Waikato Hispano Latino||Home

About us

Board

Pepa Torre

Chair

Spanish. Arrived in New Zealand in 2007. Entrepreneur, director, and administrator of PTS Foto Fun since...

vision

Connecting our communities and our cultural diversity

history

The Waikato Hispano Latino Cultural Charitable Trust (WHL) is a not-for-profit organization with the purpose of connecting people of Hispanic roots as well as anyone else who is interested in our cultures. We are a group of passionate volunteers that promote and maintain our language and traditions. Our values are respect, integrity, empathy, trust, and cultural awareness. WHL registered as a Charitable Trust in 2015,

Our Stories

Since 2018 – 2021 TBC. Our stories is what stays after we go. We believe it is important to preserve the idea of us in different formats and media in order to share our roots with the world. Stories draw a map of similarities versus differences that make us think and understand concepts and contexts and help set our ideas straight and connect with each other in a higher level of understanding. “Adding Value to New Zealand” is a video production from 2018. We interviewed several people from our community from different countries and backgrounds but with the common ground of having ended up in the Waikato region and how things worked out for each one of them. There are some studies of ideas that seem to happen more often than not in people that come from Latin or Hispanic countries. Radio program “Quienes somos?” from Free FM (89.0 in NZ) –TBC (under development)

Film Festival

Since 2014 – 2021 TBC. The Latin America & Spain Film Festival (LASFF) is a cultural event dedicated to contemporary cinematographic productions from Latin America and Spain. It is a non-profit event, and aims to gather together people from Latin American, Spanish, and other communities, before the big screen. The Embassies in NZ, in collaboration with The University of Waikato, and the Waikato Hispano Latino, has hosted in Hamilton the 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th Latin American Film Festivals, from 2013 to 2019. The festival has been shown in over ten cities each year celebrating Latin American Films (with subtitles) and is free to the public. Over 270 people attended events in in the editions of 2018 and 2019 Each year, one of the Embassies in NZ is designated the primary host and the Ambassador is invited to attend opening nights in the regions. The opening night features food and music from the host country, short remarks from the Ambassador and University Representative, and features a film from the hosting country.

Spanish Classes

Since 2014 – 2021 TBC. Kids groups to be confirmed, times vary from 3.30pm to 5.30pm. Designed for kids of Spanish speaking parent/s but we welcome other children from parents interested in our language and cultures. Adult classes to be confirmed, we accept expressions of interest. Get in touch for more information. OWN PAGE when click Spanish classes for Children This program was started in 2014 as we felt we needed a continuation to the playgroup Manitas. We strongly believe that raising bilingual/multilingual children takes advantage of that critical time in development when learning a language comes naturally and easily. It has been proved that by extending language skills, we help young people to become well-adjusted global citizens of the 21st century Our Children’s Spanish Language and Culture Classes were set up to teach language and culture to New Zealand born children who have one or both parents originating from a Spanish speaking country. Such children may be somewhat familiar with their parents’ culture through their home life, but may have no way of extending this knowledge. The program focus is to provide an opportunity to further build knowledge and language skills. Our aim is, through this teaching, to help deepen these children’s sense of attachment and belonging to the Spanish/Hispanic community. We also welcome children from any other community who would like to learn Spanish. Our classes are divided in two age groups: Children from 5 to 9 years old. The objectives of this program are to introduce the Spanish alphabet and help children to begin to read and write in a playful way. They will interact with each other, use the media of drawing and song, and practice listening and speech. Children from 10 to 13. In this programme children will continue to develop the four skills, listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Activity will be dynamic and playful, with lexicon sections, visual grammar, and phonetics. New concepts will be introduced and incorporated. Please contact us if you are interested in taking advantage of this program for your children.
Email
021024232246

Hispanic Garden

New project from 2020 – already gardening but project idea under development. For more information please do not hesitate to contact us on:
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Manitas Spanish Playgroup

Since 2011 – ongoing. For children aged 0 to 5 years old and their families. All families welcome. Location: Western Community Centre, Building 2, 108 Grandview road, Nawton, Hamilton A place where preschool children learn the Spanish language and the Hispanic culture through music, food, friends and family. Run by volunteer mums with a passion to pass on their language and traditions. Manitas is a free playgroup funded by WHL and the Ministry of Education.

Dancing Workshops

Since 2016 – ongoing. Running: Flamenco and Mexican dances for kids and adults. Practices on Saturdays at Fairfield Hall. Free. All ages welcome We have had people from Spain, Mexico, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, New Zealand, China, Thailand, Japan, Morocco, India and Germany. We have performed in festivals and private functions all over Hamilton, representing WHL. It started as a group of friends in someone´s house but the group soon provided us with a better venue and help with costumes for our performances.

Mentoring Program

Project under development.
For more information about this project please do not hesitate to contact us on:
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Call us

Sports

Since 2005 – 2013. Stay tuned for 2021. Football (soccer) and Voleyball. In 2005 the “Union Latina” football team was born. WHL helped providing guidance, coaching and uniforms and other accessories. Soon after they became the Aguilas. They took part in tournaments like the Ethnic Soccer Tournament or the Sunday League. A Volleyball team was also created and it shared the name with the first soccer team “Union Latina” and they also participated in the yearly ethnic tournaments. WHL is putting serous thought in the possibility of bringing back Football to our people in the Waikato. Contact us if you are interested in being a part of this.

Social Gatherings

Since 1979 – ongoing. Flying Burrito Brothers runs every last Sunday of every month. There have always been social gatherings. Finding an excuse and events and meeting up is a good part of who we are. Connections within our community and us with other communities is the purpose of WHL. Festivals, children´s parties, women´s parties, Christmas parties and other one-off events existed from the beginning. Our most notorious yearly event is the Spring Festival that takes place every September (Covid-permitting). You can see more in our History section. Our gathering at Flying Burrito Brothers started on July 2020. We invite our members to come and mingle, with music in Spanish and delicious Mexican food and drinks for a 10% discount of the bill´s price. This event is for families or people on their own, everybody welcome. From 6pm to 9pm. Flying Burrito . Keep an eye on our Facebook page and our Newsletter for specific gatherings throughout the year.