Celebration

Following a successful Hindi Language Day in 2011, the community
realised that there was enthusiasm to extend this to a week-long
event. The first Hindi Language Week was held in 2012. The path to
establishing a language week was long and took a lot of work and
collaboration. Mr Dutt says it took more than a decade to get the Hindi
Language Week to its current state. Mr Dutt reminds others working
with their heritage or community language “to take one step at a
time” when it comes to organising a language celebration.
Dates for Hindi Language Week are fixed and held to coincide with the
World Hindi Day celebration on 14 September each year.
Collaboration and the wider community
The trust works with other organisations such as Teach Hindi NZ, to
organise free public events and resources as part of Hindi Language
Week. The week consists of cultural and school-related events,
language workshops and speech competitions. Online video and audio
resources featuring local celebrities are promoted to ensure the
language week has a wide reach across New Zealand, as well as
creating resources that can be used in future.
To promote the use and status of Hindi in wider New Zealand, the
community works hard to ensure that events are inclusive. “Our
programme for the Hindi Language Week provides an opportunity for
non-native Hindi speakers to also partake in the event,” Mr Dutt says.
For example, Hindi Language Week resources are also published in
other languages such as Te Reo Māori and Samoan and will be made
available in Tongan this year. This is particularly important to the Indian
community as it “allows us to recognise the special status of Te Reo
Māori in New Zealand and provides us with the opportunity to
connect Hindi speakers with speakers of Pacific and other community
languages” explains Mr Dutt.
A community effort
The process of establishing this celebration required hard work and
dedication. Mr Dutt says that although the community has spent a
substantial amount of time and effort on the development of the Hindi
Language Week, much of the success can be attributed to extensive
engagement efforts with the community, stakeholders, media and
educational institutions. Involving the community helped extend this
network and allowed the group to mobilise people and develop
“partnerships with key organisations and community leaders.” For
example, Papatoetoe High School has provided significant support and
provided a hub for the trust to work from.
Take home advice
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Good things take time – planning your language celebration
may take longer than expected but don’t give up!
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Collaborate and coordinate – link up with passionate language
advocates in your community. Perseverance is the keyword.
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Make it fun.
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