Georgia Foster Eyles guides Nymboida through bushfire recovery
More than 80 families in this small NSW town lost their homes and possessions in last November’s bushfire. But one young woman will not let them give up hope. This is how she is holding her community together.
THERE was no stopping the wall of flame that roared into NSW’s Clarence Valley on November 8 last year.
Georgia Foster Eyles and her partner, Tommy Welham, run a small organic market garden called Green Shovel Farm at Nymboida, which was directly in the bushfire’s path.
The inferno scorched everything, incinerating more than 80 homes in the 300-person community and burning the young couple’s land, crops and infrastructure.
“It is still going to be a year, or two, three or four, before people actually have houses again,” explains Georgia, who counts her family lucky because their home didn’t burn.
“I really haven’t considered myself to have lost much in comparison to what everybody else lost.
“We had only been running for a year and a half, so didn’t have 30 years of infrastructure and buildings … We are just looking at what we can do to help others rebuild.”
The 33-year-old has done an enormous amount in that regard.
Their region was one of the first to be hit by last summer’s horror bushfire season, which stretched services to breaking point. For weeks following the blaze information from government services changed frequently, presenting a huge challenge for people who had lost everything.
Georgia immediately stepped up as an unofficial recovery co-ordinator to help her fellow residents, many of whom were too shell shocked to know what to do first.
She says she is just one of many people who put her hand up to help. But her quiet leadership made a huge difference.
The day after the fire she launched a Facebook page, called Nymboida Fire Survivors and Info, so people could let others know they were safe.
From there, she started communicating with charity groups and community hubs, which were inundated with donations.
“They were just overloaded with clothes and food, but nobody could take those things yet because they didn’t have anything set up for themselves,” she says. “Everyone was living out of a backpack.
“I was hoping to direct more of those supplies, and the good will, towards what was needed on the fire front, which were pumps and generators.”
After three weeks sheltering at Grafton, 40km away from smoke-choked Nymboida, Georgia and her now two-year-old daughter, Maisy, returned to the village, where she cranked up her efforts.
She took stock of donations and offers of help, making sure aid was connected with those who needed it most. She set up a team of co-ordinators to deal with the ever-increasing list of jobs, organised working bees and community meetings.
“I mostly talked to people, connected help offered with people needing it, tried to make people feel supported and like they weren’t alone with an insurmountable task ahead,” Georgia says.
“We have so many community-minded people in Nymboida. There were so many hands at work.”
Sheds, garages and possessions had also burnt, leaving many people with no way to clear debris or start to clean up, so the community started a tool library, which Georgia helped organise.
Former Nymboida resident Jennifer Spencer is one of those who lost her home. She says Georgia showed amazing strength and made sure no one was left behind.
“Georgia is so energetic and selfless and treats everyone with dignity and respect. She has such a clear vision for what needs to be done and is level-headed and kind, even when under pressure,” Jennifer says.
“I don’t know where the community would be today without her.”
Jennifer made the difficult decision to move out of Nymboida because she couldn’t face the decade-long rebuilding process.
Most people who lost homes are still living in makeshift dwellings, including 20 shipping container “recovery pods” supplied by philanthropic group Minderoo Foundation and some 9sq m sheds from charity The Shed of Hope, founded by Greg Dollin.
“It is a very small space, but it is what he can provide, which is fantastic,” says Georgia, who grew up in the Clarence Valley and moved to the village three years ago to be near her mum, Carolyn, who was fighting illness.
Sadly, her mum passed away one month before the fire ripped through.
Georgia’s role as a main point of contact for villagers has scaled back as Service NSW has become more proactive and organised, but she still puts great effort into keeping the community connected and positive.
“Me and the other co-ordinators who jumped on board, what we realised was we couldn’t really help people rebuild, but what we could do was foster a sense of community so people actually wanted to stay,” she says.
Georgia still fields four or five calls a week from locals who need guidance and outsiders who want to help.
She and Tommy hope to replant some of their vegetables once they receive rain, but until then they are re-fencing, helping others when they can and looking forward to the birth of their second child, due in December.
“Connection is a thing people are really missing as well,” Georgia says, explaining COVID has made it difficult to accept help from people outside the community.
“We have a really vulnerable population because many people are older and everybody is being very sensitive with the issue.”
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