Born in a refugee camp and forced to flee his homeland, Auckland man Fetehalow Zemey​ is looking forward to spending his first Christmas in 22 years with his sister and her family.

The former refugee, along with his parents and younger siblings, arrived in Aotearoa in 2001. Zemey’s two older sisters stayed behind in Sudan as they were both married, with one eventually moving to Canada.

Speaking from his home in West Auckland, Zemey, whose family come from Ethiopia, told Stuff it wasn’t easy growing up being separated from his siblings.

“The [East African] community in New Zealand is small, and when you don’t have your siblings, it’s quite difficult mentally and emotionally.”

Hoping to give his sister still in Sudan the opportunity to pursue a better life in Aotearoa, Zemey in 2018 applied to sponsor her along with her husband and five children.

“It took seven years to get them here. It was a long time to go through that process and, obviously, Covid-19 interrupted the application, but they finally arrived in July.

“This will be the first Christmas that I have their family here.”

Christmas is one of the biggest celebrations of the year in Ethiopia. Being one of the oldest countries in the world, it was one of the first regions to officially adopt Christianity.

“[Ethiopia] has a different calendar to the western world. We celebrate Christmas seven days later on January 7, not December 25,” Zemey said.

Many start fasting in the 43 days before Christmas, and this is known as the “Fast of the Prophets”. During this time, traditionally only one vegan meal is eaten each day.

On Christmas Eve, Ethiopian Christians attend an overnight church service, with communal festivities reaffirming their commitment to their faith.

“Most of this day is spent in church and usually people sleep over. Then the next day is the celebration.”

Zemey, who acted as a translator for his sister Almaz Yirga,​ said food is one of the “biggest” parts of the celebrations.

Common dishes include a pancake-like bread called injera, and a rich home-made bread called Dabo made with egg and butter, milk and honey, and spices.

This is usually eaten with a range of different stews and an animal such as a lamb or a chicken is often butchered for the meal – a welcome treat after days of vegan dishes, Yirga said.

Having grown up in Aotearoa and now married to a Kiwi, Zemey is planning on celebrating this Christmas by incorporating a mixture of both cultures.

“In previous years, I’d spend Christmas at my wife’s parents’ house, where we had Christmas dinner and everything leading up to that, like gift-giving.

“This year, we’ll have two Christmases to celebrate and two New Years, and it’ll be great now that I have this family to celebrate with as well.”

Zemey, who owns Auckland restaurant Gojo Ethiopian Eatery, said traditional Ethiopian dishes will be served at home, and there are plans to attend a local church service.

“It’s mainly food, going to church and just being surrounded by family.”

Rohit Arora​ moved to Aotearoa in August from India for work, and although he is looking forward to the holidays, he says it will be difficult spending it without his 10-year-old son.

“My son loves Christmas. I usually take my family out to see the decorations and the parades. We also order one of his favourite meals, which is called Dal Makhani, along with a Butter Naan Bread.”

Dal Makhani is a popular dish in India made with black lentils cooked with butter and cream. It’s served hot, and goes well with the winter weather conditions in New Delhi in December, Arora said.

“Christmases are always kind of cold. We don’t get much rain, but it is foggy. Usually, there are decorations on all the buildings and I like taking my family outside to show them.”

This year, Arora was warned by his Kiwi sister-in-law to expect a warm Christmas spent on the beach. In New Delhi, it’s customary to also attend church to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ, he said.

“If I get the opportunity, I will go to a church in Auckland and see how the commemorations are done.”

Arora said gifts in his culture are usually exchanged during Diwali, and not so much of a custom during Christmas.

“But my sister-in-law has told me to expect gifts inside alphabetic socks, so I’m looking forward to that.”

He said it would be “hard” celebrating Christmas without his son, but he’s planning on bringing him to New Zealand next year in time for the Christmas parade.

“He would love the parade. It’ll be hard experiencing it without him, but hopefully he will be here with me next year.”