Christchurch Earthquake Feb 22nd. Resilience and Sharing.



Photo by Reuters


This morning when I awoke, I snuggled up to my wife Kay, and told her how pleased I was that we married.
"You're perfect for me. You're bossy."
"You're bossy too."
"You're more bossy that me."
"No, you are."
So it was I who made the tea and brought that to her, to share together in bed.

Then we started another round of phone calls.

We rang her sister in Christchurch, devastated by a second earthquake on Feb 22nd. We lay there, taking turns, saying little, just listening, letting her sister talk and get it off her chest. We heard about living in a house, with cracked and twisted walls, broken and uneven floors, liquefaction throughout the house, no power or water, cooking on a camping stove, having to clear up all the broken glass, washing in a bucket, peeing in a hole dug in the garden.

But today, at least she wasn't crying constantly.

Then we finally got a call from my younger sister, who I  have been able to know was OK through a Facebook contact with her daughter. I listened again as she got a lot off her chest. The terror of the quake. Taking shelter in a pantry doorway, being pelted with all the contents that leapt out at her to smash on the floor. How when it happened, her husband in his car had very nearly rolled over the cliff on the drive down the hill. The frightened dogs that had disappeared, for which they had searched, finally showing up at their door...with 4 others that had chummed up in a scared pack. All being taken in and fed until owners had been found. All my 6 sisters are like that, always loved and cared for animals.  The dream house they had been building over the past few years, cracked and twisted, probably needing to be demolished.

I could hear her sobs as we told each other "I love you" as we finally rang off.

Last night we rang our lifetime friends who live almost at the epi-centre, right on the side of the Heathcote Valley, in sight of the Lyttleton Tunnel. They're amazingly cheerful despite all the terror of being so close. T is just thankful the city shopping mall he was in at the time of the quake, did not collapse, and that all his family are well. His daughter's house is a write off, as if the first quake in September wasn't enough, livable only just...because there is nowhere else to go....

During each phone call, probably lasting some 30 minutes or more, we listened as Christchurch rumbled again and again...twice during every call! The aftershocks measured as high as 4.4 keep going on.

Resilience.
But I also listened to them describe the amazing coming together of their neighbourhood. Taking it upon themselves to check on elderly neighbours. Setting up 'Share' centres in some one's garage where any surplus of essential items you leave, and you may take what others have placed there that you need. Student volunteers turning up by the busload in a suburb and assisting anyone clear out their house. Loading their car up with neighbours containers and filling them at water dispensing centres. People coming in off the street offering to help clean out their house. Human kindness shining through, described to me over the phone.

I listened to them describe how resourceful they have had to become, despite the lack of sleep, and the deprivation of essential services. They're realising, and they're feeling proud of just how well they are beginning to adjust and cope. I listened as my sister-in-law remarked how resilient they have been. They're thankful no casualties were visited upon them or their families. They know other families are facing worse than they are. They're appreciating the offers of help they've had from friends,- cleaning up, food, money, or accommodation if they have to move out of  their shattered homes.

In times of disaster we have to concentrate on the neccessities of living from day to day. We are stripped of our need for what after all are the mere fripperies of our modern lifestyle. We are forced back to basics, relying on our skills to survive, to merely be able to cook a meal, or boil safe water over a camp burner. And we come together- neighbours we may never had much to do with suddenly become our best friends. Sharing whatever we can. Helping physically as well as emotionally.

So we ring our friends and family and just listen. They tell us it really helps.

We are sharing in our friends and families grief. There is hardly a minute when we are not thinking of them. So after another round of phone calls, we hug, and tell each other -
 "You're perfect for me. You're bossy."
"You're bossy too."
"You're more bossy that me."
"No, you are."....



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How you can help.
A list of agencies to donate to is here-  earthquake-devastates-christchurch my earlier post, updated with new info.


Latest info-
145 confirmed dead.
200 plus people missing.
600 search and rescue staff  from NZ, New South Wales, Queensland, Japan,Taiwan and Singapore involved.
594 treated at emergency departments, while 1,000's have sought medical treatment.
600 general practitioners and nurses have volunteered their services.
22 people thought crushed under rubble in the iconic Christchurch Cathedral.
CTV building where up to 122 people are unaccounted for, including up to 90 international students at Kings Education language school which was in the building.
Christchurch's tallest building, the 26 storey Grand Chancellor Hotel is in danger of collapse, which will take down other buildings around it. This hampers rescue efforts nearby.

Christchurch Earthquake Feb 22nd. Resilience and Sharing.

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