Auckland principal Arihia Stirling saw her students wading through waist-deep waters on Friday, carrying their younger siblings on their shoulders.
She saw them picking up old photos and family treasures that had been swept away in the Auckland floods.
Her community already struggles with homelessness, but even more students were forced out of their houses after contaminated waters surged through their front and back doors.
Schools were closed this week for safety reasons, but as they begin to reopen, educators have their work cut out for them.
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Stirling is the principal of Te Kura Māori o Nga Tapuwae in Mangere, a Māori language kura that teaches students from new entrants to school-leavers.
She is one of the many south Auckland community leaders who have been working tirelessly to keep whānau safe from the ongoing impacts of Auckland’s storm.
“Yes, [the closures] will impact learning, but the main thing now will be checking on the wellness and well-being of our children and their whānau,” she said.
Lawrence Smith/Stuff
Residents across Auckland begin the cleanup following the region’s devastating storm.
Families from Te Kura Māori o Nga Tapuwae, who have been displaced by the floods, are now sheltering in the school’s marae.
The school showers were opened over the weekend for people who needed a place to get clean and dry and Stirling worked with charities to get food to families in need.
“KidsCan [has] bought six pallets of kai: home bake dinners that can be popped straight into the microwave or oven, homemade cookies, chocolate cakes and basics like rice,” she said.
Stirling advocated for skip bins to be placed around Māngere, so the communities could help each other start to recover what they had left.
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KidsCan helped provide food for families in Māngere that have been hit by the floods.
But covering those basic needs was just the beginning, Stirling said.
“Our families can’t sit on the phone for hours. They have no data or they’ve lost their phone to the floods.
“We need to actively get support to our people,” she said.
Stirling is calling for more funding and support for community groups to answer questions about insurance and financial relief.
“It’s not easy, but we have to help,” she said.
Lynda Stuart, the principal at May Road School, has also opened her school doors to community members in need.
May Road school is not an official evacuation site, but families are still sheltering in its halls.
“We’ve partnered with the New Zealand Ethnic Women’s Trust to support people who have been affected by the floods,” she said.
“For some people it’s meant providing some accommodation and for others it’s just been a place to come and talk.
“It looks different on different days depending on the need,” she said.
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May Road School is not an official evacuation site, but families are still sheltering in its halls.
Stuart said she’d spoken with families who were suffering from the storm’s destruction.
“It’s heartbreaking. They’ve lost their homes, and it’s going to take time to build,” she said.
As the school year started, Stuart was getting ready to provide more pastoral support for her students.
“We know people will be coming back to school with varying degrees of how they’ve been impacted.
“We look at the needs of each child and their families and we’ll reach out to provide the very best.”
Stuart said the work was just beginning.
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