DISHA NZ is a newly established community organisation started in April 2022 with an aim to support and cater to diverse communities through various educational and informational programmes and services.
DISHA NZ Charitable Trust is a non-profit charity organisation which is supported by New Zealand’s oldest purpose-built Hindu temple, Bharatiya Mandir. DISHA NZ currently runs day programmes every Wednesday. The team of dedicated volunteers running these programmes include Vicky Goel, Priya Ramrakhiani, Anju Chadha and Neelu Ghai apart from few senior volunteer members. Abhilasha Jagwani is one of the trustees and the treasurer for DISHA NZ
Well known Indian businessman, community leader and philanthropist Roshan Nauhria is the patron of DISHA NZ Charitable Trust and popular community leader, and social worker Jyoti Parashar is the Chairperson.
Approx. 100 to 120 people attend the Wednesday day programmes which consist of exercise, games, entertainment, quizzes, and educational sessions for providing holistic wellbeing to the participants. Pure Indian vegetarian meal is served at the end of each programme which is prepared by the volunteers. Weekly exercise sessions are held by the fitness expert and physiotherapist, Shouvik Nandy, from Prana Physiotherapy.
Information and education sessions are organised regularly on various health and welfare topics by the professionals and experts on Dementia, ENT, Health and Advocacy services, Elder Abuse Awareness etc, NZ Police, Work & Income, etc.
Speaking to The Indian News, DISHA NZ’s Secretary, Ms Ramrakhiani, said that Bharatiya Mandir is now a major community hub for the people of South Asian community. She mentioned the DISHA admin team has been involved in community work for many years with the intention to give back to the community and make a difference in people’s lives. The past couple of years were challenging for many people due to Covid restrictions and we were helping people of all age groups to cope with the situation by regularly contacting them over the phone and connecting them with professional agencies to get support. Due to popular demand, we started weekly day programs from April 2022 to provide seniors a platform to socialise, celebrate and get the necessary support. Seniors love meeting with people of their age group and enjoy programmes every week.
DISHA NZ has helped seniors by organising camps to get the services they need with the support of other professional agencies. Flu and Covid vaccines camps were organised with the help of Muskaan Care Trust, TM card for the eligible seniors with the support of CCS Disability action, life certificate attestation by the Indian Consulate, among other services. Sessions to educate participants on local board election process and importance of voting were organised by inviting the local board candidates from different areas.
Christmas was celebrated on Wednesday, 14th December with lot of joy and fervour which was enjoyed by the seniors reminiscing of their childhood days. Navin Goel played Santa Claus for the seniors, and seniors mobbed him to get their share of goodies. Many seniors were dressed in Christmas themed clothes and enjoyed programme by dancing and singing Christmas carols. DISHA NZ is aiming to expand its horizon in coming time to help more age groups in future. For any further information please contact them on -dishanewzealand@gmail.com
-TIN Bureau