I’m Holly, I’m 23 and I live in Christchurch, New Zealand. I’ve just completed a graduate programme for Primary Education and am about to start looking for a permanent job. I blog at Adventures of Holly. Thanks for reading my post! 
It feels strange, sitting here writing this post a little over one year after life in Christchurch, New Zealand changed forever.
On September 4th 2010 there was an earthquake. On February 22nd 2011 there was another earthquake. In the last year, there have been over 8000 aftershocks.
This is something that nobody ever imagines happening to them, but these things have to happen somewhere, and this time it was here.
Other than how scary it is to have the ground beneath you shake so violently that you physically cannot stand up, the main thing I learned from this experience is just how circumstances like this bring people together.
Although the area where I live was lucky enough to be relatively unaffected, other people were not so lucky. I have several friends who have had to move out of their homes due to earthquake damage. Some have lost their jobs. Some haven’t slept through the night since the first quake. 181 people were killed.
But. Beyond all of this, amazing things started to happen in Christchurch. Although everybody was affected in some way, heroes appeared to stand in the gap for one another and do whatever they could to help those who were worse off. In February, USAR teams arrived from around the world to help find survivors and recover bodies. Strangers appeared to help people who needed it. I experienced this myself when I was stranded at TColl after the February quake, with no way of getting home and no cellphone to call for a ride; a total stranger drove me home. Thousands of university students formed a volunteer army to clear up silt and help out those who needed it. Neighbours who barely knew one another are now friends because of what they’ve experienced.
I suppose what I’m trying to say is that when people go through awful, traumatic things, they discover a different side to themselves. A community which is bigger and stronger and more powerful than merely the sum of its parts.
This is the reason I am choosing to stay here. Although the city I’ve lived in all my life has changed forever, with many familiar buildings gone and parts of the landscape unrecognisable, this is still where I want to be, simply because of the people.
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That’s wonderful. So awful about the loss of life and you really can’t take away from the awfulness of that. But sometimes I do wonder if in the West the reason why we are so separate from each other is because of the lack of need… I’m sorry you had to live through something so terrifying, Holly, but so glad that found your community.
It’s funny how trauma brings into perspective what is really important, and the answer always seems to be: people. We saw a flavour of this in Becca’s post when she talked of the fire in her neighbours house, and your story brings a similar tale on a much bigger scale.
Thank you for sharing this story Holly.
Its unfortunate that disasters like this is what it takes to bring people together. But it works itself out and makes the life there better because of all the new friends and family you have made! Stay strong lady!
i think a lot of people in developed nations are desperately needy for community, but feel like there isn’t provision in the way their society works to easily reach out to other people. When we experience shared tragedy and physical need, it becomes appropriate/easier to reach out to and relate to strangers in a way that it doesn’t feel like it is the rest of the time. As alluded to in the comments on Scott’s post, Fresher’s week is another such occasion – where the usual ‘rules’ are relaxed. I’m interested in how church communities can also generate opportunities and activities where it is naturally appropriate to take the initiative in relating to people we don’t know yet. I think shared work and shared experience and shared achievement is an important part of this.