Schools as community hubs in emergencies

Issue: Volume 102, Number 4

Posted: 30 March 2023
Reference #: 1HA_90

In late January, Auckland experienced the most severe recorded rainstorm in its history. As the water rose in Mt Roskill, two local schools became places of refuge for people who suddenly found themselves displaced.

Wesley Primary School and May Road Primary School opened their facilities to people in need during the flood. Wesley Intermediate provided a van and space to store goods. From left: Rachel Ward-McCarten, principal of Te Kura Waenga o Wēteri (Wesley Interm

Wesley Primary School and May Road Primary School opened their facilities to people in need during the flood. Wesley Intermediate provided a van and space to store goods. From left: Rachel Ward-McCarten, principal of Te Kura Waenga o Wēteri (Wesley Intermediate School); Lou Reddy, principal of Te Kura Tuatahi O Weteri (Wesley Primary School); and Lynda Stuart, principal of May Road Primary School.

It was the Friday night before Auckland Anniversary weekend and Lou Reddy, tumuaki of Te Kura Tuatahi O Weteri Wesley Primary School began to receive messages saying the front of his school was flooded and houses around the school were badly affected. Te Auaunga Oakley Creek had burst its banks and houses just over the road from the school were inundated with up to 1.5 metres of water.

“At about 9pm we started getting text messages and messages on Facebook from people in our community saying their house was flooded and their car wasn’t working, and they were stuck. People couldn’t get out. They were stuck inside homes filled with water – and it wasn’t the safest water, it’s contaminated. About 100 metres down from the school, a fire truck got stuck trying to rescue a family from their house,” he says.

Acts of kindness

Lou, assistant principal Andy Crowe, and Peter and Tili Leilua from ARK (Acts of Roskill Kindness) opened up the school hall for about 16 people. They put down gym mats, found some blankets and because the school operated a Food Bank, they had some food.

“After the Sunday we had over 50 volunteers on site – we had more volunteers than people staying in the hall!

“In the end about 35 people stayed in our hall. Some stayed for a few days then went to emergency housing or hotels, then more came,” he says.

The school soon became aware that more support was needed, so a call was made to Lynda Stuart, principal of nearby May Road Primary School.

“We offered to help in whatever way we could. On Sunday night I got a call and went down to school and opened up the hall. ARK helped set up mattresses, bedding and food before people arrived,” recalls Lynda.

“We had people coming in in the dark and we’re a bit of a building site at the moment. There was an 80-year-old woman we were trying to help through this building site. When you see someone in their 80s having to sleep in a school hall, it’s pretty horrible really. That family slept up on the stage because it took her up off the ground,” she says.

May Road School’s former dental clinic, now a parents’ room, was made available to a pregnant woman and her husband. Most people only stayed a few nights before they found alternative accommodation, but many continued to camp in the hall during the day for some weeks.

Lynda and her team worked alongside the NZ Ethnic Women’s Trust to support Muslim families. Front to back: Lynda with Fadumo Ahmed ( NZ Ethnic Women’s Trust), Asya Abeid and her children Afnan, Yasir and Aisha Soud.

Lynda and her team worked alongside the NZ Ethnic Women’s Trust to support Muslim families. Front to back: Lynda with Fadumo Ahmed ( NZ Ethnic Women’s Trust), Asya Abeid and her children Afnan, Yasir and Aisha Soud.

Meeting complex needs

Lou says the experience highlighted for him the diversity of people, whether it be through culture, religion, physical disability, or simply different world views.

“We have this complex role as principals to advocate for them even though there’s so much diversity. We had 16 people in the hall and another lot of people came who requested a separate room – one Iranian family stayed in my old office.

“There’s another complexity for people with disabilities because there’s access, toilets etc. I think sometimes when you’re in the midst of managing a crisis you don’t think about that – like someone needs a bed slightly higher because they’ve got a leg injury and they can’t get off the ground.

“On the second night we had a lady admitted to the hospital because she had a heart attack. These are just things that you don’t prepare for,” he says.

A community of support

Providing refuge from flood waters was just the beginning for Lou and Lynda. Their schools became hubs for a variety of voluntary and government groups.

“We’ve now helped to house 81 people,” says Lou. “Only about 35 stayed at our school and we’ve helped another 50 odd people through the hub that was set up in my old school hall and office.

“They set up a proper HQ there for triaging people: medical, housing and social support. Pulman Hotel donated a whole lot of furniture, which we delivered. Ford NZ donated a big pickup truck and two Transit vans. We were trying to get people offsite from the school and into temporary accommodation and then mobilise a team of people to clean up the homes,” he says.

