i wish we had cared... before now
i'm watching the telethon on Haiti. it's amazing to see so many people coming together to make a difference. it's great to see so many influential people giving thousands of dollars to help a devastated country. when i hear conversations about Haiti, the statement that i feel like i've heard the most is, "i had no idea Haiti is only 90 miles from the US." honestly, neither did i. but i'm not sure what is really meant by that statement. i don't know if people mean that they can't believe how close the country of Haiti is in proximity to the US, or that they can't believe such devastation has happened so close to our border.
as this tragedy unfolds we see reporters, doctors, politicians, religious leaders, artists and public figures banning together to rally our country and the rest of the world to unite and help in this great time. this outpouring is amazing, yet i can't help but think, "i wish we had cared before now. i wish i had cared before now." i wish that before January 12, 2010, we cared that 90 miles from our coast sits the poorest country in the western hemisphere. i wish that we had cared that people were dying from disease, that buildings weren't built well, that there wasn't adequate medical care, food or clean water. i wish that the donations of millions of dollars and people putting every difference aside to come together and help had happened before now.
i share the same thoughts so many others do as we watch this nightmare continue. i can't believe this tragedy happened so close. i can't believe such extreme poverty is so close. and before my thoughts can become words, i look across the street and see the broken cardboard shacks of Juarez, MX. i see the faces of the people whose prayers i can hear in the silence when i shut my eyes to sleep. i think of the child soldiers and families displaced in Uganda fighting for their lives. i envision the children starving in Ethiopia and those dying around the world daily from lack of clean water, AIDS and starvation. i stop and i remember that this world, our neighbors, are always hurting around us, and this earthquake in Haiti is finally turning our entire focus and attention to one of those hurting places. i struggle with the fact that Haiti has needed our help for so long. people have always been dying, yet it took this to make us turn and offer help so freely, so abundantly. the world is always screaming out, i'm just afraid to say that we are too busy with our own lives, too wrapped up in ourselves, or just don't care enough about those around us to hear them.
Haiti, you are not alone. i'm sorry that we didn't walk with you, beside you, before now. i'm sorry that you were right next to us all along and we didn't care, before now. i'm sorry that you had to lose so many that you love and you had to scream so loudly in agony for us to finally hear your cries. Haiti, we failed you. i'm so sorry. we have the power and the resources not to wait on tragedy to happen again before we help those in need. we have the ability not to sit by idly, in abundance, as our neighbors die empty handed. it is up to us to live differently. it's always been up to us.
people are crying out all around you. stop long enough to listen. who's voices do you hear? care long enough to do something about it.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
update:
over $58 million given so far
i'm grateful to live in a country that has responded so abundantly
as this tragedy unfolds we see reporters, doctors, politicians, religious leaders, artists and public figures banning together to rally our country and the rest of the world to unite and help in this great time. this outpouring is amazing, yet i can't help but think, "i wish we had cared before now. i wish i had cared before now." i wish that before January 12, 2010, we cared that 90 miles from our coast sits the poorest country in the western hemisphere. i wish that we had cared that people were dying from disease, that buildings weren't built well, that there wasn't adequate medical care, food or clean water. i wish that the donations of millions of dollars and people putting every difference aside to come together and help had happened before now.
i share the same thoughts so many others do as we watch this nightmare continue. i can't believe this tragedy happened so close. i can't believe such extreme poverty is so close. and before my thoughts can become words, i look across the street and see the broken cardboard shacks of Juarez, MX. i see the faces of the people whose prayers i can hear in the silence when i shut my eyes to sleep. i think of the child soldiers and families displaced in Uganda fighting for their lives. i envision the children starving in Ethiopia and those dying around the world daily from lack of clean water, AIDS and starvation. i stop and i remember that this world, our neighbors, are always hurting around us, and this earthquake in Haiti is finally turning our entire focus and attention to one of those hurting places. i struggle with the fact that Haiti has needed our help for so long. people have always been dying, yet it took this to make us turn and offer help so freely, so abundantly. the world is always screaming out, i'm just afraid to say that we are too busy with our own lives, too wrapped up in ourselves, or just don't care enough about those around us to hear them.
Haiti, you are not alone. i'm sorry that we didn't walk with you, beside you, before now. i'm sorry that you were right next to us all along and we didn't care, before now. i'm sorry that you had to lose so many that you love and you had to scream so loudly in agony for us to finally hear your cries. Haiti, we failed you. i'm so sorry. we have the power and the resources not to wait on tragedy to happen again before we help those in need. we have the ability not to sit by idly, in abundance, as our neighbors die empty handed. it is up to us to live differently. it's always been up to us.
people are crying out all around you. stop long enough to listen. who's voices do you hear? care long enough to do something about it.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
update:
over $58 million given so far
i'm grateful to live in a country that has responded so abundantly
Comments