Between the 25th of February and 2nd of March 2022, a series of severe rain and flooding impacted areas of  South East Queensland to the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales,  the area was severely impacted, with the Tweed, Brunswick and Richmond / Wilsons River catchments experiencing severe flooding,  Over 30,000 homes were flooded in this area.

Soroptimist International of the Gold Coast, lead a post recovery flood appeal to the area,  this was coordinated by member Dorothy Elliott.  Assistance started in March 2022 and continued until August 2022, the Gold Coast club utilised their own funds, as well as donations from other Soroptimist Clubs and clubs in the South Queensland Region, to further assist the club in their response and support to the flood affected communities, the club also sought assistance from the SISEAP Federation disaster appeal.   The following is a report of the assistance provided  by members of the club.  This work displays the importance of Soroptimists in their capacity to be second level responders, which is both rewarding and stressful, as they identify need and efficiently respond.   The following report is provided by Dorothy Elliott the SI Gold Coast Disaster coordinator.  

• 13 schools, 3 community groups, 1250 students benefitted from our donations.
• Approximately $10,000 was donated in cash plus books, Target 10 bags, classroom resources, games, toys, sporting equipment and plants to the combined value of thousands of dollars.

Dorothy spent approximately 700 hours on the project from March to November.

MURWILLUMBAH FLOOD COLLECTION CENTRE - $151.16 in March for desperately needed bottles of liquid laundry detergent and mops

MURWILLUMBAH PUBLIC SCHOOL - $1300 March 17 – used for food vouchers for families losing everything in the floods.  Vouchers were for local IGA, butcher shops, a fruit and veggie barn and shoe shops; also, for canteen lunch order vouchers for students without access to lunches from home.

MURWILLUMBAH EAST PUBLIC SCHOOL - $250 on March 23 used for school uniforms and winter jackets; $400 on May 25 to replace dolls, prams and cars for K – 2 Infants classrooms as well as warm jumpers, $500 on June 27 for lava lamps and headphones for music for the well-being and relaxation hub addressing mental health issues.

TUMBULGUM PUBLIC SCHOOL - $275 April 5 - used for uniforms and stationery items including art supplies: pens, pencils, paint brushes

CONDONG PUBLIC SCHOOL - $275 on April 21 – used to replace musical instruments and classroom resources eg puzzles, magnifying glasses and a microscope.   Two Soroptimist members from Beenleigh and one from Gold Coast personally delivered 90 of Beenleigh’s Target Ten School Packs on May 2, 2022, boxes of Group Readers, library books and dictionaries donated through SI Bayside, as well as a box of new puzzles and board games supplied by local charity You Have A Friend.

After working through the recovery process for several months the staff and students at Condong School decided to create a Memorial Mosaic Mural by the students leaving school this year.  It is to commemorate their final year at their school and will be displayed back at the school which will not be repaired for another year or so.   They received our donation of $500 on October 16.

CRABBES CREEK PUBLIC SCHOOL – $250 on May 13 for playground resources and sports equipment including balls, tennis racquets, hula hoops, skipping ropes and cricket bats.   On May 10 we delivered 30 Target Ten School Packs, several bags of Group Readers and some of Helen Heineke’s boardgames.

MULLUMBIMBY PUBLIC SCHOOL - $275 May 13 for initial donation and $500 on September 6 for setting up passive play spaces and sensory gardens.   In the final roundup of the Flood Appeal a further $350 was received towards the repair and replacement of their fixed playground equipment.

THE SMALL SCHOOL, Murwillumbah – received two bags of Teacher Resources and 12 copies of ‘My first Oxford Dictionary’.

