Polish Community Celebration–29 April 2023

The third of May is Constitution Day in Poland which commemorates Polish Independence.  This year is also the 50^th anniversary of the establishment of Polish-New Zealand diplomatic relations, and we were very happy when the Polish community decided to celebrate these events at CUE Haven. 

Honorary Consul Boguslaw Nowak organised the day which was also a celebration of Polonia Day which is dedicated to Polish people living overseas.  CUE Haven trustees and advisors were on hand to welcome the guests who included members of the Polish community in Auckland and Ambassador Grzegorz Kowal who came from Wellington. 

Also in attendance were Liam Finnigan from the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade, representatives from the Auckland Consular Corps, Rodney Local Board, NZ Institute of International Affairs, the World Affairs Forum, the New Zealand Europe Business Council Inc, the Polish Heritage Trust Museum, leaders of the Polish community organizations from Auckland, Bay of Islands, Tauranga, Wellington and Christchurch.  Descendants of the Children of Pahiatua were also amongst the Polish community members present.

Kate Turska, co-founder and spokesperson of the Auckland-based Mahi For Ukraine, and Olga Vorobey from the Ukrainian Gromada of Wellington also attended the event.

As guests arrived, they spent some time socializing over morning tea.

Boguslaw opened the session by welcoming everyone and introducing the special guests.

Thomas then gave a welcome and introduced the CUE Haven trustees and advisors.

The Polish ambassador, Grzegorz Kowal welcomed everyone and spoke about the Polish diaspora and Poland’s role in Europe and the Pacific, and Poland’s relationship and friendship with Aotearoa- New Zealand.

Liam Finnigan of the NZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade also addressed the group and acknowledged the close relations between Aotearoa-New Zealand and Poland.

Kate Turska, co-founder of Mahi for Ukraine then spoke about her organisation and its work and acknowledged Poland’s support for Ukraine and also the support provided by New Zealanders.

The group then took a short walk to Wahi Mautauranga where they planted two pukatea (Laurelia novae-zelandiae).  One to celebrate the relationship between Poland and New Zealand was planted by Ambassador Kowal and Liam Finnigan.

A tree to celebrate Mahi for Ukraine was planted by Kate Turska and Olga Vorobey.

Once the trees were planted, the group returned to the cottage to enjoy celebratory refreshments.

The Polish delegation presented CUE Haven with a certificate of appreciation for achievements in the field of nature restoration and preservation, and having hosted Polish community events for the past three years. We value our friendship with the Polish community and look forward to having them out to CUE Haven for more of community events.

After lunch, a small intrepid group hiked up to Te Rite o Taranaki to enjoy the view.

It was a great celebration and a wonderful event and this is what we had always hoped CUE Haven would be – a space for people from different communities to come together.