Very quick update

On February 22nd this year, Christchurch, New Zealand suffered a huge earthquake. In the aftermath, two friends on Twitter got chatting: Zoe from Playing by the Book and Bronwyn from Day 1 Every Pen In The House Ran Out Of Ink. Zoe lives near Birmingham, UK and Bronwyn is in Christchurch, New Zealand. Zoe wanted to know what she could do, something practical to help families. And there Books for Christchurch was born.

I signed up to help, and was sent the details of a family with two children, Josh and Charlotte. I sent the children three books, Comet in Moominland, The Wee Free Men and The Cat Who Liked The Rain. I also sent the parents a thriller.

Books have always been a refuge and a solace for me in times of difficulty and sadness. I once had to leave a place I was living very quickly, and packed my books but left clothes and other personal possessions. I imagine that children would find the loss of favourite books and toys possibly more difficult than the loss of or serious damage to their homes.

I didn't expect to hear from the family, knowing that they must have hundreds of things to do. However, yesterday I received a beautiful card from the parents, and these from the children:

The Moomins card is from Josh, and the rainbow from Charlotte. The parents have said how much the children enjoyed the books, and have started to read all the Moomin books, that they were a distraction from the events of the earthquake. The parents have now started to re-read the Discworld books as well. This has made me so happy, and I think has shown me how great social media is: the events in other parts of the world are made real to me by putting me into contact with people living through experiences and allowing me to "hear" their voices.