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The Student Volunteer Army (SVA) is a student movement born from a Facebook page started following the Christchurch earthquakes. The network has no military affiliation and is focused on facilitating community action through youth engagement, preparing for disasters and service. The clubs and volunteers are supported using tools provided by the Volunteer Army Foundation (VAF).
Contents
- September 2010 Christchurch earthquake
- February 2011 Christchurch earthquake
- Japan and New York
- UNESCO Youth Beyond Disaster Forums
- Concert
- Volunteer Army Foundation
- References
There are now three student volunteer clubs that have grown directly from the Christchurch Student Response; the UC Student Volunteer Army, the Wellington SVA, and the Otago Polytech Scarfie Army together with school students across New Zealand actively getting involved in their communities as happened in Christchurch.
September 2010 Christchurch earthquake
In the days immediately following the September 4 Christchurch earthquake, while the university's Ilam campus was closed to enable the buildings to be checked for structural safety, 21-year-old Sam Johnson started a Facebook event called the "Student Base for Earthquake Clean up" and invited friends to join with him in assisting local residents with non-lifesaving tasks, in particularly cleaning up soil liquefaction residue on the streets and gardens of the city.
Johnson invited 200 friends to the event which soon grew to have over 3000 attendees and over 2500 volunteers contributing to the clean up.
In an effort to continue the momentum of the initial cleanup, Johnson and the key organisers of the student initiative, Jade Rutherford, Gina Scandrett, Chris Duncan, Tommy Young and Sam Gifford, decided to work with the University of Canterbury Students Association President Kohan McNab to create a student club focused on student volunteering; named the UC Student Volunteer Army.
February 2011 Christchurch earthquake
The devastating 6.3 magnitude earthquake again struck Christchurch at 12.51 on 22 February 2011, causing widespread devastation and destruction. 185 people were killed, thousands of homes were damaged, and hundreds of buildings were uninhabitable. Johnson and the six original team members of the Student Volunteer Army teamed up with the University of Canterbury Student Association team, led by President Kohan McNab, Louis Brown from the Te Waipounamu Foundation, Nathan Durkin and Anthony Rohan from White Elephant Trust together with student clubs ENSOC, LAWSOC and MUSOC.
The February operation of the Student Volunteer Army was managed by a core team of 15 people and a wider administration of 70 people who managed the three core operations which the SVA focused on; battalions, squadrons and street teams.
The mass deployment of volunteering, dubbed ‘Battalions’, was the initial focus which saw a maximum of 1000 volunteers, fed, watered and allocated to the worst affected areas of Christchurch via charter buses. Squadrons filled a similar role, except instead of students combing the streets and methodically searching for work, the squadrons responded to requests from individuals for assistance that came via the website, call center, and partnerships with Civil Defence and city councils. Up to 450 car loads of students were allocated via this system, using a mix of software, texting, and Google mapping. Street teams managed volunteer engagement for various organizations including multiple government departments, Civil Defence, and Christchurch City Council.
The team worked to increase the efficiency of distributing chemical toilets and pamphlets, as well as manning call centers. The student group become known as the Student Volunteer Army, with the Volunteer Army Foundation being the supporting Charity focused on disaster preparedness, youth engagement and service.
A strong focus was also placed on the well-being of residents in the harder hit areas. Volunteers were encouraged to be an cheerful presence on the streets, offering food, drinks, and assistance in finding professional help. Johnson and the other members of the Student Volunteer Army were highly visible and featured in much of the news reporting of the earthquake. Organised using Facebook, and social media, the concept enabled thousands of students and residents of Christchurch to make a contribution to those most affected by the devastating earthquakes. At its peak, there were 13,000 students volunteering per week. The team of organisers received high praise from officials in New Zealand and this resulted in them speaking with Prince William about the potential programmes of volunteering involving young people.
Japan and New York
Shortly after the February 2011 earthquake in Christchurch, Japan experienced a large earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear plant meltdown. Global DIRT asked Sam Johnson and Jason Pemberton of the SVA, to help organize Japanese university students develop a similar volunteer program. Additionally, Global DIRT asked Pemberton and fellow SVA member Jackson Rowland to help New York City recover after Hurricane Sandy. The Volunteer Army Foundation now focuses on disaster response, preferring to help communities prepare and become more resilient to disasters.
UNESCO Youth Beyond Disaster Forums
SVA Founder Sam Johnson chaired the planning committee for the inaugural "Looking Beyond Disasters" (LBD). LBD is an initiative of the NZ National Commission for UNESCO in partnership with the Bangkok UNESCO Office and the UNESCO Office of the Pacific in Apia. The focus of the program is to bring together young people who have experienced natural disasters in the Asia Pacific region to share disaster experiences and develop realistic action plans to rebuild communities that meet the needs and aspirations of young people.
The LBD network has grown with forums being held in Auckland (Pacific) and Sendai, Japan. In 2013 there will be forums in Indonesia and Kobe, Japan.
Concert
In 2012 the Volunteer Army Foundation created an initiative designed to lure youth into experiencing volunteer activity, based on RockCorps. On Saturday 3 November 2012, the foundation hosted a 10-hour music event at the new AMI Stadium in Addington, Christchurch. The only way to get a ticket was to volunteer at least four hours of time on any one of over 900 volunteer projects and events advertised through the custom built website. Over 8,000 tickets were sent out to individuals who contributed a total of over 50,000 hours of volunteering. 24 of New Zealand's best bands volunteered their time for the event, organised by Jonnie Halstead of Picnic Events.
The 50,000 hours of volunteering were contributed to Her Majesty the Queens's Diamond Jubilee project called the 'Jubilee Hour'. Johnson was invited to speak on behalf of the Volunteer Army Foundation at the House of Commons in London at the Official Celebration of the Jubilee Hour.
Volunteer Army Foundation
The founders and key committee members from the February earthquake response team have since founded the non-profit Volunteer Army Foundation. VAF oversees, licenses, and trains all SVA chapters and shares, promotes and supports those interested in creating their own volunteer movement.