Thursday 11 July 2013

Rotary Moment: Rotary Rebuilding Communities in Christchurch

- By District 9970 Governor John Rickard

Rotarians along with all the other residents of Christchurch suffered much disruption to their lives and businesses since the first earthquake on September 4, 2010.

These disruptions will continue for many years yet as Christchurch rebuilds its infrastructure including roads, water, sewers and electricity, while it repairs and rebuilds houses. The rebuild cost has now climbed to $40 billion and this estimate is still rising.

I am continually amazed at the good work that Rotary continues to do around the city. Some Christchurch Rotarians have had to either vacate their houses while rebuilds are carried out, or else wait for a complete demolition and rebuild of their homes.

While there has been a loss of some Rotarians in the 16 clubs in Christchurch since the earthquake, these losses have been almost entirely from members moving out of the city for work opportunities or health reasons.

Since the February 2011 earthquake our Rotary District 9970 has received and distributed nearly $2 million through its charitable trust so this trust is now winding down.

However many needs still remain so Rotary is active throughout the city in many ways.

All of the city clubs managed to continue their normal fundraising activities and support of many organisations and groups, either financially or with hands-on input.

The combined clubs of the city last year also joined an initiative started by Ashburton Rotarian Walter Van Der Kley, called “Colour Me Christchurch”. It involved planting bedding plants and wildflowers on empty building sites around the central city with signage at each site identifying it as a Rotary project. This project will continue next spring.

In November last year Rotary District 9970 was approached by the Christchurch Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA) to become a partner in an exciting new project, aimed at supporting communities in the city, named the “Rotary Neighbourhood Project.” It will involve developing locally initiated projects that contribute towards improving wellbeing and building resilient communities and neighbourhoods.

CERA recognises that local communities in Christchurch need access to help and finance to rebuild the communities that have been badly affected by the earthquakes. They see Rotary as an organisation with the knowledge and ability to assist.

We have set up a project committee, accessed funding, set up a charitable trust, and developed advertising material, and application criteria. With applications being accepted for grants ranging from $100 up to $4000, it is anticipated that the cost of the project over the four to five year expected life of the project could be in the vicinity of $300,000 to $400,000.

We hope that as other funders involved in the Christchurch rebuild see the results of the work we are doing, they will assist with funding.

The opportunity for me to work alongside these Rotarians in Christchurch as they develop these projects, while at the same time, working and living in a city under massive structural development, has certainly shown to me that the core values of Rotary are alive and well in our city.

These projects are also giving our Rotary clubs in Christchurch a great opportunity to promote Rotary as an organisation that is actively rebuilding our communities, hopefully leading to an increasing awareness of the role of Rotary clubs in our communities and an increase in membership numbers.

We are already seeing the first signs of this happening.