Silver lining around Haitian crisis

Haiti—it’s in a mess. These are times when optimism bows down to the greatly encompassing darkness of no hope. These are times when one with the most positive of attitude is forced to ask ‘why’, and these are times when the unforgiving callosity of nature thwarts human egos. It is indeed unfortunate that more than 50,000 people have lost their lives in Haiti following the massive earthquake. Millions have become homeless. There is shortage of food, dearth of clean drinking water and rampant incidents of looting and fighting. Amidst all the tragedy, however, people around the globe have come together to help the needy. That, I see as a silver lining around the dreary clouds hovering over the skies of Haiti.

From countries around the world to individuals, from students to professionals, from singers to sports stars - people, organizations and states have chipped in what they can for the relief efforts. I would possibly not be wrong in saying that the world has not seen an example of such display of global concern and empathy before. The United States has been assisting in the rescue operations by sending its marine soldiers. I was pleasantly surprised to see the big boss in the region send its troops to another nation, possibly for the first time in a long, long while, to make peace and not war.

At times of global crisis, things do tend to change positively. Similarly, some other countries around the world have pledged aids in forms of finances, food, shelters and human resources. What is more surprising to see, and is fairly new to my knowing, is the amount of charities that have come from personal and individual levels. Hollywood stars Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie decided to write off 1 million to the charity efforts in Haiti. Sandra Bullock did the same. George Clooney is doing a telethon on US TV to raise money. These are only a few names among thousands of others who have come up with helping hands. Other sports stars, musicians, lawyers, doctors, union workers, students are also contributing.

The other thing that pleases me most is the effectiveness of media and technology seen in the whole disaster aftermath. It was a matter of minutes before the blogosphere and the interwebs were full of news about the disaster prompting people, organizations and governments to react to the situation. Social networks otherwise taunted mostly as tools of entertainment proved instrumental in mustering millions of dollars within hours. Texting and SMS services were used as alternates and very effectively so as to raise money.

Will it take another volcano, another earthquake, another tsunami or another Armageddon altogether for the world to see all the people come together, irrespective of their nationalities, origins, backgrounds and ages for a common effort of preserving humanity?

Donations were collected in the order of millions of dollars within a couple of days via various websites and online donation booths. If it weren’t for the advancement of technology, the relief efforts in Haiti could have been majorly stalled - not due to the lack of human concern and sympathy but in absence of an instrumental medium for quick support and outreach, which technology quite successfully proved itself to be.

All in all, it was more than pleasing to see everyone pull together, opposing political ideologies merge, and even profit-orientated organizations trying to keep human interest atop everything at dire times. Bill Clinton and George W Bush campaigned together. UPS - a shipping company - shipped relief packages for free and American Airlines flew doctors and nurses for free to Haiti. All these can only be hailed as a positive strength shown by the human agency in trying to lift up the situation of their fellow species. A little disappointing it sure was to see even this global effort not able to remain aloof from the game of dirty politics and finger-pointing.

One of the most effective online efforts by Haiti-born singer Wycleaf Jean was accused of profiteering for his own musical production. The singer refuted immediately and angrily, and rightfully so after trying his best to amass support for the country of his birth. Similarly, the power politics between some countries ensued shamelessly. France accused the US of trying to occupy Haiti for their political interests and not for charitable causes igniting tension between the two superpowers. Looking at some of these cases, it sometimes strikes to me that the human mind has been trained to think negatively so much that even the most benign of actions look malicious to us. Thankfully, the majority of events circling the charity and the relief efforts have overpowered these petty but annoying distractions.

It was indeed very unfortunate that Haiti even happened but as is the nature of time, everything needs to move on. Haiti is done too. With all the encouraging signs of human affection, charity and assistance, relief efforts will continue and helping hands will keep flooding in. The bigger question is: Can the positivity shown by the world, the countries, states, organizations and people remain intact? Can the glimmer of hope, the feeling of trust shown by mankind on itself perpetrate though the longevity of time? Or will it take another volcano, another earthquake, another tsunami or another Armageddon altogether for the world to see all the people come together, irrespective of their nationalities, origins, backgrounds and ages for a common effort of preserving humanity?

I would like to hope that the positivity retains in the future, the friendly energy keeps enveloping the entire world and that the good energy of human togetherness and unity that has come out of an unfortunate accident will remain there for a long time. Let the silver lining seen around the Haitian clouds enlighten the global atmosphere!

kumud.nepal@gmail.com