received word the other day that one of my high school buddies was taking a team of doctors down to haiti for relief efforts. there was quite the bit of news coverages because, since our time in high school he's been able to wedge into the media market place. i saw another news article where a number of children who were up for adoption to american families were rushed to their pennsylvania homes with the political people showing smiling faces as if patting themselves on the back.
no slack on my friend & his medical team, they will do a lot of work and a lot of good work i am sure. but it had me wondering. slight slack to the political players who lord over visas and all these international adoptions.. it had me asking, "why now?"
sure, there was an earthquake & it is devastating, but long before that, there was extreme poverty & suffering… where was the anderson cooper's & media police alarming us to the worlds ills? chasing tiger woods?
i share my thoughts to say this one thing. as you are compassioned to give to help with relief efforts, give to the people who were already there, because, they are most likely to be there long after everyone is gone.. and they will be dealing with the aftermath of not only a physical earthquake, but a systemic poverty.
this is why i am so pleased to say that i am a part of the united methodist church & its continued work under the UMCOR banner. they were there before the earthquake, sadly some died in the earthquake, and will be there long after the earthquake. i applaud & more with the folks at highland park umc who have kept a long standing clinic in haiti since the 70's, but lost one of their church members in the earthquake.
learn more about the stories happening in haiti, long after the news vans leave & continue to help those who will be there long after cameras turn off and go home.
visit: www.umc.org/haiti
Very good point. A lot of great organizations have risen up in light of this tragedy and plan to initiate a presence in Haiti. However, organizations that were on the ground before the earthquake are far better positioned to make a true impact. As you said, those are the organizations who will pitch in for the long haul. I’ve been donating to Save the Children‘s presence in Haiti for over a year and will continue to do so. Great article, Gavin.
Very good point. A lot of great organizations have risen up in light of this tragedy and plan to initiate a presence in Haiti. However, organizations that were on the ground before the earthquake are far better positioned to make a true impact. As you said, those are the organizations who will pitch in for the long haul. I’ve been donating to Save the Children‘s presence in Haiti for over a year and will continue to do so. Great article, Gavin.
thanks ken, Save the Children, World Vision and Compassion are entities that have been there that i would be comfortable supporting in their efforts. as i know, they also had similar experiences of losses of staff and buildings.
i wonder what time of life our culture will become less on the reactive side and move into a more proactive position.
thanks ken, Save the Children, World Vision and Compassion are entities that have been there that i would be comfortable supporting in their efforts. as i know, they also had similar experiences of losses of staff and buildings.
i wonder what time of life our culture will become less on the reactive side and move into a more proactive position.