MAIN ARM UPPER PUBLIC SCHOOL – $250 on May 13 for initial donation, $500 on June 27 for Veggie Garden and Sandpit, $800 on August 9 for a Sandpit Cover and Shade Sail.   On August 2 we delivered 100 Target Ten School Packs to a very welcoming staff and school children.  I was able to explain where the School Packs came from and each child was presented with one by their classroom teachers.  We also offered them a box of group Readers, a set of Beatrix Potter Peter Rabbit series, boardgames, 120 sets of Spelling Cards, Maths and Science educational puzzles, and a box of jigsaw puzzles.   These were accepted with great excitement and gratitude.  

The board games and puzzles were personally donated by Catherine Evans and members of SI Canberra and collected and delivered to my door by our very own Bev Ludke.  Catherine is also an ex-member of SIGC.

SUPPORT FOR SENIOR FLOOD VICTIM in Murwillumbah - $250 on June 28 to provide gravel for entrance paths to provide access to the house.

POSSUMS COMMUNITY PRESCHOOL - $600 on July 27 for Art easels and a light box for science experiments. They also received board games, wooden and plastic puzzles and story books.

BURRINGBAR PUBLIC SCHOOL – $500 on August 17 for the Garden Club to design and create an Indigenous Garden with rainforest and bush tucker plants.   In the final roundup of the Flood Appeal $350 was received towards the repair and replacement of their fixed playground equipment.

DUNGAY PUBLIC SCHOOL - $500 on August 24 to replace two native beehives and rainforest plants in the well-being garden.  We visited the school today where each student was presented with a Target Ten School Pack supplied by Vicki Bailey of SI Beenleigh, coloured pens and pencils, colouring and story books for K – 2 donated by a friend of SI Gold Coast and Infants resources and 30 coloured banners from Sue Myers of SI Bayside.  We had an extensive walk through the playground and were able to understand their needs regarding the beehives and rainforest plants for their seriously damaged well-being garden.   Replacing the two lost beehives cost $200, leaving only $300 for replacing dozens of plants lost in the flood.   I offered them another $275 towards the purchase of plants.  They were overjoyed and can now see their way clear to complete their well-being garden.

UKI PUBLIC SCHOOL – no monetary donation was requested but many teaching resources were welcomed such as 30 Painting Aprons, Group Readers, 30 Big Books, Dictionaries, Atlases and Thesaurus, a David Attenborough Wildlife Fact File and a box of classroom and library books as well as 12 art and craft books, a 220p Children’s Dictionary and a 110p Primary Australian History Book.

TWEED SHORES VAN PARK – a large quantity of quality bedding donated by past SIGC member Helen Heineke.

STOKERS SIDING PUBLIC SCHOOL – This is a small school south of Murwillumbah and suffered severely from the floods.   Support for them seems to have been overlooked by the conversation I had with the School Principal today.  Their needs are great but are thrilled with a donation of $500 on September 8 which will go a long way to provide edging for their very damaged sandpit and also a sandpit cover.  This will give the children a greater variety in their limited play area.   Another urgent need is sports equipment which could be a consideration for us to provide in the near future.  A further $100 was donated on September 16 as a direct donation to the school by an ex-member of SIGC in honour of her husband’s historical link to the district and school.

In October Stokers Siding School received a direct donation of $500 from SI Devonport which is going toward the repairs necessary for their severely damaged fixed playground equipment.   In the final roundup of the Flood Appeal in November a further donation of $350 was received towards the fundraising for the repair and replacement of playground equipment.

The Project is almost complete.  Early in the Appeal a member of SI Brighton and Southern Districts launched her own appeal to St Leonard’s College in Victoria for donations of library books and sports equipment.   This was so successful that 30 boxes of books were collected as well as sports equipment.     It is only now that three of our schools, desperate for library books and sports equipment, are able to receive these goods.   We are expecting them at the end of November or early December. 

All donations, either in money or kind, have been overwhelmingly and gratefully received and everyone is looking forward to a brighter future – with thanks to all the donors who responded to our SIGC Flood Appeal.

• 13 schools, 3 community groups, 1250 students benefitted from our donations.
• Approximately $10,000 was donated in cash plus books, Target 10 bags, classroom resources, games, toys, sporting equipment and plants to the combined value of thousands of dollars.

