The Refugee Orientation Centre Trust

Our motto “For Refugees, By Refugees” was a call for action by our founders who came from the Democratic Republic of Congo and found safety in New Zealand, only to experience the difficulties of navigating a new and foreign land as refugees. Hence, ROC was founded, to help those facing similar difficulties.

ROC has become a strong pillar of support to the refugees from countries as diverse and scattered as D. R. Congo, Afghanistan, Colombia, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria and Rwanda. The ROC family includes over 80 volunteers, who support us in running practical programs for children, youth, and adults.

The team at ROC has been successful in encouraging a culture of acceptance, love, and growth. We work towards achieving the goal of self-sufficiency and helping former refugees to become independent in New Zealand, and to assert themselves as assets of their new country.

In recent years, we have witnessed growing gaps between communities. It is ROC’s belief that self-sufficiency is not an end in itself, rather the penultimate stop on the way to the much more important goal of ‘integration’.