am currently taking a sociology class at UCLA.  The reading and the class discussions so far are absolutely thrilling (the last class was especially exciting when a student had to be removed from class by campus police, but I digress…).  So just as I was in the middle of doing one of my readings from a book called “Emotional Intelligence” by Daniel Goleman, I heard about the earthquake in Haiti.  At first, I didn’t realize the extent of the impact.  Then I turned on the TV, and the news was showing a before and after shot of the capitol building in Port-au-Prince.  I couldn’t believe it.  The place was completely destroyed.  It made me think about how I would feel if I saw the White House like that.  How disconcerting to see the building which represents the center of your country completely decimated.

What I found interesting from a sociological perspective was the reactions that people were posting to Twitter and Facebook.  While there was an immediate barrage of people posting information to donate to the Red Cross and Wyclef’s Yele fund, there were also those posting their outrage over the outpouring.  Comments were made such as, “we should put our fellow Americans first – there are poor people dying on the streets here” and “when do we start putting the US first, especially in the economy we’re in?” and “enough with countries that don’t respect our policies and ‘hate’ americans until they need us.”  It got me thinking about it too… a report came out a couple months ago that Americans are becoming more and more isolationist in their world views.  We want to take care of our own first.  I also think that for a lot of people here in the US, when we hear about a catastrophic natural disaster, we think of Katrina.  We think of our very own people in desperate need of help, and the government failing them.  I understand all of this.  And to be honest, I felt a little torn after hearing these comments about whether or not I should help in the relief effort.

Well, my opinion is this…

The people in Haiti are in desperate need.  Do I think the US and every country in the world should intervene?  Yes.  I would prefer that the US intervene in situations of natural disasters than have them interfering in other parts of the world that don’t want us there in the first place.  When I think of all of the money that’s been wasted on useless, futile wars that could be used for emergency situations like this, it sickens me.

What really made me want to support the effort in Haiti though was that I started thinking about Haitian people I know.  Upon reflection, I realized I’ve taught voice lessons over the years to a handful of Haitian students.  I know all of them still have family in Haiti, as many Haitians here in the US do.  They come here in an effort to create better lives for their family members, many of whom can’t leave Haiti.  The earthquake didn’t just affect people in Haiti, it affected so many of our OWN citizens.  I find myself starting to cry every time I turn on the TV and watch Haitians here in the US not know what has happened to their family members… or when I see them find out that their family member is gone.  The worst was today on “Good Morning America”, when a woman found out that it would be impossible for her sister to be buried in the family plot, and she would have to be put in a mass grave.  Her grief was inconsolable.

There have been a lot of people donating to the Red Cross.  Like many of you, I have serious questions about how the Red Cross uses their money.  I have decided to donate to Doctors Without Borders.  http://doctorswithoutborders.org

I hope we can all get past politics and look deeper inside ourselves to our true humanity.

 

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