The changing face of Auckland makes disaster preparedness a challenge.

Much of Auckland does not have English as a first language, something that has seen Auckland Council and other disaster resilience organisations adopting multi-cultural approaches.

Auckland Emergency Management community readiness advisor Mallika Krishnamurthy works in what is known as the Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) community.

“It’s a bit of a mouthful isn’t it? But it’s pretty simple, we reach out to  communities where they are, and in languages they use.”

Staffing the Papakura Community Resilience Network climate awareness pop-up session at Sir Edmund Hillary Library recently, she arrived armed with information in Tongan, Samoan, Hindi, te reo Māori and English.

“Today’s community doesn’t look anything like it once did. We are very grateful to see organisations such as the Sikh Temple in Takaanini stepping up to play a role in getting the information to its people, but also in volunteering to act as an emergency hub.”

Accompanying Mallika was her Auckland Emergency Management colleague, community planning and readiness advisor Anita Fraser.

 “Papakura is one of the most ethnically diverse areas in the Auckland region, so it’s important we reach out to all those communities so that everyone has the chance to prepare.

“Just like the temple, Papakura Marae has stepped up to offer to play a significant role in an emergency.

“It’s role in spreading the word and helping not only members of the Māori and marae community, but anyone has been invaluable.”

Auckland Emergency Management provides a variety of emergency preparedness materials inlanguages other than English, including website resources, printable PDF templates, and storybooks. 

Information and Make a Plan templates are available in English, te reo Māori, Faasamoa/Samoan, Arabic, Simplified Chinese, Tongan, Fijian, Japanese, Spanish, Hindi, Gujarati, Russian, Korean, Punjabi, Tamil, Thai, Tagalog/Filipino, and Urdu. 

Mallika saystelephone interpreters will  be available through Auckland Emergency Management during a crisis to assist non-English speakers. 

For full details and to access resources, visit the Auckland Emergency Management website.