Precipice
Stories of landslides and community restoration in Muriwai New Zealand following the devastating 13 February 2023 Cyclone Gabrielle.
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Precipice
Are you OK? Community Initiatives after a Traumatic Weather Event. Ep.26 Precipice Podcast
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I speak to Helen and Rowan Aish in this episode. Mother and son and long time Muriwai residents, Helen and Rowan work in mental health and provided mental health care and support to the Muriwai community after Cyclone Gabrielle.
We talk about meetings set up for the community to give people tools for dealing with this traumatic event, offering counselling support, supporting children through this period by using play therapy and providing a safe place for them to talk
Helen discusses the helpfulness of EDM treatment, supporting people with the impact on relationships, and parent concerns for their children’s mental health.
Rowan emphasises the importance of providing community spaces for people to talk, the research he did to support the work and creating helpful resources and workshops.
And both Helen and Rowan share their reflections, observations and great mental health advice for parents, couples and individuals who have been impacted by a traumatic event.
Precipice launched on July 20th 2026. 3 seasons will be released across 4 weeks and then the full series of 26 episodes will be available for you to listen to at your leisure.
Season 1: Cyclone Gabrielle Hits Muriwai
Season 2: Disaster Recovery and Community Restoration
Season 3: Community Initiatives after a Cyclone
Listen on You Tube https://www.youtube.com/@precipicepodcast
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Hosted and produced by Mandy Jakich. Commissioned and funded by Muriwai Community Association, supported by the Auckland Council Recovery Office.
On the 13th of February 2023, the small vibrant coastal community of Mutawai Beach, northwest of Auckland, New Zealand, was ripped apart by Sonic Lone Gabrielle. This podcast captures what happened on the night and in the days, months and years that followed. Join me, Mandy Yaku, as I speak to fellow Mutterwai locals, volunteers and those involved in the emergency and recovery effort. Hear about their experiences of lost and upheaval, the impact on their lives, and the community-led initiatives that helped Mudouai find a way forward. Welcome to Precipice. Mother and son and longtime Murawai residents, Helen and Rowan work in mental health and provided mental health care and support to the Midawai community after Cyclone Gabrielle. We talk about meetings set up for the community to give people tools for dealing with this traumatic event, offering counselling support, supporting children through this period by using play therapy and providing a safe place for them to talk. Helen discusses the helpfulness of EDM treatment, supporting people with the impact on relationships, and parent concerns for their children's mental health. Rowan emphasizes the importance of providing community spaces for people to talk. The research he did to support the work he did.
SPEAKER_00I started off with trying to reach people that were really involved in the Christchurch earthquakes. So professionals and academics that were had done a lot of research there and had worked there to try to find out what we can do to reduce the long-term impacts of trauma.
MandyAnd creating helpful resources and workshops. And both Helen and Rowan share their reflections, observations, and great mental health advice for parents, couples, and individuals who have been impacted by a traumatic event.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, my name's Helen Aish, and I am a counsellor and have been for a really long time. I've also lived in the Modiwai community for a really long time. It's 46 years this year. I guess my experience of the community obviously has changed a lot over time, but the cyclone would have been one of the key factors in terms of my relationship with the community. I brought up my son Rowan. I was a single mum, which um had its pluses and minuses in terms of the community. I think back in the day, single mums weren't that accepted. However, I also experienced a lot of amazing support from people in the community back then, when I really needed it as a single mum. So um, yeah, that's me, I think, at this point.
