Thinking about Haiti

A month has passed since the big earthquake in Haiti. I’m sure anyone who has seen the devastation feels heartsick for the people there. Described by one as a tragedy of “biblical” proportion, it is certainly unimaginable how such a beleaguered nation of people could survive. Yet, they will survive with the help of billions of dollars raised from people and organizations all around the world.

I’ve been wondering…Why did, approximately 200,000 people have to die before our government paid real attention to Haiti? Before the quake, for years, Haitians have tried to flee the country for a better life in the U.S. and unlike other “boat people” have been consistently and summarily turned away. Why also, with so many people doing so much through the years to help the Haitian people, has relatively so little been accomplished? Just a couple of years ago there were articles and television spots about children eating dirt cookies. Why does anyone in the same hemisphere as a country as wealthy as ours have to eat dirt? Why do corrupt governments thrive in areas where government should help not exploit its people? These questions are about why human beings behave so badly toward one another.

A significant part of the YWCA’s mission statement is “promoting peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all people.” Those elements are accomplished through effective ADVOCACY. Perhaps, now, all of us can be more effective advocates for Haiti and its people, not just give money, but hold the organizations we give to accountable for ensuring the funds are spent to address immediate needs and begin to address root causes of problems. The current situation is simply unacceptable.

Snowmageddon

Why is there SO much coverage in the news of snow in Washington, DC? Granted, they’ve had a lot this winter and the totals have been much higher than normal for that neck of the woods, but it DOES snow there and it’s winter - February no less!

What has happened to us that we are so fascinated with things that don’t amount to a hill of beans? Ok. Record breaking snowfall is a story for a day or two, beyond that, it’s just silly. What about adding a thoughtful twist to the story, say, on day two? Something like, what happens to all of the District’s homeless people when there’s 30-40 inches of snow on the ground around the benches they sleep under. I wonder how many of them participated in the big Dupont Circle snow ball fight?

I guess being inundated with news about big snow totals beats the screeching about how illegal immigrants are going to be the death of the U.S. or the incessant fussing about how the President’s healthcare bill is going to bring the country to its knees, or (locally) the I-know-better-than-you-do debate about MPS.

I think it was President Obama who referred to the Washington snow fall as “snowmageddon,” perhaps as another good-humored jab at the citizenry’s inability to handle the season’s weather. Let’s hope the word doesn’t make it to the dictionary.