[Yr7-10it] bushfire recovery

[Roland Gesthuizen]

wish I could donate a decent camera phone to the local who posted us
some pictures of the damaged buildings. It took me 10 min of
squinting, head twisting and shaking to try to resolve the smallest
thumbnail and identify the wreckage. We have certainly lost all our
sleeping accommodation and probably the pine forest that surrounds the
camp. Thankfully the original Balook Primary School building survived
(Kitchen and classroom) .. will do a recon visit later this or next
week.

As an aside, an overseas news group just used two photographs that I
published in Flickr. One was by a friend who drove south on the
Saturday to my home and snapped a mobile phone picture of the gale
force winds and smoke blowing south from the highway. The other I took
of the orange moon through the smoke blowing over Mount Dandenong
after I had just primed and tested our home sprinkler system.

Spent this weekend reducing the fuel load around our home, cooking
meals and spending some time with the kids and talking to my parents.
The events of the past week kind of spin your life back into
perspective.

Regards Roland

2009/2/13 andrew barry <jagguy999 at gmail.com>:
> Hi,
>
> Sorry to hear that the buildings have been destroyed by this bush fire.
> Sounds like a lot of history had been there as well.
> Where we are we can see the smoke out of the mountains all around us.
> We have a few kids/teachers  from the school directly affected.
>
>
> WE have our own bushfire appeal where everyone donates gold coins per day.
> WE have raised over $2000 from students alone this week. It was
> amazing to see how many students wanted to contribute money.
>
> Andrew
>
>
>
>
> On Thu, Feb 12, 2009 at 9:23 PM, Roland Gesthuizen
> <rgesthuizen at gmail.com> wrote:
>> We have been watching the creeping fire front on the DSE website,
>> holding our breath and fearing the worst.
>>
>> The call came through that my school just lost the buildings (science
>> equipment, telescope etc) at our Balook school camp in Gippsland ..
>> The historic original building survived. Twas ye olde Balook Primary
>> School, now our Balook campus. You have to imagine one of those 1800's
>> schools with high ceilings, tables with inkwells, chalk board and a
>> wooden honour roll for the great war. Reminds me of my old Primary
>> School in The Basin. ;-)
>>
>> The anniversary celebrations will now probably continue, ironically
>> without all the splendid additions we have built at the camp over the
>> past 40 years! We have granted permission for the remaining building
>> to be used by the local community as a refuge for any needy families.
>>
>> Regards Roland
>>
>> 2009/2/10 andrew barry <jagguy999 at gmail.com>:
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>> Just want to know if any schools  caught up in the bush fires need
>>> help with IT resources or teachers in any way.
>>> I work at Lilydale Heights and I can see from our school the view of
>>> the mountains still on fire.
>>> We also have people directly effected by the bush fires at our school.
>>>
>>> I had to break it to some students fires have just sprung up at
>>> Healesville where some live.
>>> They thought their house was going to be burnt down but they havent.
>>>  It is shocking when you go to work and you see smoke pouring from the
>>> mountains in the distance, and kids looking at CFA websites instead
>>> trying to get on computer game websites.
>>>
>>> Andrew Townsley
>>> LHSC
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> http://www.edulists.com.au - FAQ, resources, subscribe, unsubscribe
>>> Year 7 - 10 IT Mailing List kindly supported by
>>> http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au - Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority and
>>> http://www.vitta.org.au  - VITTA Victorian Information Technology Teachers Association Inc
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Roland Gesthuizen - ICT Coordinator - Westall Secondary College
>> http://www.westallsc.vic.edu.au
>>
>> "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can
>> change the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has."
>> --Margaret Mead
>> _______________________________________________
>> http://www.edulists.com.au - FAQ, resources, subscribe, unsubscribe
>> Year 7 - 10 IT Mailing List kindly supported by
>> http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au - Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority and
>> http://www.vitta.org.au  - VITTA Victorian Information Technology Teachers Association Inc
>>
> _______________________________________________
> http://www.edulists.com.au - FAQ, resources, subscribe, unsubscribe
> Year 7 - 10 IT Mailing List kindly supported by
> http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au - Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority and
> http://www.vitta.org.au  - VITTA Victorian Information Technology Teachers Association Inc
>



-- 
Roland Gesthuizen - ICT Coordinator - Westall Secondary College
http://www.westallsc.vic.edu.au

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can
change the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has."
--Margaret Mead