Many were involved, including the New Zealand Army, Red Cross, and ARK from Global Hope Missions. MP for Mount Roskill, Michael Wood, worked behind the scenes to activate support for people. Warehouse Stationery and Kids Can donated stationery, McDonalds donated food and the Kindness Collective has been supporting families. Christ the King School and Puketāpapa Rugby Club also provided refuge to traumatised families during Cyclone Gabrielle. 

Responding to diverse needs

Down the road at May Road School, where mainly women and children were accommodated, Lynda was grateful for the New Zealand Ethnic Women’s Trust who helped to facilitate communication with members of the Muslim community.

“We worked a lot with the Women’s Ethnic Trust, and they unpacked why their women needed to be separated. They can’t sleep in an area where there are other nationalities. They were shy – they found it really hard to ask for what they needed, and they would just withdraw. Many of them have already had trauma in their lives.

“When you’re under stress, you want as much comfort as you possibly can have. They needed to be with people like them,” she says.

The Ethnic Women’s Trust offices were also wrecked in the flood, and they will use May Road School’s parent room as their temporary office.

“They need a place and it’s really good for the school to be seen as part of the community,” says Lynda.

Wesley Primary School across the road from badly flooded homes was a safe haven for families such as Vilivaka Aholelei and his family whose home was extensively damaged  by flooding.

Wesley Primary School across the road from badly flooded homes was a safe haven for families such as Vilivaka Aholelei and his family whose home was extensively damaged by flooding.

Schools as safe places

Lynda spoke to a mother who, with her husband, had to get four very young children out of their flooded home. They were helped to safety, but the sheer panic they felt continues to haunt the whānau.

“Talking to that mum, she said even if it looks like there’s going to be the slightest bit of rain, her daughter becomes very anxious. People are being re-traumatised over and over again. When the parents are anxious then the children become anxious, so as principals, we have to be really aware of this and keep that weather eye out and be supportive and try and keep that level of calm for people where life goes out of control,” she says.

Schools are trying to be safe places for whānau and not make demands which could create more stress.

“We’re trying to get our students access to devices. In days gone by [before Covid] we would have said to the parents you can pay these off at five bucks a week. We’re not even wanting to go anywhere near that because we’ve had Covid, we’ve had the floods, the cyclone. There’s uncertainty about what weather event may be around the corner next,” says Lynda.

Support needed for schools

It was a stressful and exhausting start to the year for Lou, Lynda and their school kaimahi. They both say that while schools pride themselves on being hubs of their communities, they need easy access to support and resources when events such as the Auckland floods happen.

“I think that collectively we need to grow resilient communities that can face these kinds of things. Also, the structures shouldn’t always be reliant on schools being able to set up what we’ve set up,” says Lou.

“One of the things we found in Wesley/Mt Roskill is that all the support went to South and West Auckland and then it took a while for people to realise there were hundreds of homes that were flooded in our area. “Now that people have recognised what we’ve done, they want to get on board and get behind it – I’ve been approached by all sorts of groups. I’m looking forward to more collaboration and more support,” he says.

Events such as the flood and Cyclone Gabrielle exacerbate inequities, say Lynda and Lou.

“There’s an inequity in our education system that we battle with every single day. So yes, bring it on as far as the work with our people, because they are why we are here. But give us the support that we really need to be able to do this work,” says Lynda.

It was all hands on deck after flash flooding in Auckland. Back, from left: Rachel Ward-McCarten, Fiona Lai (ARK), Lynda Stuart, Tili Leilua (ARK). Front, from left: Lou Reddy, Andy Crow, Peter Leitua (ARK).

It was all hands on deck after flash flooding in Auckland. Back, from left: Rachel Ward-McCarten, Fiona Lai (ARK), Lynda Stuart, Tili Leilua (ARK). Front, from left: Lou Reddy, Andy Crow, Peter Leitua (ARK).

Long haul

And they’re in it for the long haul.

“This is not going to be something that goes away quickly and we know that it comes off the back of some pretty significant hardship that people have had through Covid. But they still smile – people are amazing,” says Lynda.

“You go in to be a principal and think ‘OK, teaching and learning’ but actually, it’s community support, pastoral care, building project management. It’s so much more than that. It can be the greatest job in the world when it’s all about the people – little people, big people. But shit it’s hard!” she concludes.

Lou and Lynda acknowledge the mahi of their staff and communities, some of whom have been impacted themselves by the January floods.

“Some of the staff at our local schools and our support agencies have been personally impacted, but they are the same people that come out and help others,” concludes Lou.

Further reading

Mount Roskill community stories from the aftermath of the flood

BY Education Gazette editors
Education Gazette | Tukutuku Kōrero, reporter@edgazette.govt.nz

Posted: 11:43 am, 30 March 2023

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