It's impossible to imagine the pain, the fear, and the grief of the Haitian people and their visitors caught in the recent earthquake. It's heart-wrenching to see the images of children crying and bleeding, fathers carrying their little ones, looking for safety and refuge that doesn't exist.In most other countries in this hemisphere, in even the worst disaster, there is ultimately someone in charge with a plan and the resources to carry it out. We are told that in the case of an emergency, we should have enough food and water put away to survive for a few days "until help arrives." For most of us that help comes from within our own countries.
In Haiti, no help will arrive from within. There is no plan, no money, no working government, hospitals, authority, ambulances, central place of refuge, food, water, rescue, intact port or airport. The abyss.Donate if you possibly can, in whatever amout you can.
Please help build a bridge over the abyss.
One resource for links to agencies to donate to is the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). Only reputable agencies are listed there. (Even, and maybe especially, in the face of such tragedy, scammers turn out in full force looking for our money!)
15 comments:
As I watch the outpourring of grief and suffering, I can but offer a simple, heartfelt prayer to all those afflicted by the recent devastation in Haiti.
Carmen
I feel so helpless, even as I rally through the day to get this cause heard. I am so happy to see so many bloggers bringing this to the forefront.
Blogging's good for that. Can I link to your post?
@carm, You are so right; We can only hope for whatever best there can be. It's so sad.
I'm glad you commented - thx.
@ *
Yes, helplessness. It's so hard to just watch and wish to do more than donate and/or blog. Please feel free to link to the post; I'd be honored.
Benevolence and prayers go out to all those affected by the overwhelming devastation in Haiti. I've been watching the news steadily, shaking my head in awe at the images of mass destruction. The displacement of so many people who are now challenged with the daunting task of mere survival, as they grasp onto the weakest of threads.
Carm,
Yes, I think the sheer numbers are so devastating. It's hard to contemplate.
They need help - any kind of help and did so long before the earthquake.
Anon,
You are so right. It's never good when these disasters happen, but in this case it almost couldn't happen to a people with fewer resources.
thank you for commenting.
Re the scammers who will come out eventually. I hope they will not discourage people from donating their time and money to help out. My heart goes out to the people of Haiti.
Carl,
As long as people donate to reputable agencies, it will be okay. But how despicable that people would capitalize on tragedies like this.
The abyss is right. This word really conveys what I have been witnessing on the television. Thanks for your help and dedication in helping our Haitian neighbors. Keep it going!!
My wife and I visited Haiti thirty years ago. There was no such thing as a good day then. What has happened will make for many bad days ahead.
Let's hope the world will act quickly.
skdd,
Thank you for commenting. "Abyss" was the only word that seemed to convey the horror.
Owen,
Let's hope quickly is quick enough. There are already reports that desperation is turning ugly.
Piqued in extreme silence
Behind the safety of my gaze
Something of my spirit dislocates
As I analyze the tortured landscape
Grafted from some other reality
Ghosted over, frail, vulnerable
In that paltry, contemptible air
Time held in frozen abstractions
Captured as in a still life painting
Eyes observe condensed trajectories
Look, over there, beyond the gate
A faceless child sleeps in the corner
With becalmed, folded wings
Soporific, lost to echoes of a distant past
Disdainfully stolen on the sly
You dig deep into that dark hour
Hoping to find a means of articulation
In those grieved tones of resolve
Antipathy kicks in as it all becomes
Too personal, too solitary, too private
Those many lives stilled
Caught in fractured snatches
The soul weeps in the vertigo
Of such mass disorientation
As life impales with profane
wounds that resist inventory
We're exhausted within
The sorrow of that gaze
We longingly desire to honour
The voices of all those who cry out
Concealed by the dirt and rubble
Tethered to their misery, they collide
With an emptiness so absolute
As we retreat into our night
Appalling images still afloat
The first, haunted by the next
On and on they encircle the darkness
And cannot be warded off
Taken aback by the sheer
Exhaustive, monumentality of it all
In profound pause, prayers are offered
As consideration to the crisis
And you take a long, deep breath
As the vanquished soul recharges
In the quiet comforts of Grace
And in the knowledge that all the
Shredded fibers of this tapestry
Will mend, and once again, unite
Strengthening the weakest of threads.
Carm,
Poetry is often the only way we can hope to express such tragedies.
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