The horror of the tsunami in Asia hit home today. Although thoughts had been gelling over the course of the previous few days, it finally sunk in while I was watching the six o'clock news, that what happened one day after Christmas off the coast of Indonesia was a horrible, singular event that will likely be remembered not just for years or decades, but for centuries to come. The Black Plague, Krakatoa, the tsunami of '04.
I had a hard time watching the news. Images over and over again of the aftermath of the tsunami that rolled across and around the Indian ocean. It hurt to see the devastation, the death. So many lives lost. So many villages, towns and even cities destroyed. Anthropologists fear that the Onge, a primitive tribe living on an island off the Indian coast, may have been wiped out. So far away, yet thanks to the shrinking of our world so close. The west can't ignore events like this anymore.
I can't ignore them
Earlier in the day I read a letter to the editor in the Globe and Mail. It was a simple challenge from one person to a nation, at least those in the nation that read the Globe, to donate $10 to the aid organization of their choice to assist the survivors of the tsunami. If every man woman and child answered the challenge the amount raised would be about $300 million. That's a lot of dough.
I thought about making a donation. I thought about the Onge. I thought about 100,000 dead. And then I thought about what I was doing at the exact moment that all these lives were being rubbed out: I was getting ready to sit down to Christmas dinner.
Turkey, potatoes mixed with cheese and herbs, carrots and peas, candied sweet potatoes, ham, assorted condiments and of course, stuffing. All being readied for consumption as chaos loomed on the other side of the world.
The quake struck off the coast of Indonesia on December 26, at 7:58 A.M. local time (December 25, 4:58 P.M. PST.) By the time we cleared dishes the tsunami had crushed Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India, the Maldives and was headed for the east coast of Africa, where it would eventually kill people in Somalia.
I made a donation to the Red Cross. Canadians across the country have been digging deep to send aid. It's the least we can do.
It is with hope that this event will be remembered for the generosity of the haves to the have - nots. Maybe this will be the time when we realize we can do with a little less, give those without a little more, and bring some sanity to the world.
I had a hard time watching the news. Images over and over again of the aftermath of the tsunami that rolled across and around the Indian ocean. It hurt to see the devastation, the death. So many lives lost. So many villages, towns and even cities destroyed. Anthropologists fear that the Onge, a primitive tribe living on an island off the Indian coast, may have been wiped out. So far away, yet thanks to the shrinking of our world so close. The west can't ignore events like this anymore.
I can't ignore them
Earlier in the day I read a letter to the editor in the Globe and Mail. It was a simple challenge from one person to a nation, at least those in the nation that read the Globe, to donate $10 to the aid organization of their choice to assist the survivors of the tsunami. If every man woman and child answered the challenge the amount raised would be about $300 million. That's a lot of dough.
I thought about making a donation. I thought about the Onge. I thought about 100,000 dead. And then I thought about what I was doing at the exact moment that all these lives were being rubbed out: I was getting ready to sit down to Christmas dinner.
Turkey, potatoes mixed with cheese and herbs, carrots and peas, candied sweet potatoes, ham, assorted condiments and of course, stuffing. All being readied for consumption as chaos loomed on the other side of the world.
The quake struck off the coast of Indonesia on December 26, at 7:58 A.M. local time (December 25, 4:58 P.M. PST.) By the time we cleared dishes the tsunami had crushed Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India, the Maldives and was headed for the east coast of Africa, where it would eventually kill people in Somalia.
I made a donation to the Red Cross. Canadians across the country have been digging deep to send aid. It's the least we can do.
It is with hope that this event will be remembered for the generosity of the haves to the have - nots. Maybe this will be the time when we realize we can do with a little less, give those without a little more, and bring some sanity to the world.
1 comment:
More little kids die in Africa every month (maybe every week), year in and year out, that died in the Tsunami. And whereas the Tsunami was completely unpreventable, there is no reason on earth why every kid in Africa could not be fed.
It pisses me off how the Tsunami has turned into this big "crisis of the moment" with everyone trying to cash in. An example, the President of Seagate (local software company) was on the front page of the Sun pontificating about how businesses like his have to do their bit. If for the Tsunami, why not for the Congo? or Sudan? or whatever.
Post a Comment