When time bank organisers in South Korea heard of a conference being organised to talk about empowering communities in the wake of disaster they suggested Margaret Jefferies be invited to speak on the experiences with disaster in Lyttelton/Christchurch.

The host of the forum was looking for a case where victims actively participated as agents of social reconstruction and healing.
Margaret travelled with Project Lyttelton board member Anne Mackay in November to attend the conference and visit time banks in South Korea.

The conference was hosted by the 4.16 Foundation, and it addressed “Contemplating Victims Rights in a Risk Society”

“The 4.16 Foundation has formed around the Seawol,” Margaret said.

“They wanted to look at “How can we prevent disasters, how can we manage them better?’,” she said.

Many in the audience were families of the children killed in the 2014 Sewol tragedy and were new to the concept and practice of time banking.
The first day was visits to the memorial sites, the second day was the presentations and the third day was questions and answers.
The overloaded South Korean ferry MV Seawol capsized on April 16, 2014 with 476 passengers on board. Three hundred and four people died including 250 children who were out on a school trip.
Many families of victims still feel angry at the inadequate response and lack of accountability on all levels.
Margaret presented a talk, ‘Recent disasters in New Zealand and how we are coping in a humane way’, on the role the Time Bank played in the aftermath of the earthquakes. She also spoke on her work with the Christchurch Muslim community about moving forward together in an empowered way after the March 15 terrorist attack. Read Margaret’s talk here
Margaret said the the people were beautiful and the memorials were very moving.
“There were people from other disasters there too. It sounds heavy but it wasn’t really. It was about seeing patterns and overcoming them,” Margaret said.
Margaret welcomed the interest shown in time banking at the conference.
“It was really good having Anne there too with her legal background, particularly with questions around some of the legal aspects of the disasters,” Margaret said.
The rest of the trip was meeting with people from time banks in Seoul and Gumi.
The time banks in South Korea have been set up to work with specific communities.
In Seoul the church based time bank focuses a lot of its efforts around people with special needs, the church community has also pooled money to buy a house for youth accommodation.
“It’s very practical, big stuff really,” Margaret said.
The time bank in Gumi is associated with a senior club. It’s very active with around 1800 members.
“A scheme in South Korea sees seniors paid for up to 15 hours a month if they want to continue work, and if they do more they can do it through the time bank,” Margaret said.
“It’s really interesting seeing different time banks using the same tools different ways.”