MandyThank you. And uh we are joined also by your son, Rowan Aish. Um, Rowan, would you like to introduce yourself?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, thanks. Um, yeah, so I'm Helen Aish's son, Rowan, and I think that's pretty much how I'm known in the community. Um I was raised by Mum, and I also think of myself as being raised by uh what's now Makati Bay, um, because mum spent so much time down there, and uh and those were really formative um experiences. And so sort of my other parents were probably the surfers out at out there, um what we used to call Maldy Bay. Um and uh I continue to be around. I'm I'm living in the in the Mirawide Valley um these days with my my family and my raising my kids. Um and yeah, get out surfing as much as possible, but not as much as I'd like. And so I sort of feel at a at a slight distance from the community these days just because I'm so busy with family and work and study and things like that. I'm completing my psych uh psychology masters um with the intention just to become registered as a general psychologist. Um it's completing a journey that started years and years ago, um, where I finished my about 10 years ago, I finished my bachelor of of psychology and have worked in mental health ever since. Um and I've sort of occupied a number of roles in the last 10 years, but currently working um with uh of all things uh sexual offending, harmful sexual behavior, and um and uh mostly with children and youth. Um so that's that's sort of where I'm currently at. Um at the time of the cyclone, I was working for a local uh charity um called Kindred Family Services that do quite a lot of sort of counselling and mental health support um in our area. So that's um what I'll speak a bit more about.
MandySo Helen, you were very involved with supporting people who were going through, you know, the the consequence really of experiencing the trauma of a site of Cyclone Gabriel. So um basically in in Muri. So you you were a person that a lot of people leant on for mental health support. Can you talk to us about how that sort of started to happen and when and what you were able to do to kind of set things up with people?
SPEAKER_03Yes, well, that was actually quite a collaborative um effort with with Rowan um and with Kindred Family Services. I was contracted to Kindred, I have been for a very long time. Um so um the initial thing, we had the site climb, we were all profoundly shocked, but my personally I was not impacted um in any physical way. I live on the side of the hill where it was not impacted. So um I was in a good position to kind of be there in a in a kind of whatever way was going to be helpful. Um and the first thing that that kind of we did was one of the counsellors who I was um part of our little counselling group in Waimaku, Brigita, um she had just done a training on trauma and she was very keen to offer this to the community. So she and I worked together to run a little group, um, just just a one-off, but it was really well attended by the community down at the Surf Club, just talking about really useful things about um how to look after ourselves when something like this has happened. So um sort of releasing trauma from the body type techniques and um learning how to talk to ourselves, how to look after ourselves, how to have good ground, good boundaries, all the really basic stuff. But I think it was really a useful um little meeting straight on. After discussion with Rowan, and he will talk a bit more about what he was trying to do in terms of um researching with other places that had possibly been through something similar, but what would help most? So I set up a little group in the surf club um and reached out to other mental health professionals who might be willing to come and offer their expertise. We kind of got going, but it didn't really go for too long. We had some really good meetings, but there were probably only, I don't know, six to ten each time. It wasn't hugely needed. Um so that kind of um petered out when it was evident that that wasn't what was needed.
MandyDo you feel like it was actually needed potentially by people, but that maybe wasn't the platform that they were comfortable with?
SPEAKER_03I think that's right. Um there were a few comments about yeah, what was what it would be helpful? People didn't really want to talk about their experience in that forum. Going over it again just was too hard. Um so offering what, you know, just talking about what um supports are there and how we support each other and that kind of thing. I think it could have been much better planned. That's my learning from that.
MandyWhat would you do differently, or what would you advise other communities to do when setting up something like that?
