Blaze Aid

REBUILDING FENCES, REBUILDING LIVES

The idea of losing all your worldly possessions is a devastating one but one that always seems distant and unimaginable. However, over summer of 2019/2020, due to the devastating fires that burned across Australia, this seemingly implausible event occurred for many Australians, some of whom were our farmers.

In times like this, when our primary producers are hurting so much after long periods of dry, it is crucial we band together as a community to help and support them. One such group, is BlazeAid. The volunteerbased organisation helps families and individuals in rural Australia after natural disasters.

The everyday people who volunteer for BlazeAid, work alongside landowners to rebuild fences and structures that have been damaged or destroyed and in doing so, rebuild their livelihoods. An equally important consequence of BlazeAid are volunteers who lift spirits of those living in these disaster-affected areas.

Eight Somerset students embarked on a journey to Nymboida, New South Wales in late January, to lend a hand to those people whose lives had been turned upside-down by the fires in November, 2019. We departed the Gold Coast hoping we could help those affected rebuild; however, by the time we returned home we realised the experience had achieved so much more.

On the first day of the rebuild, we were faced with reconstructing a 150 metre stretch of fence on a generous incline, testing the fittest in the group. By the end of the day ‘the hill’ as it became known, had all given us a decent workout. Water bottles were in high demand. We were told the only people to admire a fence are those who build it. It’s true. It was a good-looking fence! Over lunch and a chat, we realised our presence among the broken community was more powerful than any ‘manpower’ we could have provided. Our youthful company brightened their day. Smiles were infectious.

Although new to fence building, under the watch of our BlazeAid mentor Zol, and landowner Joe, we quickly learned the ropes to continue the next 350 metres. At the end of the day we had constructed a 500 metre fence using both barbed and normal wire. Rest and recreation was well earned by mid-Saturday afternoon; a side-trip to Red Rock for a swim was just what we needed. In this pristine waterway, we floated down the river before filling

ourselves up with way too many delicious potato scallops from the local Fisho.

That evening with our new friends, we concluded with a concert bringing the volunteers together in a sense of camaraderie. Many other members of the community joined in as we sang well-known songs to lift morale.

Many life lessons were learned that weekend, like the joys of a hard day’s work, which I’m sure we will take into our future lives. We left knowing our presence (and muscle) had helped property owners Joe and Mary who were certainly doing it tough like so many around Australia. Our thoughts go out to all who were impacted.

The experience would not have been possible without the generosity of spirit from Mr Brad walker and Mrs Clare Walker who also gave up their weekend not just to drive the 550 kilometre round trip but to help open our eyes to the full impact bush fires have on communities. We are truly grateful for the opportunity to have helped-out in this time of need.