Thankyou Emily. Very timely. My son wife and three boys 7,5,1 escaped from their eskdale house at 3am in chest high water. Through the euphoria of having them with us in Taupō now is the sheer horror that we could so easily have lost them. Thank you for your useful words. Barb
Such an essential post. Thank you very much for writing it! I think the other hugely important thing is to recognise that, for kids, playing is a fundamental need, so we should be factoring that into the disaster recovery response. These kids have lost everything and are now surrounded by incredible scenes of destruction, with every adult in their lives stressed. Play enables kids to process trauma, achieve some normalcy, and have much-needed fun. I’ve made this point to my general manager in a meeting today, with reference to Auckland Council’s response, and I’ll make the same point again from a national perspective later this week when I’m at a Sport NZ hui with my kaimahi in play advocacy roles at other councils.
Important reading. Once the adrenaline wears off & the media disappear is when it becomes so real and the magnitude of the damage is frightening & you feel completely lost and hopeless with this much change forced on you. Having gone through the quakes as an adult was bad enough let alone what the children went though. We mustn’t forget them & let’s if we can help them be happy again even if it’s just in small pockets at a time initially
Thankyou Emily. Very timely. My son wife and three boys 7,5,1 escaped from their eskdale house at 3am in chest high water. Through the euphoria of having them with us in Taupō now is the sheer horror that we could so easily have lost them. Thank you for your useful words. Barb
I’m so happy for you that your family survived. I can’t imagine the stress you’ve been through x
So scary! Glad they made it through, Barb
Oh Barb, that’s absolutely awful. Sending you all love x do they need anything? Can we help? ❤️
Such an essential post. Thank you very much for writing it! I think the other hugely important thing is to recognise that, for kids, playing is a fundamental need, so we should be factoring that into the disaster recovery response. These kids have lost everything and are now surrounded by incredible scenes of destruction, with every adult in their lives stressed. Play enables kids to process trauma, achieve some normalcy, and have much-needed fun. I’ve made this point to my general manager in a meeting today, with reference to Auckland Council’s response, and I’ll make the same point again from a national perspective later this week when I’m at a Sport NZ hui with my kaimahi in play advocacy roles at other councils.
Thank you Jacq. I love hearing about your mahi. Play is so crucial. Absolutely fundamental as you say ❤️
Important reading. Once the adrenaline wears off & the media disappear is when it becomes so real and the magnitude of the damage is frightening & you feel completely lost and hopeless with this much change forced on you. Having gone through the quakes as an adult was bad enough let alone what the children went though. We mustn’t forget them & let’s if we can help them be happy again even if it’s just in small pockets at a time initially
This made me tear up. Thank you for sharing Emily ❤️
Arohanui ❤️
Otautahi got a boss playground and library post earthquake. I hope the kids of Hawkes Bay and Tairawhiti get some sweet playgrounds at the very least.
What amazing children. Out of the mouths of babes......