We all woke up to the devastating effect of the Indian Tsunami of 26 December 2004, which killed nearly 250,000. Back then, it one of the worst things I had ever seen on television. To see people cry regardless of who was watching, even grown men was pretty disheartening. It was bad enough that they lost everything but having no where to go to and feeling so displaced made them all look like orphans rejected by nature and they must now sacrifice the roof over their heads to please the gods of nature.
You see, nature sometimes gives no warning it is going to bring havoc down on us. If it did, that would really help because we would know and we can consult with the gods of nature and ask for leniency. It does what it wants and when it wants to and so it is the turn of Haiti to suffer from nature’s unmerciful rage.
It has been a while since I saw or heard the voice of desperation on this level. Hospitals are packed, people are helpless and sleeping on the streets. Help is coming in, yet Haitians feel so lonely. The pain of dislocation and dispossession is etched in the national psyche and it is so painful to watch on television and listen to on the radio. I just listened to the report by the BBC’s Matthew Price, who is on the ground and to hear a father cry over his daughter and say, the earthquake should have taken him and not his daughter was more than enough for me to take in.
I could go on and on about what is happening but we all know because we have all seen it on our television screens. I would like to believe we have. The Haitian Red Cross believes between 40,000 and 50,000 people have been killed. Help is coming in for those who made it and desperately need it. This is where I say, we too should play our part and help. Nothing is too small and nothing is too big. Please, can we all log on to the different international agencies asking for aid in order to help the people of Haiti. Forget all that nonsense about this being their punishment for making a pact with the devil. There are people who desperately need your help and this is what humanity is about, showing empathy when it is most needed and not sympathy. They want help not pity.
If it helps, use this link. Please, do something to help. Thanks!
Audio Of Mathhew Price From BBC World Service