SPEAKER_03I think having a really clear agenda. Um, so I tried to do that actually. Um, so each week we could let people know, look, this is the talk that's going to be happening this week, but it could have um reached out better. There's this amazing WhatsApp group, which I'm sure you've talked about. I have not been on it, but the Red Stickered Houses, and there's another one I think, but where information was shared very readily. And so people on that group helped to share some of this info so that people were aware of it. But I I think I could have had a more direct um involvement and just kind of look, this is what's happening, it's what we're offering. If it's helpful, do come along. But um there's a timing thing there too. And I mean, everybody's just struggling to fit into their new houses, keep their children going. I think the most helpful ones were when we talked about children, impacts on children, how to support our children. I think they were probably the most helpful ones. It was great at the Steve Club. There was so much happening there, and the all of the clothing and the everything that was donated. So people were coming and going there. We were in the kitchen area and having our little group down the end then. Um so it was a thriving hub of activity. So it kind of all kind of fitted with what was going on. Well, beyond that, I guess um just getting my get making sure people were aware that if they wanted there was counselling support available. And that was put up there. And there was another counsellor, a retired counsellor who lived in Muriwai who came along to the meetings and put his name forward as well for people to talk to. There was support. And and I talked to several children at the time too, because understandably, I think for most people they're so worried for their children. And in actual fact, the children I saw were remarkably upbeat because they had had amazing parents who just made it okay for them. And of course, the ones who bring their children along are particularly um that way, I guess. But yeah, it just so just providing a place for the children to chat about that if they wanted to, or anything they wanted to, was one of the things I provided. I have done training as a play therapist, so um that was yeah, that that seemed um as uh kind of helpful, I think. But mostly, yeah, it was just being able to m connect with um adults. Some people asked me to try to connect with someone they were worried about, and sometimes that was helpful and sometimes not. I know a lot of people would have sought counseling out of the community because you don't always want to talk to someone you're going to keep bumping into. Um, but there were quite a few people who came along and I got to know some lovely, lovely people in our community who came and shared their experiences, and we just talked. And and I I have a training in a type of therapy for trauma that's called EMDR, which is eye movement. I'm waving my fingers because that's what we do. We follow fingers, uh follow the fingers, so the eyes go backwards and forwards. So that was quite helpful for quite a few people who found that just when there's that the impact of that awful thought that's connected with the trauma. We can actually do some really helpful work and in a very short time with with that. So yeah, and some people still come and see me, which is really nice. Yeah.
MandyYeah, that's amazing. And I imagine, you know, three years on, the impact of that trauma is still there for some people.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it it changes over time. And um well, yeah, I guess the um recent inquests that were held really brought up a lot of really difficult emotions for people. It's um the detail of what happened and to some people was kind of um explored, talked about in depth in over a whole week period. And that that was very painful, I believe. But um part of the process of moving on, yeah, when we can really really look at those things in depth, because part of survival is to pop these experiences somewhere and just get on with living, but these things need to be processed. So um the inquests I think might have had some help, some assistance in that.
MandyAnd were there certain things that you noticed that people were suffering from?
SPEAKER_03Uh everyone's experience was so different. I couldn't normalize or make it a common experience. A really common theme was relationships, the impact of this, and then recognizing that within a family we all deal with trauma in different ways. And for some people that can be quite sort of shocking. And who is this person I'm living with? Um and and as I said before, for parents, that that concern for their children was overwhelming. So once they kind of knew their children were doing all right, they could start thinking about themselves.
MandyDid you talk to any people or did you notice anybody suffering from survivor guilt?
SPEAKER_03Oh, it's an interesting one, isn't it? I had a bit of that myself. Yeah. No, I didn't have anyone come to me to specifically talk about that. I became aware of people, some sort of mutterings, um, of people who were severely impacted, kind of feeling a bit, what what's what are those other people doing? You know, they've they're just sailing on and and they've they're just fine, and we're all still in the middle of deep pain and agony. Um so I kind of was more aware of that side of it, I think, than on the other side. Because extraordinary how quickly life continues. We were we were all shut off, as we know, for quite a while, wasn't it? The streets were closed and nobody allowed in, which made it a really special community, I think. We felt very connected with each other and and not having all the sightseers and people coming in. Um was actually very healing and really, really good, um, I think. And I think people I talked to generally felt like that.
