snippets from students in Christchurch

Here are some little bits of the letters from Chisnallwood Intermediate school students. Pls post some messages.

You may need to zoom in as they are a little hard to read

'We all waited more than an hour before the first lots of parents came rushing in. People started leaving the school but many kids were still here including me. 2 hours later mum finally came to get me. We went straight home, only stopping to get my little sister'

'Later on we went home to find the house in what I call live-able condition. We still moved though cause all the walls were floating in the air. We spent a month  at my grandmas and my 13th birthday ...'

' I hadn't heard from mum and she worked in an old brick building in town so I was worried about her...'

'We are writing to tell you about the 6.3 earthquake. It was almost one o'clock, almost lunchtime and all of a sudden the classroom started shaking. It was really scary...'

'I cried my eyes out after the earhquake. My best friend Mahina. She was there for me no matter what...'

'The bridge I go over to home/school was Broken so I had to sway through the knee, sometimes waste deep water, sewer and silt..'

'We were at school. We all got under our desks. Some got hurt Books fell down and in the technology rooms microwaves fell down. Screwdrivers. All sorts...'

'We got home. Lots broken but not my family. It broke four televisions, a heater, 6 fumy lamp things. lots of mum's favourite ornaments and any more...'

'While waiting for my parents to come pick me up I sat for awhile when I saw a little year 7 boy crying because he couldnt get hold of his parents. It was so sad...'

'It was a very cold and windy day and not many people had jerseys. It took 3 hours for my dad's best friend to come and pick me up as Dad was in Lyttelton...'

'As the principal was asking us to  all calm down, water was pouring  out onto the field and we had to keep moving aorund to avoid getting wet...'

'We had to walk home. It took  2 hours to get back. We had to walk through slosh and I evan think some poop was mixed into it as well. When we got home I was too scared to go inside so we slept in a tent for a week...'

'It took like 2 hour before anyone could come and pick me and my friend up...'

'We could find our friends and give them big hus  to see if they were okay...'

'Later we were listening to my stepdads radio and it said that people had died. When we got  the generator working, we turnd on the tv to watch the news...'



' I was at school reading a book when it happened. We weren't ready for it. It made no noise before it hit us. Our teacher screamed "Get Down" .' 

'Only 2 glasses were broken. There were cracks in the walls in my room, a big cupboard fell down which was about 2 meters high. The power was out for about a week. We were all okay. Dad came home the next day because of the traffic and blocked roads. The sewerage line was broken and it was seeping onto the roads.We didnt return to school for about a month. Now it's all back to normal...  for now...'

'My school is fine and my house. I never lost  a pet or a friend. We also want to thank you for how  friendly you've been...'

'The teachers gave us food because  they thought we were hungry, and then we went into a class. Like 10 minutes later my mum came to get me and we went to go home and the roads were smashed. The bridge down by our school was lifted and we had to walk from our school. The roads were filled of water and I got soaked. I was sad because went home the power was out and I was so bored...'

'There was a big bump in the drive. It looked like a skateboard ramp...'

'I jumped under my desk and the force of the quake was so strong my head was being bounced up on my desk. Everybody calmly walked to the back field, shocked and shakey. We had roll call and everyone was safe...'

' When we were sitting on the back field, guess what? Another one happened and this time the back field started flooding, nearly all the students started screaming.Then I saw my mum, I just about bursted into tears.When we got back to my house, I went to check the backyard and it started to flood. I was so scared...'

'When my mum came to pick me up I was so happy to see her...'

'When my dad arrived with my little sister we decided to go to my aunties house because she lives in Rolleston.We stayed there for two weeks and then we came home for a few weeks and then we went back to school. The earthquake was really horrible but we are all helping each other out to rebuild our city. We are following your blog and really appreciate what you are doing for us...'

' I was sitting there waiting for the teacher when suddenly there was a sharp grumble and then a  long furious shake...'

'People went without power, water and sewerage for at least 2 weeks (I did). We still get aftershocks and they're normally at night and they can get big. All of us in room 7 the best class in the whole school are really thankfull for your support. We are following your blog as well...' 





"6 days after I went to Rotorua primary. It as pretty cool but I had to come back 3 months later''

" The earthquake was like a big train smashing through our house..."

"All I had to worry about now was my dad and of course my cell phone, which ended up being in the class for about 4 weeks..."

"My legs were like jelly. They felt like they would collapse..."

"During the earthquake it was quite aggressive and I was rolling around the class because I couldn't get under my desk.When the shaking stopped we got outside and lined up. then another aftershock. People screamed and cried as we made our way out to the field. As the aftershocks continued the field pipes were bursting and the fields were flooding and we had to keep moving spots.Parents were coming  and giving their kids big hugs. Finally I got to leave for home. The paths were flooded and cracked..."

"I got flung from  my chair  and hit my head on the desk. I was in pain but I just thought about getting under my desk..."

'Some peoples parents did not come until the next day...'