Helen Wong has a love and a talent for finding people’s lost families.
Specifically helping Chinese immigrants who came here in the early 1900s, Wong started finding her own family as part of her daughter’s school project.
“I was hooked on a child’s homework experience.”
Now, she’s the go-to person to help Chinese New Zealanders uncover their heritage.
She does it for the joy of helping people find out where, and who, they came from.
“It’s just the success of finding the information so the families can be happy.”
One such seeker had been looking all his life for his family.
“It’s a funny feeling not knowing where you come from,” said John Lowe, who was looking for his grandfather who came to New Zealand from China 120 years ago.
Chinese immigrants often had their name misspelled by immigration officials.
“Some places, it says Lau. They just chop and change.”
With Wong’s help, Lowe was able to discover the original poll tax documents of his grandfather and now he’s on the way to getting his family a headstone.
“I didn’t have much information. Helen has found it all.
“Now I feel like I belong. I belong somewhere.”
Watch Wong reunite Lowe with his Chinese heritage in the video above.