So I haven't posted for ages, and now is no time for catch up really... I just need to say a bit about where I am now. I got to Christchurch on Saturday after feeling useless at a distance, but realising that to come sooner put my family under more pressure. My family are safe, but I can't say that anyone will get thru this totally unscathed. The country, let alone the city, will never be quite the same.
So I want to blog a bit more of what happens, to let people know another part of the story. There are so many stories, and many of them will be far more amazing or traumatic than this. But I want to share some of the things I'm seeing and hearing now.
Dad works in Aranui in a church. His is a support ministry role. I have been there a couple of times with him previously when visiting. I know a few of the faces, and it's not a big congregation. So going this morning was a little surreal. There is a bit of an obstacle course, compared to the previously smooth roads, to get there. Inside the church, past the piles of rubbish and mud, there is a bulge in the floor big enough to make you feel like you're climbing to the centre of the room. We all sat on chairs on slight inclines...
And food donations, wow! There seems to be so much given. Which is both wonderful and difficult at the same time. There is more than can be given out before it will go bad / stale in some cases. Non-perishables are fine, but perishables add to the workload since they need to be given out...
I heard a few stories. One woman lives with her parents on a street that is yet to get Portaloos. They have been given a chemical toilet which is not working very well and is causing considerable annoyance to her father, who has ruined a couple of pairs of shoes trying to empty it... I laughed before I'd realised it and she did say that one day it may seem funny, but it doesn't yet for her father!
Another woman said that even friends across the other side of town don't seem to quite understand what they are going through. She's not bitter; just matter-of-fact. They barely lost power, water, or sewerage, so while they know that the east side have still got issues with these things, they can't quite realise how frustrating it is... And the media focus has quite naturally been on the city centre since it is more like a war zone from another country than "Godzone" NZ. Stories filtering out from people working in there are beyond belief.
So going tomorrow to help out however I can could be interesting. I hope I will be able to help, even if just in listening...