MandyRowan, can you talk to us about how you were involved after the Cyclone Gabriel and what you noticed in the community?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, sure. Um I'll probably just speak to something Mum was saying. I think I'm a little bit biased, but Mum's an incredible, incredibly humble person, and I think she maybe underestimates the value of her being available to the community, um, even if it wasn't accessed by large numbers of people. Um, I think what I noticed was a huge sigh of relief from people who knew, oh, there's someone who can hold that space. And um I think there were some really key people I'm sure you've interviewed or will interview who were, you know, really fundamental in rallying the resources of the community, which you know, I'm sure I'm guessing will come out of your your own um exploration of list as being a really key um uh uh part of recovery, um, especially in that early phase. And and those people were holding so much, people that weren't necessarily themselves directly affected, but you know, we're in that kind of similar to where where mum was in terms of um you know being in the community but not directly affected, and then carrying this massive um burden of responsibility or something to kind of um to support and and and um and help um their their close friends and and community members. So those people were it felt like to me um working day and night. And um and I was initially um I should say I wasn't directly affected either. I was living in the I just moved to the valley actually, um, so actually cut off for three days with no communications um and didn't know that this anything had gone on. And when I when we finally got out of our road, it was a real shock, but um, but obviously so lucky um where we were. When I when I was sort of reaching out to these people that were organizing things like the the can you know the that that community response um and that kind of hub of um communications, um I I felt like there were people there working day and night um and carrying a huge amount of stress. But I remember when somehow officially designated mum uh as having that um that role of being someone that anyone in the community can go to and her being really available to that, there was this kind of it felt like there was some part of a uh a weight lifted off their shoulders. And so when you when you mum mentioned that, you know, people were saying, Oh, there's this person who should who needs to come and see you, and whether they came to see you or not, for that person making the referral, I think that was really significant part of them being able to kind of put that aside and get on with all the other practical concerns. And I think there was a symbolic kind of role there too, um, where I in my memory, I think it was the the next day, but you you were saying paper it was the day after. But I remember there's been heaps of people come who came to me around that time saying, Oh, you know, we're all huddled in the surf club and and it's flooded, it's you know, there's just still pouring with rain, and you know, it's it's like this whole everything's upside down, right? And then and then mum, there's mum with her dog um heading out to the beach and going for her swim. And there's huge waves, which she does every morning, and she's so known for that, and that's the thing that everyone always says to me I saw you, Mum, you know, and then walk and walking back up YTR road. And walking back up YTA road, yeah. And uh it was kind of like okay, there is kind of hope of something normal. I know, I yeah, I think there were there that that was um a nice symbolic kind of gesture, but I think um in terms of the practical side of the response, I because working in mental health, I and and feeling like I I didn't know how to help, you know, by feeling really like wanting to, like everyone else, just really wanting to do something. I started to research and try to reach out as quickly as possible. My my work with Kindred Family Services kind of just gave me that that space for a few days to just really focus on myself. I started off with trying to reach people that were really involved in the Christchurch earthquakes, um, so professionals and academics that were had done a lot of research there and and had worked there, um, to try to find out what we can do to reduce the long-term impacts of trauma um for the community. And I got kind of mixed responses. Um I did get some useful information which I kind of put together in these information sheets and tried to just sort of push them out and printed out heaps of copies and stuff, just around how we talk to our children, how we talk to each other about about things so that they can uh be processed in ways that will be kind of um healthy um down the track. Um but really that was just a kind of reach clutching its draws response, I think. I for example, I I organized a psychiatrist who was really involved with Christchurch response to talk with the leadership kind of circle.
MandyRowan's talking here about the emergency response group that was set up in Muduay.
SPEAKER_00I remember and then Mum was involved in that conversation. I remember them later saying to me, Yeah, I mean, he was okay. But God, thank God your mum's involved, you know. And when she said this, I felt so relieved, you know, and and I realized, okay, so they they maybe they're not needing to know the details or you know, um to get the kinds of complex mental health support that we maybe imagine they might be able to provide having all that experience. Um but knowing that there's someone there who they can talk to um was was important for them, and knowing that there's someone there who they can send people to who they think aren't maybe aren't coping, those two things were important.
MandyDo you think that people just felt more comfortable going to Helen because she lived in the community, she experienced the cyclone, she knew a lot of the people. You know, do you think that for other communities who go through events like this in the future, do you think that is a a a bonus?
