World Refugee Day
Thursday, 18th June 2026 at 1:59pm
CELEBRATING CULTURAL DIVERSITY:
Former refugee students at GBHS set up a pop-up Refugee Day Cafe at lunchtime on Wednesday, 18 June, to celebrate Refugee Day 2026.
A number of our former refugee students from Afghanistan, Iran, Colombia, and Syria served Persian tea, Syrian coffee, Sri Lankan tea, and Colombian coffee with light refreshments.
Our guests included staff, members of the Cultural Council, and external guests.
It was great seeing everyone interacting, trying something different, but most of all, being part of the GBHS whānau!
World Refugee Day is celebrated annually on June 20 to honour the courage and resilience of people forced to flee their home countries due to conflict, violence, or persecution. It is dedicated to raising global awareness of the plight of refugees and advocating for their rights and well-being. The theme for this year’s Refugee Day is ‘Until Everyone is Safe’. Our former refugees have told us that they feel very safe here at GBHS, so thank you for all you do to create that 'safe feeling' for them.
A big thank you to the following people for making our pop-up cafe a success: thank you to Klara (Y12) for supporting our Syrian students, thank you to Matua Adel for the fabulous idea, thank you to Matua Adel & Ms Tankard for their hard work behind the scenes, and most importantly, thank you to all our former refugee students for sharing your cultures with us.
