INTEREST
Resilience at its finest “You can’t get more authentic than a rural community” or so the saying goes. The rich tapestry of rural communities is a beautiful and powerful thing. The highs and lows of life that are enjoyed and endured are made all the richer for sharing the joy and burden with those that chose to make rural New Zealand their home. WORDS BY PENNY CLARK-HALL, IMAGES SUPPLIED
“I’ve been really proud to live in such a caring community where people call and text to see how you are,” said farmer and National Federated Farmers Board member Chris Allen. Chris was severely affected by the flood. He lost 22 fences, all now covered in silt and gravel. His trees are gone, fodder beet crops are under half a metre of gravel and the wall of his 6.5ha pond has blown out leaving debris and gravel in its place. Despite all this, Chris said he is one of the lucky ones. He says the water only ran through their property for three days, while others had to wait weeks before the onslaught stopped.
Whether it is by necessity, chance or devotion, there must be something in the water that turns these people into the giving, warm, kind, collaborative, ‘can do’ people they are. Cynics may say it’s a necessity of living rurally, however, it goes deeper than that. The glue that binds a rural community is stronger than an urban one. We’ve seen it time and again during natural disasters, family tragedies, raising children and supporting each other’s businesses, hopes and dreams. The most recent example of rural communities at their finest was the flood in Canterbury. The natural disaster instigating a nationwide response and outpour of support.
The overwhelm of the work that needs to be done has been made easier to swallow due to the incredible support from volunteers in and outside of the community.
“Our local Lions Club phoned to see if there was anything they could do and have been here from the very beginning. They’ve put my boundary fence back up and they just haven’t left. Every week they come back saying, ‘you keep farming and we’ll do the fences.’” This type of heartwarming support has been coming from all over the country. Farmers have been banding together to help out, with feed donations now reaching around 11 truck loads. One of the farmers coordinating feed donations, from Milton in Otago, is Nigel Woodhead. He says his community has been surprisingly generous due to the shortage of feed in the area.
“How the community came together in that first week was really humbling. We had two lots of Lincoln students and volunteers that came and pulled stuff off fences. It was the visual progress we needed to get going.” Chris also had the local tramping club come for two days, then the student volunteer army. “One of the guys who came with them was quite special. He had received help from the Farmy Army after the Christchurch earthquakes and wanted to repay them for it.” There’s never a right time to say yes when someone is offering to help but Chris says this time saying yes wasn’t so difficult.
“We usually hold a local feed competition where we judge bailage and then sell them off to raise money for our A&P show. This year with the flood I thought why don’t we donate this to someone that’s in need? We were mindful that people are still tight on feed down here but people really came to the party with 36 bales in total donated and some individuals donating five bales each.” Farmers have been supporting each other through natural disasters and adverse events for years. It is that pay it forward mentality that ensures each community is supported when faced with these types of events. “When one of us is in trouble we all rally, and that support is never forgotten,” said Nigel. ABOVE: Many hands make light work ABOVE LEFT: Food boxes heading out to flood
affected rural areas LEFT: Messages of support en route to Canterbury
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R E AL FARM E R
