"Woo!"
Ms Nalumango was one of nearly 70 new New Zealanders welcomed at a citizenship ceremony at the Fullwood Room of the Dunedin Centre yesterday afternoon.
"I was just expressing my joy," she said after the ceremony.
"I can’t just read the oath [to New Zealand] and walk away.
"I am delighted. I am, finally, a New Zealander.
"I have no words to express that kind of joy."
Ms Nalumango, now retired, said she had been on a long journey before settling in Dunedin.
An allergic reaction to malaria medication forced her to leave her native Zambia about 20 years ago.
She contracted the serious and sometimes life-threatening tropical disease and when her blood results came back, she was not only positive, she was — "plus, plus" — in the high range.
Her doctor told her she needed to find somewhere to live where she could avoid the disease.
In 2001, she moved to Botswana, where she lived for five years before moving to South Africa and earning a master’s degree in social work.
While she was there she met a New Zealander and 13 years ago the couple moved to New Zealand.
The relationship did not work out, but her love for New Zealand blossomed.
She said she made very good friends and fell in love with New Zealand.
"I’m one of those lucky people who have travelled New Zealand from Kaitaia down to Bluff.
"And I have seen the beauty of this country, regardless of where you are, whether you are in a village, or a city, or out in the wilderness, in the mountains, New Zealand is beautiful regardless of where you are."
Ms Nalumango now holds dual citizenship.
At the start of yesterday’s ceremony Dunedin Mayor Jules Radich noted the diversity in the room.
About 20 different nationalities were represented at
the citizenship ceremony.
New citizens were presented with a New Zealand citizenship certificate and a kowhai tree.
New citizens
Joseph Jerold Llagas Agno (Philippines), Cristina Millonte Agno (Philippines), Karen Viviana Alfonso Reina (Colombia), Juan Sebastian Suarez Alfonso (Colombia), Jairo Alberto Suarez Carrillo (Colombia,) Gilbert Peguit Azarcon (Philippines,) Paula Karina Barragan Romano (Plurinational State of Bolivia), Jonatah Sammuel Benatti (Brazil), Sambit Bhaduri (India), Tessa Blake (United States), Ian Michael Blake (United States), Deleratne Mudalige Ushitha Dewsara Caldera (Sri Lanka), Deleratne Mudalige Lamith Deepanka Caldera (Sri Lanka), Inoka Suranji Wadduwage (Sri Lanka), Matthew Iain Carr (Scotland), Haylee Anne Carr (Australia), Karen Marie Curran (Ireland), Ben Kei Daniel Moti Dyang (South Sudan), Franco Burger de Bruin (South Africa), Lisa Madelaine de Bruin (South Africa), Antonie de Bruin (South Africa), Gia Kristel Mercado De Guia (Philippines), Anata Ramos Del Rosario (Philippines), Eric Brimbuela Del Rosario (Philippines), Ashley Ramos Del Rosario (Philippines), Ahron Ramos Del Rosario (Philippines), Alyssa Ramos Del Rosario (Philippines), Ena Maureen Romanos Dumadag (Philippines), Ramon Ven Milan Buma-At Dumadag (Philippines), Anhad Singh Dhillon (New Zealand), Mandeep Kaur (India), Lakhvir Singh (India), Rachael Louise Eaton (England), Joanne Ruth Fairweather (England), Karol Michael Finnerty (Ireland), Clare Elizabeth Fitzpatrick (Ireland), Rory Patrick O’Brien (Ireland), Aldrin Eugenio Gaspar (Philippines), Mohamad Fouad Ghanam (Syria), Amandeep Kaur Hayer (India), Kiana Jalali (Islamic Republic of Iran), Geraldine Rose Kevill (England), Mojdeh Khandan (Islamic Republic of Iran), Nalinee Kongthanaratana (Thailand), QuanLe Li (China), Haerim Ma (Republic of Korea), Pierina Eva Martin (Australia), Adela Masud (Pakistan), Namakau Nalumango (Zambia), Prasad Nayudu (India), Conor O’Kane (Ireland), Igor Pedtchenko (Russia), Melanie Herta Liselotte Ruru (Germany), Vanessa Sanna (Italy), Po Chun Seto (Hong Kong SAR), Onkarjot Singh (India) Georgios Stamou (Greece), Christine Elizabeth Sutton (England), Tuputala Teofilo (Samoa), Vaaimamao Teofilo (Samoa), Paina Teofilo (Samoa), Steven Alan Turner (United Kingdom), Vuochhuor Ung (Cambodia), Hien Thai Vu (Vietnam), Zachariah Jacob Weber (United States), Lee William Williams (England) and Lucy Celia Wing (United Kingdom).
