From a cat to a cheetah!

The experience and unique challenges for young refugees and migrants arriving in Aotearoa New Zealand are complex. 

Younis Ahmat Abdallah arrived in New Zealand from Chad via a Sudanese refugee camp when he was 12 years old. He had to start at a new school in a new culture in a new country without speaking any English and knowing nobody – something that any of us could find lonely and isolating. Understandably, Younis was very shy and sometimes got distracted during classroom-based learning.

When Younis was introduced to Mixit he met a range of people who were having similar experiences. That made him feel safe to express himself.

Mixit is about building strong young people who are confident, resilient and prepared for their futures. They run regular workshops offering a multicultural platform where young people from refugee, migrant, and local backgrounds come together to engage in creative projects.

During the early stages of COVID we were approached by Tim Cotton and Sam Urai – The Ideas Men. They’re Auckland-based creatives working across multiple disciplines including video production, photography and music. The pandemic had put their various paid projects on hold so they generously reached out to One Percent Collective offering to help spread the generosity vibes in any way they could.

We asked them to create some short videos telling impact stories from our partner charities in a way everyone could quickly and easily understand in the modern context of busy lives and social media with the sound turned down.

Now we’re excited for you to see the first video from The Ideas Men telling the story of Younis’s Mixit journey from being a cat to becoming a cheetah!