Ganga Monger (28) and son Deep Kafley (3) are two of a
group of 85 members of Christchurch's Bhutanese community
who are taking a break in Dunedin after two weeks of
continuous aftershocks in Christchurch. Photo by Craig
Baxter.
First they were refugees from Bhutan, now they are
refugees from Christchurch.
A group of 85 Bhutanese people are in Dunedin taking a break
from the aftershocks which continue to shake Christchurch
after the 6.3 magnitude earthquake on February 22.
The group, which is being hosted by the whanau ora collective
He Waka Kotuia o Araiteuru with the support of the Araiteuru
marae council, arrived by bus in Dunedin on Monday.
The group is largely made up of the elderly and disabled,
women and children - their men have stayed in Christchurch to
work on the relief effort - and is expected to stay at the
Araiteuru marae in Kaikorai Valley for about 10 to 15 days.
Their break in Dunedin was organised by Immigration Services.
It is understood another group of Bhutanese from Christchurch
has been transferred to Auckland.
Ganga Monger (28) said the people in the group had all
originally come from Bhutan, but many had spent more than a
decade as refugees in Nepal.
She resettled in Christchurch 2 years ago, but many in the
group had lived in Christchurch for less than six months.
Many of Christchurch's Bhutanese had badly damaged homes, and
were stressed by ongoing aftershocks and just wanted to get
away for a time, she said.
Many, also, as with other ethnic communities from the city,
including the Afghani community, were greatly concerned about
predictions that another big earthquake would strike
Christchurch on March 20.
She said families wanted to stay away from the city until at
least after that date.
"We want to escape from the big one."
Chris Maxwell, from He Waka Kotuia o Araiteuru, said the
collective was originally expecting just 20 people from
Christchurch, but that number had swelled to 85 by the time
the group arrived.
debbie.porteous@odt.co.nz
A name, residential address, and (preferably residential) telephone number is required from readers who comment on ODT Online. These details will not be visible to site visitors.