CHRISTCHURCH

CHRISTCHURCH

A four year old said to me a few months ago "Kimmy the grumble grumbles broke Christchurch". Out of the mouth of babes, not a truer word has been spoken.

Since September the 4th 2010, the city and people of Christchurch have gone through hell. New Zealand has alot of fault lines, and usually suffers earthquakes but nothing like what we have been through in the last year. With the 7.1 mag that struck at 4.35am on September 4th most of the city lost power. I was freaking out and I'm not afraid to admit that. The scared look on my kids faces every time an aftershock happened will live with me forever. We spent the rest of the night snuggled together trying to sleep between aftershocks.

We cleaned up the mess and were put on rations for the essentials, including bread, milk and water. We took the bbq's out and we got on with it. My house thankfully was not damaged, but alot were. People who faith in a higher power started praying and thanking their god's that they weren't hurt. Schools were off for weeks until they were deemed safe for our kids. Out water was unsafe so we had to boil it twice to make sure. Port-a-loos were delivered to those areas worse hit. But we carried on. We lived with the constant aftershocks, we put on brave faces for out kids, our alcohol consumption and family abuse rates skyrocketed, we were a town of people under stress, dealing with it as best we could.

February the 22nd brought about the 6.3 mag earthquake that struck at 12.51pm. Unfortunatly this time round the city and people of Christchurch were even more damaged. 181 people lost their lives that day, making this quake the second deadliest  natural disaster recorded in New Zealand. Some of these victims weren't even from here, but they unfortunatly died here. The government declared a state of emergency, the army were roaming our streets and keeping the worst hit places blocked off. We recieved help from so many countries and to sit here day after day watching the devestation on their faces was heart breaking to Cantabrians, because we knew how bad it really was.

Once again our kids were scared, and off school. People had to dig holes in their yards for toilets due to the lack of port-a-loos. We boiled water, brushed our teeth out of a glass due to water restrictions, cleaned up and carried on. We cried each time a victim was found, and most of us ended up knowing someone or knowing someone who knew someone that was a victim or hurt. More jobs were lost as the city business district was destroyed. More people packed up their families and fled either to the North Island or Australia. Christchurch was slowly dying. The grumble grumbles broke Christchurch.

Finally just over a year later the aftershocks have finally got to the point where we aren't having that many and the ones we do have we are barely feeling. Alot of people including scientists are still predicting that Christchurch is in for another big earthquake. Are they just scare mongering? Or could we get another one? the question most Cantabrians are asking themselves. At the end of the day it doesn't matter because we are a strong bunch of people, and we will survive it. Our city centre will be re-built and although our unemployment rate has risen and our population has decressed, Christchurch will rise from the ashes but it will never be the same and neither will it's citizens, it will be better.

The shaking has slowed down and less violent, ware still feeling the side effects and will for years to come. We will get through it. We will take our strength and carry it with us, where ever we go and bury deep our in-securites and cry from time to time when we are alone. I am proud to be a New Zealander, but I'm prouder to be a Cantabrian.