Six-year-old writes to council begging it to clean pond in much-loved park
From reporter Tina Law:
A decaying pond in a city park has been transformed after a 6-year-old girl wrote to the council begging them to clean it up.
Every time Sophie Marston visited Holliss Reserve in south Christchurch she would get upset about the state of the pond.
It was full of mud, leaves and rubbish, and she felt sorry for the ducks and eels.
She felt so strongly about it that she decided to write a letter to the Christchurch City Council.
In the letter, which she wrote in July, Sophie asked the council to come and clean the pond up so the ducks could have somewhere clean to live.
“Whenever I go to Holliss Ave Park and I look at the pond I feel sorry for the ducks and eels because it is full of mud, leaves and rubbish.
“Please could you clean the pond up and so the ducks can have somewhere clean to live.”
In early December, about five months after receiving the letter, the council cleaned out the pond.
Sophie, who is now 7, said she was happy the ducks had a nice clean home to live in again.
Her father Tim Marston said Sophie was quite proud of herself.
They were at the park on Saturday and overheard a family talking about how good the pond was looking.
“I said to Sophie that ‘even a little 7-year-old can make something really cool happen’.”
Council community parks manager Al Hardy said the pond had accumulated excessive amounts of organic matter which had detracted from the pond’s visual quality.
“We found the pond otherwise healthy, with roughly 600 fish (including eels) being re-homed to the Heathcote River, as part of the clean-up of the pond.”
He said the council received Sophie’s letter at the same time the team was working to resolve the issue.
“It’s great to see young people taking an interest in community parks and we want to thank her for highlighting this issue to us.”
Cashmere ward councillor Tim Scandrett said the state of the pond had been an issue for a while, with a number of people commenting to him about it.
He had previously raised it with staff and it was likely to be an ongoing problem.
He said it was wonderful that Sophie was concerned enough to do something about it and that she had the family support to do it.
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Hero
“I was born and raised in war. To be honest, those are not good memories.
I really like Iran, and I really miss it, but I couldn’t be myself there. Even though my family didn’t like my decision, I left Iran. I promised myself that I would do whatever I can for all communities, especially for the kids, so they do not have the same experience I had.
I studied software engineering in Iran and left in 2006. I went to Malaysia and stayed in Kuala Lumpur for seven years. I was admitted to Lincoln University to do my PhD here, but unfortunately, I couldn’t afford the expenses. I requested a scholarship, but they told me I had to be there for six months first. So, I stayed in Malaysia and did my PhD in network security. In December 2013, I came to New Zealand with a work visa.
It took me a while to connect with the Iranian community here. I volunteered with the Multicultural Council, SPCA, and community patrol, and I established the Christchurch Iranian Society in 2017. Before that, I started working on Radio Toranj, the only Farsi-language radio show in New Zealand.
One of the reasons I started organizing cultural events was to showcase Iranian culture. I wanted to show people that we have delicious food, colorful dresses, traditional customs, and our own instruments. My hope was to show people that we are not what you see in the media.
I am working to involve all the communities that celebrate Nowruz, the Persian New Year, in the Nowruz festival in March 2025. We want to share this celebration not only with our community but with the public as well. It’s better when it’s shared.
I remember the first time someone from Dunedin called me and asked, Hero, can you help? Something happened, and they keep declining Iranian visa applications. When I heard that, I felt insulted. We are still human, so how can they do that?
Through this journey, I’ve learned a lot. Every single day, people with different cases call me, and I try to share my knowledge and guide them as much as I can.
I have received several awards, including the Christchurch Civic Award and an Award of Recognition for my contributions to the community during the pandemic. In 2021, I established Canterbury Kia Ora Academy, a charitable trust. Through this charity, I can help other communities as well, not just the Iranian community.”
- Hero
View more stories, or nominate someone: @humansofchch
www.humansofchch.org......
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