I have, as some of you know, spent time with my friend in America in the past following the devastating fires they have had in California. In fact the house I used to stay in burnt down one year and when we went to visit what was left was like a scene from "War of the Worlds", horrible to see what people had gone through. Pictures and the news is not quite the same as reality. This past year her daughter, with whom I have become great friends, went through fires in her area but thankfully her home was left unscathed although they were evacuated at one time.
My little sister (younger and smaller) lives in NSW, Australia and my cousin is in Ballarat so I have a vested interest you might say for wanting to keep up to date about the fires in Oz. Also there is my dear friend Shaz who posts on WOYWW and whom I met one day when she came over to Manchester to stay with relatives and then a few years later when she made the trip again.
So you can, as no doubt guess, any news on the fires in Australia is foremost in my mind and through the media I have picked up on one or two things that have left me in tears. How far can we trust what we read in the media. We know how they can manipulate words so that we question what we are reading - truth or fiction? We can only read what we see and follow this up with real life stories whatever and whenever possible.
Last weekend when we spoke my sister said she is lucky in the fact that Goulburn has not been ravaged by fire - as yet. But fires rage all around them and every morning when they get up there is a layer of white ash over all the window sills and furniture. She told me they estimate that one billion animals and birds have died to date, she has been reduced to tears to see, for example, burnt out land littered with charred bodies of animals caught by the fire on TV. The news does not always relate reality like that ATM machines are not working and people are running out of money, supermarket tills are not working and whilst Australia has dealt with bush fires before they have been able to go to another state for provisions and/or money - now every state is being affected and in the same boat. People who have fled their homes are now saying "pack as much food, tinned, as you can when you leave your homes".
My cousin in Ballarat wrote that a day before she could see the trees at the back of the houses across the street and that was it, that day she could see a little further. The fires are 4-500 kilometres away but she could still smell the smoke and that there was a real sense of sadness and gloom around the place.
Those on WOYWW may recall Shaz in Oz telling us about two firefighters who had lost their lives just before Christmas when a tree hit their truck following a call out - you can read about volunteer firefighters here.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-50887982
Harrowing pictures have emerged of people living on the beaches, of animals burnt and receiving treatment or running away from the fire. These are the pictures that tug at our heart strings and make us ask "What can I do to help?" I did, originally have a whole host of pictures I had picked from the internet to show on my blog but then I thought that some of them may be too upsetting to most, and if you want you can search in Google for things that you want to know and see.
An article - a set of Tweets, by a guy raised in Australia but now living in Germany set me off on the trail of looking into the fires and wanting to help, can be read here on the Bored Panda site
https://www.boredpanda.com/australian-wildfires-new-south-wales/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic
There are, as well, a few handfuls of conspiracy theorists insisting that this is all fake news. But they're being drowned out by Australians thankful for the support, and non-Australians enthusiastically looking for the best way to make a difference.
A wallaby licking its burnt paw
So if you have stayed with me, followed the links and read the words of Bodie Ashton you will no doubt now feel that you want to do something and join in with the hundreds and thousands of complete strangers around the world who are putting their hands up saying I WANT TO HELP.
Remember seeing it on tv that Serena Williams had donated her prize money to the fire relief?Australian comedian Celeste Barber has raised more than 26 million dollars in under a week to help fight the deadly bushfires, Chris Hemsworth pledged one million dollars to bushfire relief charities and Kylie Minogue, Selena Gomez and Nicole Kidman have donated large individual sums. No doubt there are others - this is BIG!
There are lots of places you can donate to, depending on where you want to help maybe, but this country is going to take a long time to recover and I personally feel they need as much help as they can get. The broader picture takes us into what we are going to do in the future to help save our plant but for the moment here are one or two places you can make donations to. Thanks!
Red Cross Disaster Relief and Recovery:
South Australia Veterinary Emergency Management (SAVEM), which enters fire zones to rescue and tend to native wildlife, pets, and livestock: https://www.savem.org.au/
