Temple visit Shirley Road

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Temple Visit - Shirley Road, Papatoetoe
Well here we are again a Sunday morning in Papatoetoe going to visit another of the temples at least this week the day has dawned nice and sunny!!! We are right opposite the Train Station and it does seem to be a very busy day for them; maybe because people are heading into town to have a free ride on the new Electric Train and others are heading to Pukekohe Raceway for the V8 car racing
This week I have arranged for some other Patrollers to take our car and get everything set up.

Alex Jamieson, Richard McKinnell, Linda Minnear
At first the day is very quiet but once again we are invited in for morning tea. The children mob us and the police; Constable Melissa AUIMATAGI is a magnet, and she even starts recruiting the children to help pass out information when the adults come out from prayers. The children even explain to us the meanings of their surnames, so it shows we are never too old to learn (Kaur is female and is Princess and Singh is male for Lion). We know all about their schools and friends (one telling us he has lots of Kiwi school mates) young girl even invites us all home to her house. They very proudly tell us that when they are outside during school breaks they often do see our Crime Car as it goes past the school (note to all patrollers a toot to them would be a nice touch). Constable Lavleen Kaur is not with the Team today but she arrives in her Indian dress and we discover it is her 21^st birthday, and she tells us she has only part of the day off as she is back on duty in the evening – (she blames Acting Inspector Glossop for not arranging the Roster better – he laughs, calling her by the nickname he has for her of ‘Gadget’ – this is because she is short).
Constable Melissa AUIMATAGI with her new best friends - she is part of the NPT from Mangere East and of Samoan heritage and really enjoyed her day interacting with the children, breaking down barriers so they understand that the police and the patrollers are their friends

Patroller Flora Butcher was kept extremely busy giving out stickers; she would love to take all the children home with her as they are so polite and respectful; YES all children love stickers – as you can see by the photo some plaster them all over themselves.
Some want to talk to us about what we do in the Community and have a look at the Police and Crime Car. I really think if we offered rides they would love that as well.

Once again we have several of our Patrol members visit the Temple with us. Patrollers - Hari Singh in left photo and Nirmal Bhatti in the right with members of the police Team - Acting Inspector David Glossop, Patroller Nirmal Bhatti, Constable Jag Singh and Constable Mandeep Kaur
We and the Police have been so grateful to these members of our Patrol who have come along and attended these Temple visits to assist us as they can also speak to the Temple members in their own tongue. Which is a great help to us all.

When prayers are over like the other Sundays we get very busy with members coming to get information (thank goodness this is in Punjabi and English); but in saying that the children tell us they can explain to the parents and grandparents what is on the pamphlets.
We get more names of people who wish to hopefully get involved with the Patrol – more interestingly we get our first female Indian Recruit and she is so pleased to be able to tell David Glossop she has put her name down – we can only hope that they all follow through with the applications

Acting Inspector David Glossop also relishes the fact that he can also spend time talking to our members about things in general (like what car he wants to buy – should he grow up or still be a ‘boy’ racer. These people are human and some ‘Down-time’ whilst still working is appreciated.
Once again we are asked to have lunch with the Temple members; one thing we never leave with empty stomachs – in fact David Glossop has said we will all have to go on diets after these visits are over !!
Our next Temple is not until Tuesday 6^th May and it is at 5:30pm and Acting Inspector David Glossop says it is a small one and may only be a couple of hours as opposed to the 5-6 hours we have been doing. I already have people telling me they are coming along – word has spread about these visit and some of the fun (yes it is not all work) we have had with the Temple members and the Police Team.