Language line helps ethnic communities cope

There will be no language barriers for people wanting to access information following the Christchurch earthquake with the emergency lines now connected to Language Line, Ethnic Affairs Minister Pansy Wong said.

She said Language Line was a service which had professional interpreters in 40 different languages.

Mrs Wong says there are three numbers people can ring. They are:

• Government Help Line 0800 779 997 for issues involving any Government department including those around Work and Income and Child, Youth and Family, and

• The Christchurch City Council public information helpline 03 941 8999 or 03 941 7373. Language Line was made available on these numbers following the earthquake for any enquiries.

Mrs Wong travelled to Christchurch on Sunday with National MPs Nicky Wagner and Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi to reassure the communities and to ensure they knew how to access help.

“I was amazed by the strength and community spirit emanating from Christchurch’s ethnic communities after Saturday’s earthquake with many reaching out to help those living far from their families.’’

Mrs Wong said some of the communities’ churches had been damaged in the 7.1 earthquake. The Coptic Church had suffered such severe damage it had to transfer its Sunday services to the Mary Potter Centre and was very grateful to the Centre for making that possible.

Importantly, the Deans Avenue Mosque was providing support for international students who were far from home and coping with the disaster without their traditional support bases, she said.

‘’It has been a traumatic time for all in Christchurch and the stress and uncertainty is continuing. That is made worse for some in our ethnic communities who have a language barrier.

‘’I encourage those with little or no English to use the emergency telephone help lines that have been set up in the aftermath of the earthquake.

‘”People have been calling for advice on what to do about damage to their homes, to ask if it is safe to travel and people outside Christchurch are ringing to check on families and friends.

“As people get past the initial shock, they will require information on income support, housing options, health issues, community assistance, clean up and how to contact any other services that people may need. All that information is available on the emergency lines.’’

Mrs Wong said there had been some stories of great kindness coming from Christchurch’s ethic communities.

“The Singh family are the owner/operators of the Wairakei Supervalue. They told me the family rushed to their shop in their night clothes to find neighbours and staff had turned up to help clear up the broken bottles and stock.

“In turn, they opened up to provide water and essential supplies to the people.

“I was also moved by the Korean Presbyterian Church congregation who were singing heartily to express their thankfulness that no life was lost, and the Chinese Methodist congregations who turned out in great numbers to support the community despite their newly acquired church being severely damaged,” Mrs Wong said.

ENDS

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