New re-locatable classrooms being readied for use at Halswell School.
A photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Pieces of iron fretwork from the entrance of the Warners Hotel which have been carefully laid on the ground outside. This shows the careful salvaging which has taken place in order for pieces to be re-used later".
A photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Pieces of iron fretwork from the entrance of the Warners Hotel which have been carefully laid on the ground outside. This shows the careful salvaging which has taken place in order for pieces to be re-used later".
A photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Pieces of iron fretwork from the entrance to the Warners Hotel carefully laid on the ground in front of the building. Thisshows the careful salvaging which has taken place during the demolistion of many heritage building in order to be able to re-use significant pieces later".
A photograph of a make-shift toilet in the Christchurch Art Gallery. A sign behind it reads, "Portaloos Department. We know that 80,000 people need loos. We have 900-1800 available or coming, We don't need to be told people need loos. Thank you. We're number one with your number twos!". Signs below this read, "Toilet Occupied", "Toilet Vacant" and, "In Tray". The Art Gallery was used as the temporary headquarters for Civil Defence after the 22 February 2011 earthquake.
Alan Hoskin, a member of the University of Canterbury's E-Learning team, in their temporary office in the James Hight building. The photographer comments, "First looks at our new temporary (maybe) office space. Our group will stay here until April or May 2011, then will move to another floor in the Central Library. 700 hall with Alan. The corridor has a small seminar room at the end, and our offices on the right. To the left is the open sitting and reception area; we're trying to think of ways to make use of this".
The entrance to KB02, the University of Canterbury's Digital Media Group temporary office in Kirkwood Village, the complex of prefabs set up after the earthquakes to provide temporary office and classroom space for the university. The photographer comments, "The e-learning group and the video conferencing team are now located in the Kirkwood Village at the University of Canterbury. It's a very impressive project, about 60 buildings arranged in various configurations with some used for teaching or computer labs, and others as staff offices. We will probably stay here for several years now. The front doors. We'll need to advertise our presence once we're settled in".
A faded yellow sticker stuck to the window of a house on Avonside Drive. It has been issued by the Christchurch City Council and reads, "Restricted Use. No entry except on essential business. Warning: This building has been damaged and its structural safety is questionable. Enter only at own risk. Subsequent aftershocks or other events may result in increased damage and danger, changing this assessment. Re-inspection may be required. The damage observed from external inspection is as described below." It goes on to set out the conditions for entry to the building and information about the inspector. The sign is so faded that the handwritten information is almost illegible.
A photograph of a sign taped to a window. The sign includes a bullet pointed list of humorous observations about Christchurch following the February 2011 earthquake. The sign reads, "You know you're from Christchurch when: you use the term 'liquefaction' and 'seismic design' in casual conversation; digging a hole and shitting in your garden is no longer weird; your mayor describes the city as munted. If he means FUBARed, you agree; weaving through car size potholes on the street is no longer weird; a shower is heaven; you have a preference of which kind of silt you'd rather shovel, dry or wet; you see tanks...driving around town; you are always noting what you are under; due to frequent aftershocks during the night, you sleep like a baby - every 10 minutes you wake up and shit yourself".
A video of a presentation by Thomas Petschner during the Resilience and Response Stream of the 2016 People in Disasters Conference. The presentation is titled, "Medical Clowning in Disaster Zones".The abstract for this presentation reads as follows: To be in a crisis caused by different kinds of natural disasters (as well as a man made incidents), dealing with ongoing increase of problems and frequent confrontation with very bad news isn't something that many people can easily cope with. This applies obviously to affected people but also to the members of SAR teams, doctors in the field and the experienced humanitarians too. The appropriate use of humour in crisis situations and dis-functional environments is a great tool to make those difficult moments more bearable for everyone. It helps injured and traumatised people cope with what they're facing, and can help them to recover more quickly too. At the same time humorous thinking can help to solve some of the complex problems emergency responders face. This is in addition to emergency and medical only reactions - allowing for a more holistic human perspective, which can provide a positive lasting effect. The ability to laugh is hardwired into our systems bringing a huge variety of physical, mental and social benefits. Even a simple smile can cultivate optimism and hope, while laughter can boost a hormone cocktail - which helps to cope with pain, enhance the immune system, reduce stress, re-focus, connect and unite people during difficult times. Humour as an element of psychological response in crisis situations is increasingly understood in a much wider sense: as the human capacity to plan and achieve desired outcomes with less stress, thus resulting in more 'predictable' work in unpredictable situations. So, if we approach certain problems in the same way Medical Clowns do, we may find a more positive solution. Everyone knows that laughter is an essential component of a healthy, happy life. The delivery of 'permission to laugh' into disaster zones makes a big difference to the quality of life for everyone, even if it's for a very short, but important period of time. And it's crucial to get it right as there is no second chance for the first response.