SPEAKER_00I'd say 95% of people are gonna just speak with each other, and that's gonna be the best mental health support they can get. In hindsight, I look back and go, okay, those community spaces that were created where people could just talk and debrief and share and be supported and be heard, you know, that that was the vast majority of what people really needed. And mum was going to do that anyway, and she was going to be around, and people were going to talk to her anyway because they know her as someone who can have these kinds of conversations. I kind of quickly kind of pivoted to just trying to resource her. And anyone else in the community who had similar kinds of role or experience. I mean, there were a couple who we also, who kindred also um resourced. Um, although I will say, like, we probably, you know, she was probably funded for 20% or maybe 10% of what she actually did in terms of the work, um, because some of it was formal, but so much of that is informal. Um, and people knew they could stop in or call her or stop her in the street and chat, and and that that was going on all the time. Once once we kind of realized what was sort of needed was just to facilitate these spaces, we we tried resourcing those groups that mum talked about, and and obviously they were important, I think, for a little while, but and mom's kind of spoken to that. But the second kind of um tear responding was was to was that we arranged a bunch of um kind of workshops for families because there was uh yeah that kind of anxiety around how will our kids be affected by this. Um and they were very well attended, and the information was useful, but I think the most useful piece of the information was don't worry, give it some time. Um, it was almost like relieving some of the anxiety. So if I was thinking about this as a if I was talking to another community going through something similar, just those really fundamentals are important, you know, um uh giving your children space, um providing them love and support and safety, reassuring them that things will be okay and um and giving yourself the same. Um and then over time, you know, if children who who receive that kind of support are gonna be fine, you know, most of the time. And if there's a more complex need showing up, those can be dealt with later down the track. There's not a need for really high-level intervention at that early phase. And that was the feedback I got from other communities as well. Was um it was it was really simple stuff that kind of most parents intuitively kind of know anyway. We then later on arranged through the parent place um some workshops. Um, and this was probably like a couple of months down the track, and they were really well attended as well. And they were kind of like uh for people that felt there was still um some like, I don't know, signs of trauma, I suppose, in their families to come and talk about how you support kids who've been through traumatic events. Probably one of the most beneficial things about those spaces was that people got together again, talked, can connected and shared, and felt less alone and and felt more confident that they could support their kids.
MandyI asked Helen how some of that trauma might present for some of the children who experience the cyclone.
SPEAKER_03Every child's so different. And um so any change, significant change in behaviour um is is definitely something that parents would be worried about and come and talk about. So then they might be extra um aggressive or something with siblings when that's not their normal behaviour. Um, not being able to sleep, um going really, really quiet and and just not really engaging with anybody. That that was quite um something I heard quite a bit about.
SPEAKER_00Were you seeing responses to the rain?
SPEAKER_03That that yeah, and that's ongoing, isn't it? Yeah, we just had another little cyclone, and and I know you know the waiting for it to come brought up a lot of strong feelings within me, and I can only imagine what people were feeling in the community. Yeah, so like any significant rain, um yeah, it does create fear. There's no question. And I do know people who will ensure their own safety and move um into a place where they can be absolutely certain that there's not going to be any further slips, even now, um, with the the way the the the impact of this weather.
MandyAnd I do wonder if that's going to sort of affect the whole of New Zealand and potentially lots of different parts of the world. Did you feel that there was a lot of support coming from outside the community, maybe from government organisations or local council?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, there was support coming in. There's a mental health organisation, and it was government, who sent in somebody um to be at the surf club um to be available for people to just come and talk to. And I believe that people did make good use of that.
MandyThat's good. And is that something that, you know, for other communities experiencing this, is that something that would just happen, the government would come to the community, or is there something that somebody needs to do to kind of get those wheels turning?
SPEAKER_03I'm assuming that there was a real awareness that this is a community that needed help, and then bringing in resources to do it from outside the community to do so. And I think in this case they they were there, did a great service, but they're also needed elsewhere. So we're happy to hand over when they there were people within the community who could offer something as well.
