Christchurch Earthquake Relief Journal (Day 5)

Despite starting the day feeling a little weary, I felt energised by the knowledge of the significance and value of our work for the Christchurch people. Our team finished door knocking a suburb we started yesterday that was severely impacted by the earthquake, then moved to a neighbouring suburb that had virtually no visible signs of damage! It was like this suburb was in a bubble - no broken pipes, no cracked paths, no uneven roads, no liquefaction, and houses fully intact. I struggled to understand how one side of a neighbourhood can resemble a war zone and the other side was untouched. The people in these streets had power, water and sewerage, while their nearby neighbours were using portaloos in the street.

After a dozen houses, I really wondered why we needed to be in this area and felt our efforts today were a little futile. Then I met a lady who shared with us that in the past 7 years her husband died, as did her dad, mum and best friend. She lost her savings as a result of the Global Financial Crisis and now has just lost her house in this earthquake. Underneath, what first appeared to be an unaffected surface, was deep pain and grief! Those who appeared to escape the destruction of the quake lost jobs and income due to effected areas. Then there were those who were now housing friends and families who had lost everything and were carrying the extra burden on already limited resources. One lady's household suddenly expanded with her daughter, son-in-law, three grandkids, three cats and a dog moving in! It was a real joy for us (and her) to immediately be able to give her a $100 voucher towards extra food and link her to other services. We also met a young bloke who had moved out of his rented house, due to damage and sewerage smells that was making him and his partner sick. They remarkably found another house to rent on the other side of town, but the landlord demanded three more weeks rent on this house because it wasn't "red carded" by the authorities. This was proving to be an unwinnable situation until we were able to link him up with some tenancy help at the local Recovery Assistance Centre.

Back at the CBS Arena after the nightly group debrief session, some New Zealand officers and cadets delighted us with a Haka based upon William Booth's "While women weep...I'll fight" in Maori language as a thank you for our service to their country. What a gift and blessing!!

After tea, a call was put out for some help to move three cubic metres of cut wood that had fallen out the back of an elderly lady's house. She had tripped on the wood and was concerned about going out her back door. Imagine her delight when half a dozen Salvos turned up to restack her pile of wood. It has been small gestures like this that have meant so much to people. So, what seemed to be a futile effort at the beginning of the day proved to be a fruitful day indeed!