Barnaby Bennett

Chur Chur: Stories from the Christchurch earthquake

we are: www.projectfreerange.com

On the 22nd February 2011 the people of Christchurch experienced  the most destructive earthquake in New Zealand’s young recorded  history. It was the third large earthquake to hit the region in the past six months, the first being a 7.1 earthquake on the 4th September 2010. At the time of publishing 182 people have died, thousands are homeless, scores of buildings have been destroyed, and the central city is still closed to the public. This special issue of Freerange is a window into the experiences of some who are affected.

“Many people are still homeless and jobless, and some have lost loved ones. I can get my head around the physical damage that Christchurch has sustained, but the emotional I find hard to understand.  I wish I could assure my friends that it will be over soon… but it won’t. I can’t relate to their trauma and shock, to the stress they are living in, and I can’t share their burden of a life so changed by one event. But I can listen to their stories and I hope that helps. That is what this special edition of Freerange is about. Let’s listen, it’s the least we can do.”

Gina Moss

Your donations will help us print 500 copies of this book, we want to give copies away for free to people in Christchurch. We will also use the issue to fundraise for a school rebuilding project that Architecture for Humanity are doing in Christchurch. 

“It's helpful to tell our stories and that's mine. I have life and limb and all my loved ones but the emptiness reminds me  that I'm human and I need love and support. I know I have  that in big measure. Whether we’ve lost a little or a lot the  reality is that for each one of us in Christchurch that day,  life has changed forever. I will never be the same again.  I don’t say that in an airy fairy way, I just know that my heart has been broken in a way I can’t explain and it has affected me at a very basic level.”

Madeleine Peacock.

All proceeds from the sale of this special edition will go to the work Architecture for Humanity is doing in Christchurch.

Featuring:

What the Drummer said to the Drum by Gary McCormick

Madeleine’s Story part I and II by Madeleine Peacock

Earthquake Moments by Alison Locke

Show Us Your Long Drops

Blow Off Valve by Johnny Moore

Sienna’s Story by Sienna Kahurangi Newberry

Evil Genius by Ben James

Lessons from a 6.3 by Tony Brunt

Photography by Gina Moss and Tony Brunt