Haiti

It has been about 20 days since my last post, and I while I have experienced a lot here that I would love to share (and will try to), my thoughts and concerns right now are about the devastation in Haiti. I have found that very few even know where Haiti is on a map here, and while many understand tragedy and can sympathize with the daily struggles of the poor Haitian with fundamental understanding, the earthquake seems like just another story in the news. In fact, more media coverage was given to a local building collapse in which 7 people lost their lives than what I have seen on the catastrophic events in the Caribbean. Kenya sure has its local issues to be concerned about, but while I am reading about America's response to such a tragedy and seeing the general lack of interest here, it makes me proud to come from a country where many have a more diverse, global view of community, and whose leadership can act decisively when it is necessary to aid those suffering unimaginable physical and emotional trauma when the unthinkable happens. This leadership can come from the president's orders, but even if our elected leaders are slow to act, leadership can also from individual efforts, including supporting institutions like Doctors without Borders, the Red Cross, local churches, and many more I can't think of at the moment. We raise the alarm, we donate, we mobilize and we execute as best we can; and we learn from our past mistakes when even despite good intentions our efforts were insufficient. Man-made disasters aside, where politics can convolute perceptions and reactions – it seems when natural disasters occur, we are all reminded of how little control we have over our fate and how fragile human life is. Our values state that life is precious, and the communal reaction is that of abhorrence. While every one of us will inevitably know death and suffering, the desire to console and inclination, nay, obligation to minimize others' suffering is an inspiring expression of a societal conscience. I want to personally thank those who are acting that are close to me – Robby Rudich, the warrior for peace, the members of the St. John's Haiti Project, and anyone who donates (I would recommend finding a local NGO because they are already on the ground). My heart is broken for those with family still over there; some very dear to me... may you find peace with such loss, and meaning in your suffering.