MandyWould you say the um the need for sort of returning to normality is a really important part of people's healing? Yes.
SPEAKER_03I'd say that's really important. Yeah, just getting um structure back into your life. Um yeah, the not knowing where where you could live if your home was going to be, if you're going to be allowed to return to your home, um caused that was a cause of huge anxiety for people. Many people I spoke to put enormous love and resources into their beautiful homes and no idea if they're going to be able to keep them. And many lost beautiful homes. Yeah, there's real grief afterwards, but anxiety leading up to those times of of knowing. But trying to settle into wherever the temporary accommodation may have been and establishing normal routines was really important. And I think people pretty well.
unknownYeah.
MandyAnd I noticed that a lot of families sent their children back to school quite quickly, which was for them, I guess, some form of normalcy.
SPEAKER_00Can I just jump in? I I think there is something really important about timing there because I think just on agents outside agencies, I remember the Kai Collective coming in and providing that kind of food distribution kind of hub, and then it became a wider distribution of you know things that that people were donating to the community. And there's probably a lot more to that that I I'm only just seeing that from it from a distance. But um when I was there, when I would go down to the hub, I'd felt that, you know, in terms of mental health, that was playing a really important role, probably a more important role than than the external kind of mental health person who ended up kind of there in the immediate sense. But then when we talk about timing and and normalcy and things, I think, you know, there's this kind of in-pouring of uh support. And I remember afterwards, you know, that that massive sense of cohesion in the community and and people that weren't directly affected, and some that were feeling really good for a while. Um and uh just feeling so connected and not alone. And um, but then it was such a protracted journey for for that that red sticker kind of community. And probably when we're thinking about what kind of if if another community experiences something similar and they're thinking about what sort of mental health supports are needed, there's that's there's probably a second wave of need. Um that is uh probably you would have seen it, mum, just having been, you know, kind of continuing your work in that kind of long-term sense. But for the first six weeks or so, people are running on a different level of um energy and and and there's all this kind of support, and things are so different, and and there's a lot of um probably stress responses there keeping people going, and then and then there's that uh the more protracted needs, which I would say would show up in in a in more typical ways that we would expect in a mental health kind of support setting where there's maybe that that higher need for more specialist support. Um, and that might be just something to consider when you're sort of planning resourcing of something like this. That you know, if you can uh plan some resources to come in at a at a later stage when when people uh some people are getting on and and the community is returning to normal, and then there's those others who are who things will never go back to normal and and they have to deal with that. I mean, there's probably several waves of often.
MandyWhat I've noticed too in the middle eye community over the three years, there's been there's been so many kind of s shock surprises for people where even recently, apparently, somebody's been told that their house is now, you know, not able to be lived in after always thinking that they were fine and they have to leave and and they've lost their home. And so, you know, that sort of retracted period of time where there's people thinking they're okay and then they're not okay, or people thinking they're not okay and then they suddenly their how their homes are okay and they can go back to their homes, which is also a sort of another level of of pettiness.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, like fighting for your home, fighting it kind of provides something to focus on. And then suddenly that, yeah, that changing, and um and that might be when things begin to settle in from a mental health perspective um for some people.
MandyAnd then there's also that that mental adjustment of going back to a home that you at some point didn't feel safe in, which must be a sort of another ongoing issue.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I remember I took just talking with someone last week about with the cyclone coming up and and then saying, well, actually, I know that my home is safe, that it's been thoroughly engineered, looked at, and and I feel really safe there because of the extensive work the council did to work out what was safe and what wasn't, which I thought was great. Yeah. A huge level of trust in the engineers who carried out all those assessments over a long period of time. Yeah.
MandyThat is good. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03That food hub was amazing. And there was a team, someone would organized a team of people, so they were always, you know, we were all on a roster thing. And people coming in there and just being able to talk and get hugs and and be given food, that was huge. Yeah. The the whole surf club and everything that that was provided there was amazing.
