One In Five for Sunday 26 July 2009

New Zealand is one of the few countries to allow disabled refugees, or refugees with disabled family members to take up residency here. Over time, that's meant a growing number of refugees who need disability support, things like specialist medical advice, or housing and car modifications. Until recently, that's been left for mainstream services to pick up, often without the expert knowledge that's required. But over the last couple of years the northern region of CCS Disability Action has taken up the slack by employing someone dedicated to working with new migrants, including those with a refugee background.

When Hinewehi Mohi's daughter Hineraukatauri was born with cerebral palsy, the singer/songwriter and her husband George spent time at London's Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy Centre. Hinewehi Mohi was impressed with the way that therapy through music gave her daughter the ability to participate in and control an activity. She was inspired to get the same kind of service going here - not just for her own daughter, but for the benefit of many more disabled children.