What Can We Do?

The earthquake in Haiti yesterday reminded me of those individuals or families (all of us know one) who seem to be disaster prone. They get serious diseases, the tree falls on THEIR house, the car wreck held their daughter...a constant stream of bad befalls them as if they were doomed in life to have the whole soap opera be about them. That, to me, is Haiti. It is not a far off, unimaginable country in Africa, but a country less than 400 miles away from Puerto Rico. And a world apart.

Herbert Gold wrote about Haiti, his Haiti, in his book Best Nightmare on Earth; A Life in Haiti. I read it with mixed emotions, as it seems did a much more knowledgeable reader, Bob Corbett, who reviewed it here. Everyone I know who has spent time in Haiti seems to have different feelings about the experience, hugely depending on how they got there, where they stayed and what they did (which is true, of course, for any place, but Haiti, somehow, is different even so).

Having never been to Haiti (and no desire to go), my only knowledge is through a solar eclipse one day when I lived on St. Croix. The radio station from Haiti was announcing from the equivalent of their Surgeon General that all the population must be inside, letting no daylight show anywhere in their homes - meaning stuff the chinks with anything handy. The reason? Because an eclipse even glimpsed could blind and kill one. The result was that quite a fair number of people died due to lack of oxygen. But more, lack of education killed these people. And that, as it is all over the world, is the continual erosion undermining countries with the worst of conditions.

Today we will hear horrific figures of death tolls and destruction, no doubt. We can respond in a variety of ways, many of which I'm sure will be televised...places to send money, clothing, food. Choose wisely, but choose something. Because doing nothing helps no one. Doing something won't solve the problems of Haiti, but they may make today and tomorrow a little bit easier for some of the population. And really, what else do we have?

Here at home we have our own story of need happening. The blood mobile will come over here if Joanna can provide at least 50 names of people who are willing to donate blood. This will benefit Nydia, who has needed blood transfusions on an ongoing basis. Here is something you can do to actively help someone. Let Joanna know you are willing and available for whenever the blood mobile will be here. You can find her at the tourism board, at Dinghy Dock or on Facebook - Joanna Perez, Culebra. Send her a message and let her know you're on the list.