In my last column I wrote about the Christchurch September earthquake and described the important role statistics played in informing the public. Statistics was in the visual displays of data in the newspaper graphs, the earthquake website that were constantly updated, and modelling of risk and damage impact.

In this column, my message is the same, statistics and earthquakes, but I am writing this with such a feeling of grief, loss and sorrow. What a tragic time it has been over the last few months. In Christchurch there has been so much loss and now there is the ongoing daily grind of life here. My daily challenge is how to get across town with damaged roads, how to avoid the dust and potholes on my bicycle, how to lecture in a tent, how to hold together our department here at University when we have no building access, how to support friends in businesses that are struggling, and how to deal with my own grief for friends who have died.

In the midst of this, Roger Littlejohn passed away. Roger was a friend to everyone - he was a champion for statistics and we will all miss him so much.

Yet despite this rather sombre tone, I am still writing the same as I wrote in September - once again, I am humbled by the actions of the statistics community. In Christchurch we received so many messages of support from statisticians in New Zealand and overseas. The NZSA is a community. We share our love of statistics, but we are all people and that is why we are members. We are here for each other and for the support we all give and we all receive.

Thank you.