After the quake

So many people in Christchurch have stories to tell. Not just stories about the earthquake and the trauma they’ve suffered, but also stories about not getting the help and support that they need right now. There are also some amazing stories about people getting together to look after each other. It’s infuriating and inspiring all at the same time and I really want to write more about it but for the moment I’m just gonna direct you to this short film, which touches on some of those stories:

Callout for funds for Beyond Resistance, organising after the devastating Christchurch earthquake

On February 22nd at just before 1pm, a devastating earthquake, measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale, and just 10km deep, hit Christchurch, the second biggest city in New Zealand. So far over 160 people have been officially declared dead and that toll is expected to rise to over 200. The earthquake came less than 6 months after a destructive 7.1 magnitude shock, which claimed no lives but saw thousands of homes and buildings damaged or destroyed.

In the wake of the February quake, a number of grassroots groups and networks have sprung up across the city to help people access the resources and support they needed to survive. Beyond Resistance, an anarchist group, was heavily involved in providing support in the working class suburbs of Avonside and Linwood, while other members also got involved in the relief effort in other parts of the city.

Beyond Resistance need your help! Money is needed to buy resources, to print leaflets and flyers and to organise meetings. Any donations will be greatly appreciated, and can be made to:

Bank name                   Westpac
Branch name                Queenstown
Account name              Unite Fund
Account number          03 0675 0423909 017
Westpac swift code     WPACNZ2W

For many residents in the hard hit working class Eastern suburbs of Christchurch, aid from the Government, City Council and large NGOs such as the Red Cross was sorely lacking. More than 2 weeks on from the quake, many still have no (or extremely limited) power supplies and no running water. State-provided portaloos and chemical toilets are still far from accessible for many residents.

In Linwood, Beyond Resistance members set up a community kitchen in the front yard of two members’ house within hours of the earthquake. From here they distributed meals, gas canisters, water, hand sanitiser, facemasks (huge amounts of pollution and dust were spread by high winds) and other much needed supplies. They engaged in door-knocking around Linwood and Avonside to assess people’s needs and organised bike deliveries of food, water and gas (many of the roads are still impassable by car). More details about the work they have been doing can be found on their website.

Over the coming days, weeks and months, Beyond Resistance members will continue to help provide resources to people who need them. Additionally, they are working to link up the various neighbourhood based support groups scattered across the city. They also plan to organise politically to try to ensure that the rebuilding of Christchurch is done in a way that meets the needs of residents, not business and the state. They will be active in organising against Government cuts to services around the country that use the earthquake as an excuse to further punish working class people (both employed and unemployed) for the benefit of the wealthy.

If you have any questions about this fundraising callout, please email the Aotearoa Workers Solidarity Movement, one of the organisations helping to coordinate support for Beyond Resistance from Wellington – info@awsm.org.nz

Actually Helpful

Now that I’m done being a whingey self involved prick, I’m gonna try to write something that’s actually helpful.

Heaps of folk in Christchurch are doing awesome work organizing aid, distributing supplies, cleaning up the mess and hosting people who’ve been displaced by the earthquake.

If you’re based outside Canterbury I think the most helpful thing you can do is send money. There’s heaps of charities collecting money for Christchurch right now, and it’s hard to judge which ones will do the most good. So here are my suggestions:

Beyond Resistance in Christchurch, which also includes people involved in Food Not Bombs and Unite, have been doing lots of work in the eastern suburbs (Linwood, Avonside etc), setting up a community centre, distributing water and gas canisters and so on. Their blog also has lots of useful updates.

Christchurch Women’s Refuge was hit pretty hard by both earthquakes. Domestic violence is a huge enough problem in regular times, and now after the earthquake, with the added stress and frustration, you can bet it’s only going to increase. Wellington Refuge has been organising help and donations, and they’ve set up a facebook page too.

I dont know much about Refugees as Survivors, but it sounds like theyre doing important work supporting a group of people whose needs could easily be overlooked, and I think they sound like a really worthwhile organisation to support.

In Wellington, 128 Social Centre is hosting a fundraiser 80s movie night for Beyond Resistance. It’s on Wednesday March 9 at 8pm, at 128 Abel Smith St.

I recommend reading this website for really useful updates and information.

Other commentary that’s worth reading:

Making Christmas Cards

Kiwipolitico

The Standard