Months of flood clean-up expedited by a selfless Nelson College contingent has been recognised by the holder of the country’s highest office for youth.
Hon James Meager presented Student Volunteer Army accolades to around 70 students for their mahi (work) to remove debris from Tapawera and Motueka Valley farming properties left in wrack and ruin following the Tasman District’s string of severe weather in June and July.
The college’s students inundated volunteer slots for the muddy clean-up in just 20 minutes, which included Year 13 Devlan Stewart, a committed Student Volunteer Army volunteer and who also spearheaded a college fundraiser for the Tasman Mayoral Relief Fund.
“At Nelson College, we’re all taught service is the best sort of leadership that we can embody, and [the flood clean-up] definitely fits that book,” he says.
“Everyone knew someone who was affected, so going and helping out just felt like the right kind of thing to do.”
He says the scene which greeted his group assigned to Motueka Valley was “like a disaster movie”, with evidence of the water line peaking above the waist, pasture blanketed in mud, and livelihoods in disarray.
“Driving to the sites where we were volunteering, you could see the millions of dollars of damage and lost crops and apples, knocked down trees, the dead grape vines - it was actually quite devastating,” he says.
Waterlogged hay bales weighing around 20kg proved arduous removals in the six-hour clean-up for the Motueka Valley volunteers.
Year 12 student Arturo Neale, who was part of the group deployed to clean up a Tapawera farm, says it was just as bad further south.
“Where we were in Tapawera, the fences were all down, covered in mud, rocks were scattered throughout the fields, which were also 30cm deep in mud… everywhere was awful,” he recalls.
He says, while complete silt removal will take longer, the mahi provided solace for the landowners.
“They were so happy, a woman who was living where we were, she said something along the lines of it made her feel really hopeful because previously it was all really demotivating.”
James Meager says his youth portfolio capitalised on development opportunities for local youngsters as the region’s recovery mode began, investing $50,000 to the Student Volunteer Army to support youth volunteers in their efforts to clean up the flood-stricken region.
He says the young men doing good in the flood-hit communities “really impressed” him.
“So proud of the boys who have put themselves forward to contribute to the community and look after their own community and get out there and help those people who really need it,” he says.
As the long recovery proceeds, the involved Nelson College students plan to muck in again when required, and James says through his other government portfolios of hunting and fishing, the South Island and his position as the Associate Minister of Transport, he’ll commit to redeem the region.
“Making sure that over the next 12 months we work towards getting that rain radar in place so that we can better prepare and better respond when weather events like this happen,” James says.
“I’ve got hunting and fishing responsibilities, too. I’ll be working closely with Fish & Game to see what they need in order to make sure that those fisheries are restored and maintained or, if not, enhanced.”
