- 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.
