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New Zealand's First Refugees: Pahiatua's Polish Children

Tolerance, praise and encouragement

Tolerance, praise and encouragement

Miss Eising, my English teacher at the Polish Children's Camp pushed a book into my hands without even asking if I could read it. My first English book! I was surprised that I actually got the gist of it. Next she gave me A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Such confidence.

At St Dominic's College, the Sisters, instead of pitying us ("Poor little Polish girls, they don't know any English") and giving us easy work as some other schools did, constantly encouraged us to do the work that the rest of the class was doing. We cried, struggled and thought the nuns cruel, but our work improved steadily. I never dreamed of attempting any of the public examinations such as School Certificate, but again the Sisters signed me up saying: "You can do it, Stefania."

Boarders at St Dominic's College in Dunedin, 1947. The Polish girls are: Back: (l-r) Helena Chwieduk (1st), Anna Manterys (5th), Romualda Sokalska (6th), Dioniza Gradzik (7th) Irena Ćwirko-Godycka (8th), Stefania Manterys (12 th) Front: (l-r) Zofia Rombel (2nd), Krystyna Czoba (3rd)

Boarders at St Dominic's College in Dunedin, 1947. The Polish girls are:
Back: (l-r) Helena Chwieduk (1st), Anna Manterys (5th), Romualda Sokalska (6th), Dioniza Gradzik (7th) Irena Ćwirko-Godycka (8th), Stefania Manterys (12 th)
Front: (l-r) Zofia Rombel (2nd), Krystyna Czoba (3rd)

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I was fortunate to receive the same kind of encouragement and confidence in my ability at Auckland Teachers' College, and from headmasters when I began teaching. After all, they could have had their doubts about my ability to teach English when they heard my "lovely Polish accent", as my students used to put it.