Dorothy spent approximately 700 hours on the project from March to November.

Flood Disaster Report March until July 2022

In the beginning on 2022 extensive rainfall fell in South East Queensland and far north New South Wales.

The flooding was extensive and impacted on many communities, especially smaller communities with little community support due to the volume of damage that had occurred. The SES which supports community, were impacted, everyone needed help. The city of Lismore is one major city in norther NSW still desperately in need of help.

SI Beenleigh over numerous years has created Target 10 Library Bags to support the local schools but have shipped to communities all over Australia impacted by fire, flooding, cyclones and even shipped to Vanuatu.

The Target 10 are packed in January/February each year with a guide of 100 to 200, the money is from RECYCLING CANS and do RAFFLE NIGHTS at Club Beenleigh. This year at our International Women's Day Breakfast we ran raffle specifically for flood affected Tweed Valley.

Our first shipment was done in conjunction with Hit Café in the Precedent (now called Hit Café Beenleigh)

Our Club it is better to work with contacts in an area we know or have a previous working relationship with. The café is owned by a family that came from Coraki (small rural diary area) completely impacted with no access to food or supplies and the diary herds had been scattered everywhere trying to avoid the flood. A truck was organised byt eh owners and the people who use the café donated supplies. (primary dry supplies as no refrigeration or power- but BBQ) SI Beenleigh did Infection/covid packs for those doing the cleaning. In snap lock plastic bags- soap, tissues, masks, disposable gloves, disinfection solutions, notebook and pens(record necessary details), emery board (time for peace and just sit for a few minutes),small toothpaste, brush and person care packs. Large packets of mentos etc for the people and those tidying up would have something to chew on and keep there sugar levels. Bottles of water etc. Other items donated by the local community was soup, noodles, coffee, tea, long life milk, disposable coffee cups, spaghetti, breakfast cereal etc. Three truck loads went in the first ten days. Families to families and given to those that needed it the most.

The Logan Council reached out to us as areas of Eagleby/Beenleigh and Logan went under Flood. The Federal government set up an emergency hub at the local PCYC and reached out for care packs/pamper packs so the people could shower and get their clothes washed. The service groups of Beenleigh- Lions, Rotary, Quota and Soroptimist all provided items. Lions and Rotary- BBQ and food, Quota- support people and linkage, and Soroptimist care packs. (generally have some in stock for emergencies- normally fires)

The following week we started shipping into the Goodna area. Thank you to a local church who had a counselling team on the ground and one of the pastors’ wife, was a former honoury member we were able to ship approximately 75 target packs immediately.

These packs were distributed via numerous domestic violence organisations eg Helen’s Haven and other community groups. Majority were to single families. Liz a previous member of SI Beenleigh and a great sewer contacted and offered to help with her sewing skills.

Blanket Project and Linen

Liz was able to collect or purchase from numerous op shops good quality blankets and modified them to be like a sleeping bag to be utilised in the community shelters for those with no belongings or bedding and were able to take when they returned back to their homes. The people were also supplied with bed linen.

A local Lincraft Store was closing down, and Liz was able to buy all new pillows at a very good cost and these were provided with linen, and these were shipped to Lismore with any blankets remaining.

Next school was within our community, Eagleby South State School. The school was provided with about 125 Target 10 which were grade specific, grades 1 & 2, 3 & 4, 5/6 & 7.

There were some bags donated in the name of our guest speaker we had at a dinner meeting who plays professional AFL for the women’s league and is connected to the school.

A decision to give items of use to those that need at the moment rather than a bottle of wine or chocolates, to our speakers at dinner meetings.

At this stage we applied for the emergency fund from SISWP as a club.

SI Freemantle and SI Canning District in Western Australia have donated to the club and there have been numerous personal donations from fellow Soroptimist and local families.

Approximately 400 more Target 10 bags have been packed with all distributed except approximately 40 held in case of emergency or another request come in.

