[Postponed to June or July]

Unfortunately, due to work pressures, Rainbow Path is postponing these sessions until June or July. We will be updating the details of the new dates before Easter.

Rainbow Path is a peer support and advocacy organisation led by and for Rainbow asylum seekers and refugees living in Aotearoa. We are organising 2x online information sessions and 2x in-person volunteer workshops for the Rainbow community and allies to build wider awareness about and support for Rainbow asylum seekers and refugees living in Aotearoa.

Please read and complete this form if you want to join the information sessions and/ or workshops, or to hear about future sessions. 

Rainbow asylum seekers and refugees often arrive in Aotearoa on our own and face severe social isolation. For some people, this may be the first time we learn to speak English, feel safe to explore our identities, or come out. Trans asylum seekers and refugees often don’t have an ID with our correct name and gender marker that matches our appearance, which makes our everyday life difficult. We struggle to navigate WINZ and healthcare or to find safe housing, especially when we first arrive here. It can make a huge difference to our journey if other members of Rainbow communities, or other allies with specific skills, support us.

The 2x online information sessions

• will be on Tuesday 1 April and Wednesday 9 April from 6.30-8.30pm 
• will be available to people living anywhere in Aotearoa
• focus on information about being a Rainbow refugee or asylum seeker in Aotearoa
• will have different contents and build on each other

These online information sessions will cover topics such as: 

• What it means to be an asylum seeker, a quota refugee, or a convention refugee
• The challenges rainbow people in each of these groups face before coming to Aotearoa
• Our rights, needs, and challenges once we arrive in Aotearoa
• Rainbow Path’s advocacy to improve the rights of Rainbow asylum seekers and refugees in Aotearoa and how you can support this work and
• How Rainbow Path responds to information requests from rainbow people overseas about seeking asylum.

The 2x in-person volunteer training workshops:

• will be in Tāmaki Makaurau in the central city on Saturday 5 April and Sunday 13 April from 10am – 3pm 
• focus on empowering ways to support Rainbow asylum seekers and refugees, especially those just starting their journey here in Aotearoa
• free lunch and snacks will be provided

If you want to be come a Rainbow Path volunteer, you need to attend both 2 information sessions AND 2 in-person volunteer training workshops. 

Below are examples of some tasks a volunteer might do. The workshops will cover the initial information required for this role. Volunteers will be mentored and asterisked tasks (*) would be done with an experienced Rainbow Path member.

• Safely showing people around Tāmaki Makaurau or going with them to Rainbow community events 

• Helping someone to explore gender affirming makeup, clothing or hairstyles
• Accompanying people to get an IRD tax number*
• Helping people through the steps of accessing Work and Income support*
• Helping someone enrol with a Rainbow-friendly GP 
• Going with them to the GP or Auckland Sexual Health clinic
• Being a buddy who checks in with someone at important times (e.g. after an immigration interview or decision about their refugee application)
• Helping with transportation (e.g. when people shift flats) 
• Help people to look for a Rainbow-friendly flat
• Help people apply for jobs (e.g. when trans people’s documents don’t match their appearance)
• Informally interpreting at community events.  

We will also be at Big Gay Out this Sunday 16 Feb. Come visit our stall if you want to know more about these sessions and workshops, sign up in person, donate to our emergency relief fund, or just have a chat!