Chimneys for Santa?

At 4.35am on September 4, 2010, most of us were asleep, looking forward to the weekend. In Christchurch, residents where awoken by an earthquake many thought would never happen.

I, like many outside Christchurch, heard about it on the news and saw pictures of destruction on the internet, but didn't understand what Cantabrians were going through. We made sure our loved ones and acquaintances were ok, but we didn't really know how to help.

I'm Cindy and I work with the membership team. After the quake, we were very concerned for our Christchurch students and members. The whole office pulled together to call members, mapped the worst hit areas and organised buddy centres, but as the saying goes, ‘being there is everything'. NZCA Chief Executive Nancy Bell decided the best approach would be to visit, so a week after the initial quake, we visited.

On arrival, the city centre gave us a glimpse into the destruction, many older buildings sustained so much damage they were being demolished. 

Christchurch teaching base visit

Our visit coincided with day one back for NZCA students and lecturers. The earthquake had taken a toll on everyone and the students were still on edge - ongoing aftershocks brought new issues in both their work and family lives.

Save the Children Child Protection Specialist Karen Flanagan delivered a workshop to students about reassurance response. Karen discussed strategies and techniques for dealing with children who have been through traumatic experiences. Key messages highlighted that all people react differently and reassured students that people around them were reacting normally. Karen discussed the importance of staying calm around children and urged communities to come together to talk and listen. The students quickly opened up and talked about their experiences. The PowerPoint is available at http://www.nzca.ac.nz/

Member visits

We visited three members who had been differently affected and to varying degrees. These visits provided insight into how centres were coping and how staff and children deal with a traumatic situation. Centres feedback the strategies they put in place to return to normality and what they learnt - this will be of great use for other centres, should disaster strike elsewhere.

For Te Waka Huruhurumanu Ki Ōtautahi the experience was "surreal". Many teachers took time to come to grips with the earthquake and how ‘real' it was. Luckily, their centre was new and built to code, so damage was minimal. They were able to start making plans on how to deal with nervous staff and traumatised children. Centre Manager Rachel Hoskins explains, "We had a meeting and talked about our experiences. We discussed the needs of the tamariki and how we would respond, and activities to help them understand what was happening. As a team we felt confident we could provide safety and security for the tamariki. We also discussed what we would have done if we had been at the centre which was really helpful."

Rachel's staff reactions differed. "One Kaiako insisted tamariki keep their shoes on in case we had a shake big enough to smash the windows. Her experience of the quake was smashed crockery all over home. Some staff needed extra leave; others brought their children as they were not ready for school. Most of our tamariki were amazingly fine with it."

Visiting the centres highlighted the difference between the reactions of an adult and a child. Most children weren't badly affected, more excited to tell their story.

From Rachel's centre, one wee tama told staff, ‘All the wine glasses got smashed. There's only one left. Now mum and dad have to share.' One boy woke and had cried because ‘Ruaumoko must be very angry with us.' Ruaumoko is the pēpi of Rangi and Papa as a pēpi in his mama's puku moves and kicks, so when Ruaumoko moves and kicks we get earthquakes.

Many centres discussed what worked, what they learned and strategies to help children. One centre highlighted how grateful they are to ERO for making them put earthquake precautions in place. As a result, nothing fell out of place in their centre. They also recognised the importance of having your civil defense kit somewhere accessible in your centre and frequently practicing your emergency plan.

For teachers it was tough, having to deal with both their lives and the children in their care. "As the aftershocks hit, staff had to hide their fear from the tamariki to make sure they felt confident they were in safe hands. Our training meant we were well prepared emotionally. Since the quake we have reflected on our emergency procedures. We are now confident of our earthquake drill, before we were confused by conflicting advice," says Rachel.

Advice from someone who has been there is often the best advice. "I would stress the importance of practicing emergency procedures, keeping civil defense contacts up to date, regularly checking and rotating supplies so they're never past there use by date, batteries available, torches and transistor radios ready and water supplies fresh. A centre cell phone, charged and with money on it helps with communication as does a standard wall connected phone."

Witnessing the situation opened my eyes to the lengths teachers go to, and the support our students and members need. In the New Year, we will be compiling an NZCA disaster management resource.

In these times, we must realise that children see the world differently to adults. One comment that stuck with me was from a boy who didn't seem too worried about the earthquake, but was very concerned about Christmas. When asked why, he replied ‘because now there will be no chimneys for Santa.'