Day Eighty-Eight: The Lessons from Haiti

The Richter Scale rocked at 7.0 in the Haitian capital of Port Au Prince on Tuesday, January 12, 2010. This created the worlds largest disaster, making the 2004 tsunami look like a dress rehearsal for tragedy. As of today, there are 3 million people who have been waiting in the rubble without water, food or medical attention. There have been 50,000 bodies buried in haste to ward off disease and another 150,000 bodies are expected to be found during the clean up efforts. The United Nations has declared that this is the largest disaster undertaking in their history. Approximately 10,000 U.S. troops will be deployed to distribute aid and keep order along with contingents from Great Britain and Canada. The Haitian government is so strapped that there was no preplanning for any disaster, no known infrastructure left intact and no end in sight.

The lessons from this disaster are already clear. The world has taken up the call for help from one of the poorest nations on earth. Every first world country has pledged aid in some form. International agencies such as the the American Red Cross, OxFam, Doctors Without Borders, and hundreds of others have started moving immediate rations and emergency workers into the country and have been collecting millions of dollars to send more. Almost universally, all people and all countries have risen to aid fellow human beings in the midst of an unfolding and unyielding natural disaster. During the height of the Cold War, this coordinated and unprecedented response would not have been forthcoming. I believe that the lesson here is that we are truly becoming a world without borders.

This does not mean that all people are rising to the occasion. I have no problem with freedom of speech, so let me exercise my right right now. The idiocy, the cruelty and overwhelmingly un-Christian like garbage flowing from the mouths of the self-appointed spokesmen of the Far Right makes my blood boil. To use this act of God for political gain and hate mongering is unpardonable. I firmly believe in karma, and when these two get their comeuppance, it is not going to be a pretty sight. In case you have been living under a rock and do not know what I am talking about, I am speaking of the shameful diatribes of Pat Robertson and Rush Limbaugh. I mainly turn a deaf ear to anything these two have to say, but I cannot let these comments go without comments of my own.

Limbaugh has said that the earthquake in Haiti was tailor made by President Obama, saying that Obama will use Haiti to boost his credibility with blacks in this country. This is not only ludicrous but is also incredibly self serving and short sighted. Does he mean that President Bush wouldn't have gained political points with the black community if he were still president? Or does he simply mean that America is only leading the aid effort because Obama is half black? Either way, he sells all Americans short. And Robertson?! Has this guy completely lost his mind? To say that the earthquake is a direct result of the Haitian people's "pack with the Devil" to over throw French rule is absolutely nuts. Does this mean that the American Revolutionary Army made the same pact to overthrow the British? Or just he just mean that those crazy black, voodoo-lovin' island dwellers get what they deserve? When is someone going to stop giving him a microphone and put him into a home?!?

These are also the lessons of Haiti. No matter how far the world has come, not matter how many pull together for the sake of other's humanity, there will be those who do not. I am so very glad that they are the minority and that they are the fringe. The outpouring of compassion, support and concern for people mired in tragedy is proof that we are all moving closer to God, closer to unity. It will take long past my lifetime to get there, but the lesson here is that we are finally and overwhelmingly moving in the right direction. Join the effort. Pick a charity. Help. God Bless Us Everyone.