How to support rural communities in drought

It is more than ten years ago now that I became friends with a girl affectionately known as 'Neek'. Monique lives in the Nyngan locality in New South Wales, and we got to know each other as members of group with two things in common - a love of scrapbooking and a love of Jesus. The group was called Scrap of Faith. The beauty of the internet is that despite the tyranny of distance and whatever life may throw at any of us, it provides many platforms in which we can keep in touch. I always enjoy Neek's Facebook posts about life at The House in the Scrub, living on the land with husband Jon, and raising a family within a rural community. She is also an extremely talented photographer, and there have been many occasions when I have seen her latest effort and it has had me picking my jaw up from where it has dropped.

It would be hard to be Australian and not be aware that so much of our land is in the midst of the worst drought in living memory. Neek and her family are smack bang in the middle of it, just trying to survive. Rather than me tell you about it, here is a post she made on Facebook from just last week ...

August 23

My heart breaks and my head panics
How do we go on? How do we continue hoping? This is the worst my husband has ever seen ..... and we’ve seen bad droughts before.

We started destocking 18 months ago and fully destocked just shy of 3 months ago & the paddocks have become worse.

By destocking - we have offloaded our income for the next few years. Just like other farmers! Think about that .... selling off the means to income for goodness knows how long. How do you hold on? How do you rebuild when it does rain again? How do you re-stock? Many many farmers and their wives go “off-farm” to work - to help “prop” up the farm which is your main income & still working full time on their land ... effectively working two full time jobs. A god-send no end but a tough juggle.

But we keep going because this is our livelihood, our history, our future. But how do you keep on hoping?

Please keep 🙏🏻 for the 💦 to come, to keep coming. And please take the time to understand the plight of those on the land .... And take the time to visit, to have a cuppa, to drive around with us & to visit our towns who are also suffering because we have to cut back expenses. Buy fuel, coffee and burgers. Just .... understand.

It is easy to live in the city and know there is a drought because the media tells you so, but apart from that it has little direct effect on you. It has been easier for me to get my head around it since Bountiful became a part of our lives, because we are constantly driving through drought affected country, though not to the extent that Neek's community are experiencing. Our area is considered 'drought affected' according to the NSW Department of Primary Industries whereas Neek's area is a combination of 'ín drought' and 'íntense drought'. We are regularly interacting with country towns whose economies rise and fall on factors they can't control, a key one being weather. The one thing we do feel we can help with, is exactly what Neek asked for in her post - to spend money with local businesses, to do our bit to keep them afloat. 

If you're in the city, take a drive on a weekend to a local area that is struggling, and spend the dollars you may have spent locally on blessing that small town's economy. We can all do a little bit to support rural communities and keep them going. 

Australians on the land have a bit of a reputation for not whingeing and just getting on with life, even when times are dire. Neek's response to the way in which her Facebook post was shared is a good example of that ...

August 24

Oh my gracious me 😚  I am in utter shock at how this post has been shared and seen and commented on. Utter shock. I had a few friends ask to make it public - so they could share it. So I did. I never imagined it would be seen like this. As a very shy person this has been a tad embarrassing but very heart warming at the same time. 

To everyone that has commented or shared - thank you 🙏🏻 for reading and understanding. There are so so so many people hurting and juggling just to keep going. Many more so much worse off than us and my heart breaks for them. As farmers we all manage our land and stock accordingly and do the best we can. Like I said - going off farm for income helps - or helps by filling a small gap the income we now don't have ... we are lucky that we can go off farm to work. Many cannot due to distance etc. BUT - as fortunate as we are to have that little back up - it does not make it any easier - as anyone on the land who had to find another job would know. But - we are lucky - we love the land we live on and will continue to juggle and manage. 

To know people understand and pray for rain and who drive to drought ravished communities - to have a coffee and a chat ... that is amazing!

Now I will continue to sit here in awe of the reach this post has had ... 

And her pictures only add to the story ...

Three years ago I mocked Jon as he laid down in a paddock ... in green grass so high I lost sight of him & he wanted a photo taken ... I felt silly but I took it anyway. 

August 27 - our land today. I will never mock him again. 

This is the same paddock, just from a different angle.

To have the internet means these faces and families are no longer hidden as they may have been in generations gone by. Support financially, support in prayer ... do whatever you can do, but please, support our rural families and their communities. 

And if you don't know anyone personally who is drought affected, here is the beautiful family from The House in The Scrub - left to right, Jade, Hamish, Jon, Monique and Luke. Think on them and all those they stand for when you are doing your bit to help, whether on your knees, or visiting a town that's doing it tough. 

For this post this song seemed perfect, one that Neek had shared on her Facebook page just a few days before her post. It's called We're Still Here by Tom Curtain. Beautiful Aussie faces. 

Tracey 🙏

With thanks to

New South Wales Department of Primary Industries Combined Drought Indicator
Tom Curtain Music 
Everyone on the land.