Kids in Australia and the UK Share The Pain

The Weather used to be a boring topic of conversation. Now it’s way too interesting.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if children round the world could tell each other what the weather’s doing in their countries day by day? Well, that’s the aim of World Weather Watch – an international collaborative project led by Kent Education and open to schools across the UK and round the world. It runs within SuperClubsPLUS. Children from over 100 schools have so far taken part in the project and have collaborated with friends from 45 countries.

When we launched the project we could never have imagined the events of the past weeks with Britain brought to a standstill by a few inches of snow while South Australia was burning up in the worst bushfires in the country's history.

Reports from Charlotte, Tiannalee and Ebony

Many of the Australian children have been sharing their pain and fear with kids in the UK through the SuperClubsPLUS forums:

“There are fires near my house! We can smell smoke i need my asthma puffer. My grandma and grandpa and uncle and auntie got affected.” - Felix

"The man who started this is horrible, selfish and many more negative things! I saw the pictures and videos of the people and their houses being collapsed and burnt and it made my eyes water. I feel so sorry 4 Australia right now!" - Loulou

"I don't like fires every since I was little NOW WHO EVER DID THIS think of all the people and animals who live near by. It is called arson for all of you who do not know. I am really concerned because fire fighters and ambulance and police services are doing all they can to save all these people and animals but some die because of these horrid people who do not care about others and think they're cool when there not and they are putting them selves in prison so that's their fault and for old people and disabled people who were first out of their homes or died in them I have a mate who lives near there. I am really annoyed with the person who did this and why did they does this?" - Jenna

"THIS WEEKS SHOCKING NEWS (FROM A BOY NAMED BOBBY) I should be the one being scared because I have to go and live there again and I have to live with my uncle and my dad + my mum. I am going to Melbourne so please wish me a lot of luck. I only had 2 friends dead there are my real mates." - Bobby

“Hi. I have relatives in Australia at the minute that have been affected by the fires. They were moved to a little house away from the fires. They have been allowed to move back into their house but they say they can still smell smoke which is worrying. Some people believe that someone has been starting the fires. My message is to ask those starting them to please stop. You are affecting more people than you think you are. I just hope and that everyone can be safe.” - Caolmhe

"Well I know a person who lives in Australia they are having a hard time. There was a kangaroo in the sea drinking water because it is so hot. It is weird because we are having really cold weather and we are having snow and they are having heat waves. Because it is so hot there is so many bushfires at the minute it is very scary in case there is going to be a bush firer near them." - Sara

"It was so scary I was in one of the towns at the time of the bush fire I was in my house and my school nearly got burnt but I was lucky it wasn't. R.I.P for the people that died p.s my house did not get burnt." – Shona

"That is so sad for all the people that lost theri houses and the one in Narre Warren South you could see the Flames from my auntie's house so I had to run home to see if we had a house. Backyard gone." – Chloe

“I feel so very sad for those people who lost homes, family members and animals. I am so heart broken that some one out there would do something so terrible and some other people tried to take the donations given by the true blue Aussies. I think that it is amazing that so many people have tried so hard to make the adults and children much more comfortable with there surroundings. Our school have donated over $7000.” - Jovita

"I feel so sorry for the families who have lost their homes over a person who started what we call Black Saturday! My closest cousin's farm was burnt down. They still have a house and every member of the family. They had 19 chickens, 3 goats, 2 alpacas, 1 dog and 1 horse called Miss Brown. In the Fire they lost 1 goat and a few chickens! They protected the animals and now most are safe! I am still quite ANGRY at the people who did this!" - Brooke

“Hello my friends who are affected by bush fires, Just remember that you are not alone in your sadness,we are there with you and I know that you all are great heroes. Keep it up.” - Bailey

The forums were very valuable for the children who were able to express their fears and comfort each other. Antionnette Birkenbeil, IM Mediator in Australia wrote:

“Please thank everyone for their good wishes and concern. Everything that can be done is being done - and the weather is kinder, less heat, less wind. Less smoke hangs in the air, there is lots of goodwill, town meetings and fund raising everywhere, people taking food and clothes to shelters and trailers of fodder for animals.

“I think the SuperClubsPLUS Bushfire Forum was very helpful for the children and they said many wonderful, sensible brave things - the forum gave them the opportunity to have a voice. The forum is very inspiring and recovery is happening very quickly. Everyone is getting help, and the Australian bush has a fantastic capacity to regenerate and pastures will return, perhaps with more native grasses which will come back faster because they are more drought and fire resistant.”

“It will rain soon, after a few more weeks of heat - it is the cycle for these countries. There are huge fires every year in California, Spain and South of France - but we must have forests and there must be places where trees grow in their natural state to provide native habitat for animals and birds as well as being part of the solution to global warming. Thanks again.”

Dr. Martyn Wild, Director, Intuitive Media Australia, wrote to us from IM office in Melbourne on 10 Feb 2009:

"We now have 200+ reported dead, hundreds of homes destroyed, thousands traumatized. The story will go on in Victoria, Melbourne and Australia for months ahead, and the human stories are just emerging - the father who followed his family car on his motorbike, overcome with fire whilst the car escaped; a man burned alive in his home, just metres from his car outside already ticking over which by freak of nature remained untouched; a father who lost his two children but saved his house; wildlife (kangaroos, koalas) burned to death where they stood, unable to escape. Reports include fires spreading at over 60 km/hr, cars unable to outrun the flames, roads alight, a car with a family inside simply combusted as it drove, the heat was so intense.

Fire is Australia's long-time nemesis. The fact that this was a freak fire (caused it seems, deliberately by arsonists) and driven by the strong winds and air temperatures of 47C, is possibly an indication of things to come in years ahead."

What's so heartbreaking and so incomprehensible, especially by the children, is that some of the fires were set deliberately by arsonists, who must have know what scale of death and destruction they could cause, with the 1994 fires in NSW still etched in memory when, under similar temperature and wind conditions, the Royal National Park in Sydney and 6 million square hectares were completely destroyed by arson. The arsonists would certainly remember the more recent fires of Christmas 2001 with more than 900 fires, nearly 2,000 miles of fire perimeter, and more than 1.86 million acres of forest and shrub land burned – these fires began with lightning strikes in remote areas but some were spread by arsonists.

Since we heard about the fires, we've found it hard to shake from our minds the horrible suffering of the adults and children in Victoria, and we all feel so helpless. The least we can do is to send this message to all the SuperClubbers in Australia and to all the people of Victoria:

Dear Australians,

This message goes out to the SuperClubbers and all the children of the beautiful state of Victoria and to all your parents and teachers.

We want you to know that we are thinking about you at this time of tragedy and loss.

Some of you have lost your homes, your schools and your loved ones. Some of you have been hurt and many will have been frightened by this terrible experience. Many of you will have friends and family who have suffered from these horrific fires. We cannot begin to imagine the pain and sadness you are going through.

All we can do is tell you that you are in our thoughts all the time. We send you all our love and we all pray that the winds will die down and this horror will end quickly. And we pray for the recovery of all of you who have been affected by this disaster.

May your bodies heal quickly and your minds be free of fear and may your hearts be touched by the generosity of family, friends and neighbours and the thousands of men and women and children across Australia and around the world who are sending what they can to help you.

Our Love and Best Wishes

Robert Hart & Carole Fletcher
The Intuitive Media Global Team
The UK and Canadian SuperClubsPLUS and GoldStarCafe Mediators