MandyYeah, and there was also the uh mosaic workshops where people were making art together, which was also incredibly powerful.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, that together being the key word, there was such connection that I feel, certainly for me personally, much stronger connection within the community than I'd previously experienced, and it's so special.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. The community did so well because there was some there were a lot of people in our community who were very well trained in organization and accessing resources and uh media and all of these things that an affluent community can access and do very well. And I think that um outcomes would look really different in a community where those resources aren't as strong, or where they maybe need to come from outside, or where the people in the communities just aren't resourced enough financially to make time, or you know, where it's maybe a stronger focus on just surviving and and um and feeding the family. I I imagine that that that um you know I I think we we were very lucky, um, or the community was really lucky to have these sorts of people in it and and have acts and probably proximity to Auckland and all these other factors that were probably really privileged near a while to have a quite a successful response.
MandyIs there any anything that you could think of that that could be set up to sort of help those you know lower socioeconomic communities?
SPEAKER_00It would take resourcing of community leaders um uh with not just money but with um people with it with expertise in in these various areas that we kind of have in in the Mirawar community, um but very much led by the community who's affected, if that makes sense. So a conscious resourcing of probably like you know, you you from where you are now doing this kind of um podcast, you you might have a sense of where those really key needs are and those key skills. Um and and I don't know if if if that's how we respond as a nation when when something like that happens, but I I hope that is how we respond is by identifying what those key needs are and then resourcing the community to maximize uh those areas um through leadership in the community.
SPEAKER_03That's a really sensitive issue because there's I think Ron was saying the working with the key people in the community. So you're not imposing what you think is right, um, but you're working with what people are actually asking for. And um that does require extreme sensitivity, I think.
SPEAKER_00Making resources available and making expertise available to those leaders, and giving them the space to be able to organize and respond.
SPEAKER_03And know what they need, yeah, listening to what they need rather than imposing your own thoughts on that.
MandyYeah, it's really important. Is there anything else you'd like other communities to know around mental health?
SPEAKER_00My my key learning and one thing I'd pass on if someone else was in a similar situation would be it's not some it's not complex when it comes to you know um mental health, uh, you know, respond to responding. It's about being together, it's about feeling supported, hearing each other, um having somewhere to talk and and just be together. Um and and and and those will come through the meeting of basic needs is you know, and those community spaces that that we were lucky enough to have.
MandyWhat would you say your key learning is, Helen?
SPEAKER_03Oh, exactly that. The connections. I I remember how much I loved being part of any community gathering. Um and just connecting and talking to people. And it felt like we all felt kind of similar. Oh my god, it's good to see you and talk to you. And and um so yeah, I agree with Rowan. Let's not get too bound up with you know complex needs, but just making sure the connections are there and able to be maximized and yeah, and that there is a place for that. We were so lucky with our surf club. That was our Mariah, really, and it was wonderful. Yeah.
MandySo is there something hopeful or meaningful you'd like to leave us with, Rowan?
SPEAKER_00Uh, just that people are incredibly resilient and incredibly um generous in times of crisis, and I think it brought out the very best of our community. Um and I think a lot of people look back and and really appreciate um the connectivity and and um and the love that was yeah, present.
SPEAKER_03Alan. Oh, exactly the same. Yeah, yeah, it was it just the it brings out the best in people. Crisis does that. I've often said over the years I've often said that when I meet people in crisis, it's kind of like this is needed to be able to actually allow us to be the best we can be. And although that's probably not um doesn't apply directly to those that going through a cyclone, it did bring out these beautiful qualities and um yeah, that that love and support for each other. And just thinking back and I uh picturing different people that that just stepped up and were amazing, worked worked their asses off to give that practical, wonderful support. And I just mean so much of them.
MandySupported by the Auckland Council Recovery Office, by Tyler Williams, soundtrack by local middleware and people written in response to my thank you to the middlewide community for the input and bravery and for sharing the story, and thank you for the same.
