I haven’t caught much of the news about the bushfires as it’s just too horrifying to think about and makes me quite emotional. I remember in January ‘94 there was a bushfire burning only about 1.5km (1 mile) away from our house and I was absolutely terrified. I was only a teenager and started packing all my irreplaceable precious belongings (diaries, photos, childhood toys mainly) and getting ready in case we had to evacuate. Being asthmatic the thought of breathing in so much smoke absolutely terrifies me too. Luckily the fires didn’t come closer to our house and ‘only’ 4 lives were lost in the tragedy. (I even found a Channel 10 news story on YouTube about it).

Only nine months ago I was in China when the Sichuan earthquake hit too and I think it’s one of the most devastating thing to see so many lives, families, and houses destroyed in big, natural disasters. But on the flipside, there’s nothing like seeing a country (and the world) coming together as one in times of crisis…

I was at my local shopping mall last night and saw they had volunteers with buckets collecting for the bushfire appeal, which made it very easy to donate. You can also donate over the phone (1800 811 700) or online:

Victorian bushfires appeal 2009

Let’s just hope there’s an end to this soon.