There’s a page on Facebook called One Day Closer to Rain (Drought). Or there was. I’d link to it, but today it was taken down by Facebook. It’s a support page, for people struggling with the drought here in Australia, and it’s a place for people who aren’t from rural areas to be able to see how this seemingly endless dryness affects those in rural and remote communities and on the land.

You can see an article about the removal here. It’s been an incredibly important site for people in the bush to connect with each other, and support each other. It also has a few other related pages – one where handmade items from all across rural and remote Australia are listed, and people can purchase them.

The page starter, Cassandra McLaren is quoted in the article above: “This is not just a page, it’s a community, it’s a place to get information, to find the links for drought assistance and information about what to do if they are feeling down.”

It’s been hard for many people who are drought affected. I live and work in a rural community, and although neither my work, or my husband’s, rely on the land, we are still very much a part of our local community. Some of my farmer clients are at the point of selling their breeders. This is catastrophic, as those breeders are the culmination of years and years of hard work, and are what a farmer relies on to produce quality stock.

Others struggle to have enough water for personal use. One of the towns a bit further up the Hunter is on level 6 water restrictions. If you want to know what that looks like, then here’s another link.

And for Facebook to remove a support page? Really? Why would that be the case? And who would report a page like that in order to get it removed? It seems quite ridiculous.

Let’s hope the issue (whatever it is) is resolved quickly. A support page is a helpful place. Having been on the page, almost since it’s inception, I struggle to understand how “Your group has been disabled because it doesn’t follow our community standards,”

In the meantime, perhaps pop on over to the Rural Cottage Crafts page associated with the support one. Have a browse. You’ll be incredibly impressed with the crafters of rural and remote Australia.