This article was first published in eMessenger in December 2018.
If you think you are too old to make a difference, you should think again. Consider Harry Leslie Smith who died on 28 November 2018 aged 95 years. At the age of 91 he published a bestseller – his memoir which fiercely defended the welfare state. The same year Harry was asked to address the UK Labour party conference. Harry had inadvertently become a political activist.
Harry grew up in poverty in Yorkshire and has faced many tragedies. His father was a coal miner who became unemployed after an accident. His sister died of tuberculosis aged 10 because their parents did not have access or money for healthcare. The family were too poor to afford a funeral and her body was buried in an unmarked pauper’s grave. The family moved regularly to keep ahead of rent collectors. Harry’s mother left the family for another man. Harry delivered coal, worked as a barrow boy, and at 16 years managed a grocery store.
In 1941 Harry joined the RAF and was stationed in Hamburg as part of the Allied occupation force. While there he met his German wife and shortly after they were married he was excommunicated from the Catholic Church. The couple faced prejudice in England and so moved to Canada. Harry’s wife died of cancer in 1999 and his youngest son, who struggled with schizophrenia and pulmonary fibrosis, died in 2009.
Harry started writing and he took up the cause of refugees and visited many refugee camps. He compared today’s refugees to those in he witnessed during the war. He said, “I have seen camps like the (Calais) Jungle before – at the end of the war. But back then, there was a desire among ordinary citizens and their leaders to alleviate the plight of refugees. Today is different.” Harry witnessed humanity at its best and its worst.
Harry’s activism saw him embrace social media and had over 250,000 followers on Twitter, he made podcasts, had a Facebook page with over 10,000 followers and 5,000 friends, raised funds on his GoFundMe page to travel to the refugee camps to document their stories and advocate for change. Harry campaigned against poverty, he refused to wear the remembrance poppy because he believed it was being used by politicians to justify current conflicts and he wrote about it.
Dunedin Methodist Parish works with refugees who come to Dunedin. The parish is part of the interfaith Dunedin Churches Welcome Refugees Committee which was established to help inform and recruit people to help with refugee settlement.
At a significant interfaith service in 2016 the Dunedin Methodist Parish raised a cross brought from the island of Lampedusa, a key landing point for North African refugees. In April of this year the Parish has organised and led a refugee information night at Mornington Methodist Church with over 100 people attending. At the meeting Mouhannad Taha, a Syrian refugee who came to Dunedin along with his family a few years ago, spoke about his experiences. Mouhannad, a lawyer, has recently been admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor of the NZ High Court and is working for Jenny Beck Law in Dunedin. Greg Hughson describes Mouhannad as, “A wonderful man, who through his faithfulness and character illustrates how people from other lands can bring great blessings to our community. Mouhannad has become a key person in Dunedin, assisting with the first group of former refugees from Syria settling here.”
Dunedin has welcomed nearly 500 refugees since it became a refugee resettlement location in 2016. Over this time members of the Dunedin Methodist Parish have supported these former refugees to register with doctors and dentists, and taken them to appointments; assisted with filling out forms; raised money and donated items to set up homes, and engaged in conversation so that they can practice their English. You can find out more about this ecumenical work on their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/dunedinchurcheswelcomerefugees/
At at the other end of Aotearoa, the Auckland Methodist Central Parish supports the Welcome #500 Now Refugee Campaign. This campaign in 2017 emphasises the immediate and urgent need for New Zealand to commit to take 500 refugees now and encouraged candidates in the election to declare that they would agree to welcome 500 refugees immediately, if they were elected. Four former Prime Ministers, Helen Clarke, Jeffrey Palmer, Jim Bolger, and Sir Jeffrey Palmer all supported the initiative. You can read more about the work done by this initiative on their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pg/wagepeacenz/about/?ref=page_internal
Auckland Methodist Central Parish is also an accredited living wage employer. The living wage is $20.55 per hour, $4.05 more than the minimum wage set by Government. The living wage enables workers to live with dignity and participate as active citizens in society. The living wage movement brings together community, union and faith based groups to campaign for a living wage for New Zealanders.
The parish members of the Methodist Alliance are doing so much to make Aotearoa a more just and inclusive society where everyone can flourish. Thank you.
Ngā mihi nui
Carol Barron, Methodist Alliance National Coordinator, Carol@MethodistAlliance.org.nz
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