Latif Ullah has never lived in the same country as his wife and eight-year-old daughter, but last week they were finally altogether in Richmond, in a place he calls his second home since becoming a local bus driver.
He arrived nine months ago with other bus drivers from around the globe to drive the new fleet of electric buses.
It then took time to work through visas and get the finance to bring his wife Asia Latif and daughter Zahra Latif from Peshawar in the north of Pakistan, to Richmond.
After leaving Pakistan at 19 years old to work in Dubai where he supported his wider family back home for the next 19 years, he is overjoyed to settle down. Until now, he spent just one month a year back in Pakistan with Asia and Zahra.
“New Zealand was an exciting decision for me because the most important thing was family and this was the only country I could be with my family.”
Latif was studying computer science in Pakistan when the family began to struggle financially and, as the eldest son, he headed to Dubai to support three younger brothers and his parents.
He became a bus driver of “big busses, long busses, heavy busses” on roads that had “peak traffic every hour of the day”, before becoming a driving instructor on the busses.
Then came the opportunity to immigrate to New Zealand.
Being an ardent cricket fan, he had followed New Zealand’s international matches and for years his favourite player was Kiwi Daniel Vettori.
“I knew New Zealand because of cricket!”
When he began searching for jobs in Australia and New Zealand, SBL which runs Nelson Coachlines emailed him and that led him here.
He says the immigration process to bring his family to New Zealand was challenging and he is thankful for the help from SBL to achieve it.
The company then loaned him the money to get them here and helped him find a rental home.
“The company teaches us we are family and live like family. For me, my second home will be here in New Zealand. I have no plans to move on – and the weather is so good!”
Latif now drives intercity throughout the Top of the South, urban and charter buses, and says it is very relaxing driving in New Zealand after the hectic pace of Dubai where it was not just busy streets, but long days of up to 16 hours driving.
One of the appeals of settling in New Zealand is that he will have time to spend with his family.
Since his arrival in the region, Latif has also become a regular at the mosque in Nelson where the family will have the opportunity to mix with Moslems and he says there is a real mix which means they do not feel isolated here.
When he first began going to prayer at the mosque there were only about 20 people, but that has grown to more than 100.
Part of that is due to international students at Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology, he says.
The wider community has also made him feel welcome and at home as he settles down with his family.
As part of the community, he is now planning on playing cricket again and calls himself a “serious cricketer” who played in Dubai.
“I’m happy here – to stay in a country where we don’t know anything or anyone and feel like home.”
