In this fourth episode of a series exploring what it means to be second or third-generation Italian in New Zealand, Carla Rotondo talks to Yolanda Persico. Yolanda grew up in Nelson in The Wood, a neighbourhood densely populated by the Italians. Most Italians arrived in Nelson by chain migration from Massalubrense, including her paternal grandfather Giacomo, who became a naturalised citizen and returned to Italy to marry Yolanda's grandmother. Yolanda’s mother emigrated as a girl with her Gaggiullo family; they also settled in The Wood and worked, like most of the Italian community, in the tomato growing production. She is telling the stories of the Italian families she grew up with in The Wood, a very close-knit community of people’s homes and glass houses. Yolanda has contributed to the book ”Pasta, Prayer & Promise” the ultimate book about the Italians immigrants in Nelson. Stories from the 1950's and during World War II, when Italy was an enemy to the Allied Forces and some Italians were classified as enemy aliens and interned on Somes Island in the Wellington Harbour.

Per il supporto alla realizzazione di questo programma Ondazzurra ringrazia l’Ambasciata d’Italia a Wellington, https://ambwellington.esteri.it/en/ che promuove la lingua e cultura italiana in Nuova Zelanda, e il Ministry for Ethnic Communities che promuove la diversità ed inclusione in Aotearoa. https://www.ethniccommunities.govt.nz/