Opinion: Cyclone Gabrielle — Don’t let the size of the disaster stop you from helping

No elephants were harmed in the writing of this article. Photo / Ilona Hanne

General Creighton Abrams was a United States Army general who commanded military operations during part of the Vietnam War. Archbishop Desmond Tutu was a South African Anglican bishop and theologian known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist.

Two very different lives, lived in very different places through very different experiences, but if my Thursday-night googling is correct, they do have one thing in common — they both knew the correct way to eat an elephant.

Tutu and Abrams have each had the famous quote/question — “How do you eat an elephant? One piece at a time” attributed to them over the years, and while I don’t know if both of them, one of them or neither of them actually said it, I do know whoever did say it was right.

When eating an elephant, you can only do so in small, bite-size pieces.

Right now, seeing the heart-rending images coming out of Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne and realising the sheer enormity of the Cyclone Gabrielle flood damage, wanting to help can feel a bit like eating that elephant. The problem is so big, and I am so small, how can I possibly make even a morsel of difference?

That feeling of being unable to make a tangible difference can lead to a sense of paralysis that, if allowed to ferment, means the elephant never actually gets eaten. Of course, if we were really talking elephant cuisine right now, that would be a good thing — a combination of habitat loss and poaching means these incredible creatures are an endangered species — but when it comes to helping and taking action in times of disaster, we need to act. Grab your knife and fork and dig in, so to speak.

We might not all be equipped to physically dig in of course, we can’t all physically help move the mountains of mud covering homes and farms across the Esk Valley, but that doesn’t mean we can’t all do something. More importantly, it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do something.

We can all help, be it by forgoing a morning coffee and instead donating that $5 to the Red Cross — an organisation NZME has teamed up with, supporting their fundraising appeal or by offering up accommodation, or donating animal feed, food, clothing or bedding to any one of the many organisations and charities involved in the response.

Our friends, neighbours, colleagues and fellow humans need us to do something. We can’t let the size of the elephant facing us stop us from doing anything. It may feel like our individual act of help and giving can barely nibble at the sheer enormity of the overall problem, but by taking the advice of a wise general or archbishop we can all do something. There’s a menu of ways to help, we just need to pick a portion and get started.