Seed the Change | He Kākano Hāpai is nurturing Action the Compassion, a youth-led leadership and wellbeing programme that promotes peace and compassion. Borne out of Mahia te Aroha’s Spread Peace workstream, Action the Compassion seeks to empower young people to become leaders who will activate and drive a shift in society where peace and compassion are integral to the way people live and work. We recently sat down with Bonnie Tang, Hillmorton High School Y12 student and Action the Compassion hui co-designer, to learn about her experiences of emigrating to New Zealand from Taiwan and how these hui have helped her gain a greater sense of belonging and identity in Aotearoa.

“When I first arrived in New Zealand in 2021, I remember thinking that Christchurch is quiet and natural,” Bonnie says. “Previously, I lived in a very busy city, New Taipei City. I thought maybe New Zealand would be a good place for me.”  

Bonnie initially struggled to adjust and find her place in school, with language and culture barriers playing a part in her experience of Year 9 at Hillmorton High School. “In Taiwan, the year groups are all friends because the seats in class are not like a group, more like a rice field [individually spaced]; this encourages people gather together. In my country there are normally a lot of group projects to do, making communication more necessary and convenient, whereas in New Zealand, there tend to be smaller groups of friends. My English was based on what I learned in a foreign language school, not in real speaking environments, so I was scared to say a sentence wrong, use the wrong grammar or the wrong tense, and people might think I was weird, for not speaking anything, like an idiot. In my opinion, to adapt and succeed in New Zealand school, you have to make friends, but I was afraid to speak that first year. I also found that a lot of people here expect you to approach them first, which is not my personality, so I found myself falling into a bit of a negative loop.” Bonnie also struggled in class where she says she was too passive to get noticed by teachers. “They wanted me to adapt so quickly, but I found that if you’re not very dominant in class, you can’t always get support, even if you reach out and ask for it.”

It was the third month, Bonnie made a concerted effort to change her approach to connecting with her fellow students. “We had a three-day camping trip where everyone spoke only English and I spent much of it just watching from the side. I felt upset but I couldn't change anything because I didn't have enough ability to change it, and when I got back to school, I decided I had to try harder and start more conversations. I also decided to try and use my maths skills to help people and make friends because I wanted to create something they would be interested in, so they could start having conversations with me. Over time, it attracted a small group of people.”

In June of 2022, Bonnie - then in Year 10 - saw a notice at school about the first Action for Compassion hui. “I saw it as another opportunity to help people while also preparing for my Y12-Y13 scholarship applications. As I got involved in those first hui co-design conversations, I was still a bit quiet because I knew there were older students there who might have more experience and opinions, but I liked the opportunity to absorb their knowledge and contribute as much as I could. We worked with St Andrews College to co-design the hui around our shared value of Tūrangawaewae (belonging and connection), and I felt really proud to be a part of that.”

In June of 2022, Bonnie - then in Year 10 - saw a notice at school about the first Action for Compassion hui. “I saw it as another opportunity to help people while also preparing for my Y12-Y13 scholarship applications. As I got involved in those first hui co-design conversations, I was still a bit quiet because I knew there were older students there who might have more experience and opinions, but I liked the opportunity to absorb their knowledge and contribute as much as I could. We worked with St Andrews College to co-design the hui around our shared value of Tūrangawaewae (belonging and connection), and I felt really proud to be a part of that.”

That first event attracted over 50 students from across the Canterbury region and featured three youth speakers who shared experiences around belonging, followed by connection games and exercises on peace and compassion. The day’s events centred on the theme of I, We, Community. “I was impressed by the speakers and the way their speech, gestures and attitude helped them communicate powerfully.” Little did Bonnie realise that she would be taking on the MC role herself in two years’ time.

The youth-led hui have been held each year, growing in 2024 with a series of hui, the most recent of which was smaller but more successful, Bonnie says. “We learned a lot from the first and second hui this year. The last one was more focused with more interaction and contact with the speakers. We prioritised quality over quantity.” In her new role as MC for the most recent hui, Bonnie spoke about her experiences of being an immigrant in high school, including some of the experiences and stereotypes she has faced while adjusting to life in New Zealand.

A key element for Action the Compassion is for the programme to be led by youth voices. A co-design team of rangatahi from an intentional range of schools come together with their diversity of experiences and are given agency to design the hui for their peers. In her role with the co-design team, Bonnie says she has found her voice. “The team is working well together and incorporating everyone’s thoughts. I have contributed more insights and have become more extroverted over the last two years, which has helped me to find my place in New Zealand. The external approval of this group has made me feel a sense of belonging and increased my confidence in other areas of school and life. I know I belong with my family, my friends, and my community, and I want to use my race and my experience to help others. 

“I’ve gained a stronger sense of identity. Being from Taiwan is something I’m really proud of because I can use my cultural knowledge to help other people who have just arrived here and make sure they don’t feel isolated the way that I did. I’ve also reflected a lot on peace and forgiveness, which has helped me to prevent over-thinking and better consider others’ perspectives. Over the last few years, I have adapted to my environment and become more confident, which has helped me to do better both academically and socially.”

As Bonnie prepares to enter Year 13, she is looking forward to being involved with the next Action the Compassion hui in 2025. “I would like to see us continue to sharpen our focus with more interesting ideas from the co-designers. Because of the kind of work we do, we never know what is going to happen, but I hope I can continue to learn from my co-designers and provide more interesting thoughts and actions. I’ve learned that you have to trust your potential; don’t doubt yourself. That’s what I taught myself back in Year 9.  If you don’t believe in yourself, no one will.”

To learn more about Action the Compassion, visit: https://www.seedthechange.nz/action-the-compassion.