Distribution was a team effort. SI Gold Coast had an additional link into the Tweed area, Dorothy utilised her links and we used ours.

First delivery was done by Christine Johnstone, Dorothy Elliott and President of SI Beenleigh to Condong School. The devastation observed on the road there and the damage to the school and we visited them at their temporary school. Beside the Target 10 Bags a deliver was made of sets of reading books from SI Bayside, this generosity of SI Bayside was repeated at many more schools in the Tweed Valley and there are still a few boxes to deliver as schools get resettled.

Target 10 have been delivered to Tumbulgum, Middle Arm and Crabbes Creek. Dorothy has done the delivery on behalf of SI Beenleigh due to having a four-wheel drive and we have assisted with fuel expenses.

A School at Chelmer that specialises in CALD clients from refugee families were supplied with a modified Target 10 to meet their needs.

The distribution of Target 10 and books will continue as the year progresses as we are very we have had two very successful raffle nights in May and June, plus we are getting into our RRR.

A financial breakdown is attached.

Apology for the late submission of this report, time has flown, and we have not stopped. Two weeks ago we were assisting families living in cars (total of 30 including children) at Eagleby that have relocated from Lismore hoping to get housing in Beenleigh. There is none. No housing available for the working, homeless or those impacted by floods that lost everything or their houses are unfit to live in.

Thank you to the members of SI Beenleigh, SI Bayside, SI Gold Coast and SI Logan- wew work well as a team. Everyone has their strengths, just need to find them, and thanks to SI Beenleigh’s great Treasurer.

Vicki Bailey

SI Beenleigh President

NB: Target 10 is a library bag, containing a pencil case, colour pencils, HB pencils, eraser, ruler, sharpener, glue stick, scissors, 2 blue or black pens, red pen, depending on the size and buying power 3 to 4 exercise books, folder, sometimes tissues, stickers and little gifts that were donated to us.

Tropical Depression made landfall on 16 Dec 2021, bringing torrential rains throughout Peninsula Malaysia over 3 days. Floods affected 8 states and over 125,000 people were affected with 54 dead and 2 missing. At its height more than 71,000 victims were displaced. The most badly affected were Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Pahang and Perak. Aid poured in from the public and the NGOs.

SI Bangsar decided to raise funds to extend help to those affected.В  They raised funds from members, friends, relatives and the public via social media.В  They received AUD3,000 SISWP's Disaster Relief Fund which converted to RM8,801.05.В  SI Bangsar's Friendship Link Club, SI Helena donated AUD250 amounting to RM688,25.RM.В  They raised a total of RM31,744.30 and added RM2796.60 left over from our Bank Runcit, RM2,668.90 from the service fund and RM1,183,70 from our JB Orang Asli fund making a total of RM38,392.50.В 

Whilst fund raising, SI Bangsar looked for a partner to work with. They connected with Prakash from Sri Satya Sai Global Malaysia. They agreed that they would concentrate outside the Klang Valley, where aid was less available.В  Prakash was familiar with the Karak area in the state of Pahang, flooded by the various rivers and he could arrange storage of goods, ground logistics, staff and transport to distribute the goods contributed by SICB and his network. They recced 4 housing suburbs in Karak Town and SICB decided on Taman Wijaya which comprised 175 single storey houses that were under 2 metres of water. Prakash took them on a shopping trip to Chow Kit to purchase woks, pots and ladles.

11 Jan 2022 ' Distribution of woks, pots, ladles, rice, gas stoves, rice cookers, towels and sanitary pads to Taman Wijaya, Karak Town, Pahang.

12 Jan 2022 ' Delivery of drinking water and groceries to 52 families in Kampong Sg Lui, Hulu Langat whose natural water supply from the hills was disrupted. The amount of RM3640 was borne by Bank Runcit.

