutt is to live in and raise children. 

We also had Head of Operations at Multicultural New Zealand, Gurtej Singh, come to speak to us and explain what was happening on a national level with the Federation of Multicultural Councils NZ - such as the importance of noho maraes providing newcomers of Aotearoa a deep and meaningful sense of belonging to a new land! 

Mike Ryan, group manager of Community Services at Upper Hutt City Council, also took the stage to talk to the rōpu (group) about the work that he does. With supporting the community in an open, friendly and accessible way at the forefront of his mind, Mike made it clear all the amazing services available to us through the Community Services branch at Upper Hutt City Council - such as the Library - which is the "living room" of the city. How neat?! 

Megan Fraser, community coordinator for Āwhina Plunket, also attended and gave us a short and sweet blurb on the significant mahi (work) that Āwhina Plunket do. With a focus on the first 1000 days of your pēpē's (baby's) life, Plunket sure has their work cut out for them - supporting not only baby but the parents! Megan explains that there has been Plunket support groups for parents popping up around the Hutt Valley, specifically a 'Newcomers Coffee Club' which has just recently started in Upper Hutt as well (check out our news & events page to find out more details about this). This is yet another wonderful resource and opportunity for newcomers to Aotearoa, which UHMCC lovingly backs. 

With a closing karakia done again by UHMCC's vice-president, we had a new visitor, Thangavel Paramasivan, do a beautiful karakia for the kai in perfect pronunciation of Te Reo Māori. Thank you Thangavel! 

It was an absolutely charming night and UHMCC thanks all of those who attended. It was the smiles, the connections and the beauty of community and diversity which reminds us of why Aotearoa is so neat! 

See you for the next Community Gathering, next year - so keep your eyes peeled! 

Look at these beautiful people!