Reflecting on the Queensland Floods, One Year on.
Submitted by Geoff, 9 Jan 2012
One of the pieces of Children's Art to feature in the upcoming exhibition
Normally I would say that it only seems like yesterday that it was January 2011, however this time around January 2011 seems like a long time ago. If I were sitting where I am now, this time last year, then I would literally be over my head in brown water and so would thousands of other people around Queensland.
Over the holidays I have engaged in many conversations about the floods of 2011 and almost everyone feels that the waters stole their annual rest. So I think Queensland has been looking forward to this new year with a strange mix of emotions:
Hope, anxiety, reflection and, we all hope, relief.
From United Way Queensland’s perspective whilst we were badly flooded we were also very lucky that we had the support of many corporate and community partners which made a fluent recovery possible. However many communities are still feeling the effects of the disaster today. Many people are yet to return to their homes and perhaps never will.
Nevertheless, its also worth reflecting upon the goodwill that the disaster unearthed and created. I don’t think anyone who witnessed the armies of volunteers trudging the streets, wading the waters, offering help to strangers will ever forget the pride that I think we all shared:
good things emerged from the recovery.
One good thing is that the flood drew United Way into the community of Goodna. A sequence of referrals got us talking to some local Goodna charities and this ultimately lead us to the Goodna State School. What we found there was the Step into Prep Playgroup that was focused on getting the local children ready for their first day at school. This is exactly what United Way is also focused on and so a closer relationship grew over the year. United Way and the Goodna State School even put together an art exhibition that is currently being displayed by some of our corporate partners like Fuji Xerox Australia and the Commonwealth Bank. The art was done by the children of Goodna after they returned to school in 2011 and it reflects their memories of the floods in their community.
This year United Way will work on building more relationships in the Goodna community and contribute to the playgroup’s goal of getting children ready for their first day at school. So yes, over the past year there has been some good things to emerge from the flood waters and they will also be a part of our reflections over the next few days.