Let's not Forget Haiti

“To witness the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti is to be lost inside a waking nightmare. The markers on this mapless journey are the swarms of looters, children with chopped-off limbs, cities fabricated of sticks and bedsheets, pulverized cathedrals, dogs circling and dead in the streets.”

                      --James Nachtwey, Photographer

It’s been a month now since that terrible earthquake hit Haiti on January 12. I haven’t heard how many really did die underneath the rubble. Reports estimate somewhere between 100,000 to 200,000 have lost their lives.

I have been proud, very proud to be member of the human race when I have seen such love and care that has reached out to our brothers and sisters in Haiti. A little eight year old Ismail Taylor-Kamara spoke for so many when she said, “Will you help me.” Churches and a multitude of charity organizations have come to the rescue. Someone said epic catastrophe has been met with epic generosity.

I’ve looked through several magazines and newspapers in the last two weeks. If there is a story about Haiti it is buried on page 32 or a brief column or picture by someone. Let us not forget our brothers and sisters in Haiti. We’ve heard the terrible term, “Compassion fatigue” again and again. Overwhelmed by the too-muchness of it all many of us just shut down. But our interest and compassion span must be stretched as we think of Haiti. Food and water and tents have been so welcomed and so needed. But there must be some plans for the future and for one of the poorest countries in the world. Let’s keep Haiti on our prayer list…let’s give as we can.

John Dart quoted Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori of the Episcopal Church in the Christian Century, January 9: “The reality is that life is not safe or predictable, but what we do with our lives gives them meaning. God does not cause suffering or punish people with it, but God is present and known more intimately in the midst of suffering. Above all, we become more human through our broken hearts.”

(If you’d like to keep Haiti in mind you might download 43 pictures of the devastation by great photographers.)

Just this morning I read words from Joan Chittister in her book, Wisdom Distilled from the Daily. They speak to me about Haiti and all the other troubled places and people: "Real hospitality for our time requires that, instead of flipping the channel or turning the page, we try to determine what it is about our own lives that is affecting these others. We have to wonder how we can help the poor at the doorstep who live thousands of miles away. Hospitality says that the problem is mine, not someone else's. It is my door and my heart upon which these people are knocking for attention."