Thoughts for Christchurch

---

It would be impossible to start this latest blog entry without mention of the horrendous devastation caused by the latest earthquake in Christchurch in February. To date, over 182 people have lost their lives, with many thousands injured and left homeless. Water, sewage and power services have been severely affected, with hot meals and clean water no longer taken for granted. Having recently passed through Christchurch myself (a month after the earthquake), the area seemed like a warzone, with the city centre sealed off and controlled by the army.

The implications for New Zealand as a Nation have also been felt, as many Christchurch residents have taken to the road for respite, comfort and re-housing; some temporarily, some perhaps forever. They all have a harrowing story to tell. For a country of only 4 million residents, a disaster on this scale affects everyone, either directly, or indirectly through family members, friends or work. Even though I can’t lay claim to New Zealand citizenship, or even imagine how the people of Christchurch must feel, I have been deeply moved by the daily TV images emerging out of the South Island’s biggest city.

Scenes of blood-stained coropses, flattened city centres and refugees in temporary tents are not those that you associate with a developed country; as a UK citizen I am thankful that extreme weather and natural disasters rarely touches our shores. But this is where the problem in western media coverage and our perception of world events lies. During the last 12 months, massive disasters have rocked countries including Pakistan, Brazil and Bangladesh (with many more probably not even being deemed worthy of column inches*). Many more people have died than in Christchurch, areas a thousand times the size wiped out, lives dependent on crops and livestock put in serious jeapordy for generations. Yet recent disasters such as the Oil spill off the Florida coast coast, Cyclones in Australia and the recent NZ earthquake dominate the media, and consequently, I would imagine a large proportion of financial donations.

I would like to clarify that I am by no means attempting to diminish the significance of what happened in Christchurch, or the heartache that so many people are feeling across New Zealand. As previously mentioned, I have been deeply affected by recent events, and have made donations myself to the disaster fund. My point is that events like 'Christchurch', that happen so close to home, should serve to increase our awareness of events worldwide, and that a life in a third world country should be just as newsworthy and valued as one anywhere else in the world.



*At the time of writing, I stumbled across news of a 6.8 magnitude earthquake in Burma, that had killed 75 people (and the toll was still rising). I had to delve into the archives of the BBC to find details (even though it had only happened four days previously); only one story was devoted to it. Everyone I spoke to had no knowledge of this recent earthquake.

---