Rossville community members and backpacker volunteers came together for a working bee to clear the community’s waterways. Photo: Supplied.
A stream of backpackers who arrived in Rossville in May to help with the community’s flood clean-up efforts have now become lifelong friends with residents.
Earlier this year, Wallaby Creek Festival volunteer co-ordinator Pasha Lynch explored the option of inviting visitors on Working Holiday Maker visas to help Rossvillians with the seemingly never-ending clean-up job ahead of them.
In exchange, the backpackers could count their 88 days of disaster recovery volunteering towards their second-year visa extension.
Starting on 12 August, Ms Lynch headed up a clean-up program to remove flood-related debris from the waterways, and gathered community members and backpacker volunteers for the job.
By the fourth clean-up on 29 August, the team had begun filling up skip bin number three with fallen trees, built-up silt and debris, much of which required “brute force to untangle”.
“Nothing was too much for them, always giving it a go,” Ms Lynch said.
“In just four hours, we managed to fill a full trailer and ute load.
“[It] might sound like hard work, but believe me, it doesn’t feel like it – the camaraderie, personal satisfaction, and reward of making our environment better is immeasurable.”
Ms Lynch said welcoming the backpackers into the community had been a huge boost for residents’ morale.
After months of cleaning up after the Tropical Cyclone Jasper flooding event with no end in sight, she said community spirit was at an all-time low.
“The work ahead seemed insurmountable; already tired from the constant clean-up, we had to look elsewhere for the help that was required,” she said.
“Early on, it was difficult to imagine letting strangers into our homes and our lives.
“Over the past four months, 20 properties have welcomed them into their lives; the end result is not only the physical work that has been completed, but more so that their very presence has brought in hope and the belief that we can overcome this together.”
