Merge NZ is now reaching in sunny Bay of Plenty Region! Merge NZ is thrilled with our third successful celebration launch evening at Tauranga Historical Village on 22nd February 2019. Different representatives including Mayor of Tauranga, organisations and Deaf community friends were invited to the launch. Merge NZ is thankful to all guests attending the launch and we are looking forward to normalise NZSL in the Bay of Plenty region.

For the first time in history, there was a national training programme delivered in early 2018 by Deaf trainers to group of 46 NZSL mentors in 6 places (x2 Auckland, x2 Christchurch and x2 Palmerston North). A feedback received from NZSL mentors, saying that trainings were helpful for them to understand more about NZSL for Families (Unit 1 - 7) curriculum, teaching and learning resources, specifically designed for families of Deaf children aged from 6 - 12 years old. Merge NZ and team of NZSL mentors wish to acknowledge NZSL Board for financial support.

MySign is a product of Merge NZ, which launched in October 2018. This is an online NZSL learning support for anyone wanting to learn New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) from home. This online course is suitable for people living in towns/areas where there is not enough NZSL tutors available. For more information about MySign, please visit this website: https://www.mergenz.co.nz/mysign

Merge NZ services is now available Waikato Region!

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Merge NZ is pleased with our successful celebration launch evening at Hamilton Gardens during NZSL Week 2018. Different Deaf-related organisations, Deaf Community members, NZSL interpreters, teachers of the Deaf, Deputy Mayor and politicians were invited to the launch. Guest speakers were invited to deliver great speeches; Martin Gallagher (Deputy Mayor of Hamilton City Council), Hon. David Bennett a politician from National party as well stories from grassroot Deaf community members were shared. Merge NZ is thankful to all guests attending the launch and thank you to all nine sponsors for making this event a positive and memorable (the cake was beautiful and tasteful!)

Merge NZ team are very proud of our very own Victoria Lessing who was a finalist in the 2017 Attitude Award Entrepuneur Award. Victoria and her husband, Gregory with other Deaf community members went along to the awards and enjoyed seeing other inspirational people break down barriers. The North Harbour Newspaper also did a story and what Victoria has achieved.

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Victoria also did "Question Time" for Attitude TV, answering questions that people commonly wonder about being Deaf. Children and adults alike benefit from learning about Deaf Culture and what it means to be Deaf in NZ. Even in 2018 many people have not have the opportunity to meet and learn about this vibrant community. Read here for more story...

It was a pleasure to assist in organising the 3rd Deaf Expo during 'International Week of the Deaf' in Auckland in September 2017. The theme for this week was "Inclusion" so it was fitting to celebrate all our Deaf-lead business, organisations and the services out there for the community.

Well done to the committee for all your hard work! Thank you all Deaf-related organisations for your participation. Thank you to approximately 200 people who attended the Deaf Expo at Winchester Entertainment in Auckland City.

In November 2017, the Merge NZ team attended and presented at the 'Signs of Porfessionalism' Conference organised by joint organisations.  Key partners were AUT Sign Language Section, NZSL Teachers Association (NZSLTA), Sign Language Interpreters Association of NZ (SLIANZ) and Victoria University of Wellington Deaf Studies Research Unit (DSRU).  The conference was an important milestone in the NZ Deaf community in celebrating and reflecting 25 years of AUT's NZSL-English Interpreting Programme. ​The full 3 day conference at AUT in Auckland was inspiring and energising. We are so proud of the professionalism, knowledge and experience within our Deaf community.

Congratulations on 25 years anniversary of NZSL teaching and interpreting in NZ from Merge NZ!

Merge NZ was invited to give a presentation at the Rotary Club in Henderson regarding our NZSL promotions and our desire to help Deaf children to access to NZSL from an early start. We would like to thank the Rotary Club's members and supporters for their kind donation toward out new and exciting project developing a NZSL App, Storybook for Deaf children called "Baobab".

Merge NZ has the privilege of delivering professional development training around New Zealand on the NZSL for Families curriculum. We have completed round one training weekends in Palmerston North, Auckland and Christchurch. More training is planned for early 2018. This training is for fluent users of NZSL who are interested in teaching NZSL to families. Thanks to the NZSL Board for funding this project.

The NZSL for Families curriculum is designed for hearing families with a Deaf child/ren aged 6-12 years to learn NZSL together and is facilitated by two NZSL mentors..

Merge NZ has the privilege of being asked by the Office of Disability Issues and the NZSL Board to research the possibility of the need for a central NZSL Online Hub/website. This was funded by the NZSL Board and was a project to get a feel for the current online information in and about NZSL. 

Merge NZ held four community meetings and had over 240 responses to our online survey. The report has been submitted to the NZSL Board and Office of Disability Issues and this project was completed in September 2018. We look forward to more information being released to the public sometime later. Thank to all of you for completing the online survey (240 respondents filled online and 15 organisations provided their feedback).

Merge NZ team got involved in NZSL Week 2017 with a variety of projects, activities and events to promote and provide exposure of this rich and beautiful sign language.  We visited shopping mall, schools, ECE's and community centres to teach NZSL to young kiwis. 

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Merge NZ will start planning events, resources and activities to promote NZSL to schools, businesses and organisations for NZSL Week 2018. If you have any cool ideas, or want to get involved in volunteer workteam, please contact us anytime. 

In May 2017 Merge attended the Great ECE Expo in Auckland to promote our services. We enjoyed the opportunity to meet members of the public keen to learn NZSL. It was wonderful to see several families of Deaf children enjoying our NZSL stories with lots of facial expressions and hand movements.

The Merge's launch was a success with a great turnout of over 70 guests attending on Friday, 7th April 2017 at historic building at the Parnell Community Centre (Jubilee Building). Launching Merge NZ's logo and branding are the most important and first step of Merge's long journey of hard work.