11 Feb 2022 ' Distribution of woks, pots, ladles, table fans, electric kettles, gas stoves, rice cookers,В  rice, towels, blankets, biscuits, sanitary pads, diapers, toothbrushes and toothpaste to 2 suburbs viz Taman Lancang Indah, which consisted of single storey terrace houses, and Taman Setia Lancang consisting of low cost houses and timber houses. Lancang Town is 30 km from Karak Town.

The balance of pots, wok, ladles and electrical goods were distributed to inner Karak.

They did not forget the natives - the orang asli in the jungles or at the fringes of the jungles, who were as badly affected by the floods and landslides.В  Items from the cafГ© of SI Bangsar member, Conny Looi. Such as crockery, jugs etc were donated to the orang asli at Pulau Ketam.

They found another partner, John Chin, who had been working with the Orang Asli for 27 years. SICB donated 60 sets of woks, pots and ladles to the natives whose cooking utensils were rusty and battered. John helped distribute to 38 Jakun families at Kg Bugis, Pekan, and other natives in Kampongs in Muadzam Shah and Rompin. Also donating another 60 sets plus rice from Prakash to the orang asli.

SI Bangsar found that the houses of the Orang Asli near Rompin, Pahang, were badly damaged by the floods. They decided to help the nine families repair or rebuild their houses. SI Bangsar bought them the building materials and they provided the labour.В  This repair and building is taking some time as the Orang Asli are working in the nearby rubber estates as well as tending to their little plots where they grow cash crops.В  Therefore they can only work on their houses whenever they are free.В  Also all but 2 of them have decided to build brick houses so that they houses don't get washed away.В  This means that the supplies will not cover the entire cost of building.В  This is another reason for the slow progress, as they have to earn the money to buy more materials.

A 7.5 magnitude earthquake hit Indonesia on September 28, 2018 ravaging the island of Sulewasi, and other parts of Indonesia. The earthquake and following 10ft tsunami destroyed many parts of the region, killing more than 2,200 people with another 5,000 still missing.

Around 68,000 homes had been damaged or destroyed leaving 330,000 people without adequate shelter. With limited access via the airport and roads, many areas are yet to receive assistance.

SISEAP initially funded SI Kemang, who partnered with local medical teams, to provide immediate emergency medical assistance for 500 families. More funding had been given for SI Kemang to dispatch medical supplies, personal care and sanitary items to Sulawesi.

SISEAP had funded SI Jakarta to supply family-sized tents and blankets, primarily to women and girls in Sulawesi areas who had not received any aid assistance. They were homeless, vulnerable and in danger from violent crimes as well as serious illness caused by heavy rains and mosquito borne diseases, like Malaria.

SI Jakarta had been working in Lombok to support disaster-affected families with shelter and essential emergency supplies. However, further relief funds were needed to help families across Indonesia that helped to:

• heal and recover with emergency healthcare and safety supplies;
• improved their access to water and sanitation facilities;
• built temporary and transitional shelter and schools;
• rebuilt their livelihoods through early recovery interventions.

How Donations Helped

The donations went towards helping those affected, especially vulnerable women and children. Which helped to:

• Provide tents and plastic sheets for flooring;
• Delivered clean water equipment and sanitation facilities;
• Built temporary safe schools and supply education materials;
• Built toilets and enclosed bathing facilities for women and girls to take showers and manage their hygiene and feminine care;
• Provided first aid kits, sanitary packs and new mother-baby packs;
• Harvested rainwater;
• Provided food security through farming and animal rearing.

Phase 1:В WASH Infrastructure - Rebuk Satu Village, Lombok

Water Piping Project - Gangga Village

Funding from the SISEAP President's Appeal Makmur Tsunami & Earthquakes Indonesia Appeal were then directed through to SI Jakarta in February, 2019, to secure the contract with a local contractor for work to replace the 1,000 meters of water pipes damaged in the earthquake in August 2018, affecting the village of Gangga in North Lombok.

Work commenced on Sunday, 3 March 2019 with the laying of the water piping in the village of Gangga. It was completed within one week.

