Some will possibly find this thought offensive.. and that is not my intention. Instead, I want to dialogue the context of international aid and disaster response. I have sat quietly on some of these thoughts since the quake.. they have whispered in the back of my mind. And not because this is a subject for debate, in fact that couldn’t be further from the truth.. there is no wrong or right in this context. In the context of disaster, that is. (more…)
At 12.51pm yesterday (Tuesday 22nd February) a magnitude 6.3 quake struck at a depth of 5km just outside of Christchurch in the South Island of New Zealand. Although of a lower magnitude than the September 4 quake, the shallow depth of yesterday’s tremor has left a much larger impact on the city and it’s surrounding townships.
New Zealand is a small place. We will all know someone directly involved with and affected by this earthquake. The dust and chaos of some of the first images of devastation and rescue remind me concurrently of 9/11 and Haiti. The care and concern of people overseas is immense, the anxious wait as numbers fluctuate, predictions are made and people registered as missing or found is being felt by just about everyone I’ve spoken too.
Song Of The Tui.
Suppose, sweet eyes, you went into a distant country
Where these young islands are nothing but a word;
Suppose you never came back again by Terawhiti:
Would you remember and be faithful to your bird? (more…)
E Ihowā Atua,
O ngā iwi mātou rā
Āta whakarangona;
Me aroha noa
Kia hua ko te pai;
Kia tau tō atawhai;
Manaakitia mai
Aotearoa