From the outset, the local villagers, including many women, were involved in this project. They assisted in various tasks, from unloading the rolls of piping, digging the trenches where some of the piping was to be laid, and liaising with the contractor on how to maintain the pipes going forward.

This Phase was completed by the end of September, 2020. Since then, the Rebuk Satu villagers in Rembitan have enjoyed a good supply of clean water, sufficient for their daily needs. In fact, they have also been sharing water with the adjacent village, which currently has very limited access to clean, flowing water.

To ensure that the water quality remains suitable for human consumption, SIJ had water samples from Rembitan tested at a local government department. Results confirmed that the water is safe. Nevertheless, the Field Officer, assisted by senior villagers, constantly conducts checks of the water tanks, to make sure they are clean of any debris. This is part of the Project's capacity building for the villagers in ensuring a quality water supply, by adopting an effective maintenance system.

A bannerВ was erected by the Gangga Village, thanking Soroptimists for replacing the damaged water pipes in their village. The women, in particular expressed their gratitude to Soroptimists for making their lives easier through the installation of water piping to their village enabling them access to running water.В 

Phase 2 - Capacity Building and Training ProgramВ 

Phase 2 focus was to rebuild lives, rehabilitate and build capacity of women and their families.В 

Weaving ' Ongoing and New Courses.
They didВ training for two separate groups:
1. On-going/advanced training for those weavers who commenced the first program in Sept., 2019.
2. New training programs for the 18 weavers who hadn't yet participated in any training. All of the weaving training programs continued throughout 2020, to ensure that the weavers became highly skilled at producing top quality woven cloths, using the most intricate, complex traditional designs.

Sewing

There was three sessions/classes per week, for a total of 12 sessions per month. The sewing skills were designed to help the women produce a variety of items to sell. Many such items was made from the woven cloth the women made. Some women were also trained to become small entrepreneurs so they could own and manage small businesses.

Literacy and Basic Mathematics
The basic literacy and mathematics classes were divided into two groups: The first group - for those villagers who had not yet mastered the basic skills of reading/writing. 2. The second group - for those who already had some basic literacy skills but needed on-going training.

Materials and teaching methods were adjusted to the needs of each group. The also did new classes in 2020 which focused on teaching basic mathematics(addition/subtraction/mulitplication/division).

Cake Cooking and Baking Training
There was 24 sessions of the Baking Program, over a 12 month perios. Twelve courses were offered over the first six months, followed by another twelve courses by the end of the year. The main aim of the Baking Program was to provide the women with the skills to make healthy, nutritious, tasty, inexpensive snacks for their families, for every day consumption, as well as for special occasions.

Through this program, the villagers were able to be more self-sufficient and not rely on unhealthy products on the market. Some snacks were also able to be sold at the local warung (food stalls) or at the market. This was to help supplement the income of some of the families.

Organic Farming
Focus wasВ on teaching, by transfer of knowledge, the principles of organic farming. To the extent possible, the villager were discouraged from using any chemicals or insecticides and had access only to those fertilizers which were environmentally friendly. The aim was to produce healthier and tastier produce in abundant quantities. In doing so, it was hoped that the land would return to its original state before it was ruined by the regular use of chemcials. In this program, emphasis was on planting vegetables and fruits. Harvest time was, on average, 3-4 months. The desired outcome was for the villagers' incomes to increase from their organic farming produce, for them to become self-sufficient, and in so doing to improve their lives through consuming healthy produce.

Health and Hygiene
The aim of this program was to raise the awareness of the villagers in good health and hygiene practices. From observations of the daily practices of the villagers, it was obvious that many didn't fully understand the importance of hand washing and daily bathing using soap and clean water to ward off disease and to maintain a healthy body. Many did not possess towels to dry themselves.В They plan to conduct this training for up to 10x/year, to include all villagers, male/female, young and old.

You can read the full final report HERE.

Read the reports about the work undertaken with the money raised by the appeal.В В