We've all seen pictures of the devestation in the New Orleans area. It's not just the loss of life, it's the enormity of the relocation effort. And we've all heard the accusations of mismanagement on every level of government. But I want to focus on the flip side -- the fact that tragedy really does bring out the best in (some) people.
I'm sure as the days, weeks and months go by, we'll here anecdotes about personal heroism. And I'm sure that there will be many more stories we never hear about, because the people involved simply felt they were doing the right thing, and didn't call it heroic.
But I'm fascinated by the response of people at a distance -- both individuals and countries. Did you know that countries all over the world have offered help? Some of the poorest countries in the world are opening their hearts to help America. After an initial misguided refusal from the White House, the U.S. is finally accepting at least some of the help.
Bangladesh has pledged one million dollars, and has also offered to send rescue specialists. To put this in context, you have to realize how poor Bangladesh is. Their citizens have an average income of less than a dollar a day.
Sri Lanka has pledged a symbolic amount of $25,000. It may seem trivial until you realize that they are still in the middle of recovery from the tsunami -- which took 41,000 lives, and damaged two thirds of their coastal areas.
Also interesting is the response from countries with whom we have an either controversial or even adversarial relationship. Afghanistan, Iran, Venezuela and Cuba have all offered support.
Many countries have experts who are ready to fly in to help, as soon as they are given the green light. Imagine an international army of specialists, in the areas of medicine, search & rescue, phone lines, water purification, etc.
Lets hope that we are not too proud to accept the help.
Here are a couple of interesting articles on the international cooperation:
Offers of Aid from around the world (CNN)
World offers Aid as a Thank You (CBS)
Wouldn't it be a wonderful thing if this tragedy (and others) caused the people of the world to view each other as human beings in need of comfort and support, rather than as political targets to be used for various agendas.
1 comment:
Many good points here, Ann. I, too, hope that the U.S. isn't too proud to accept this aid. What I am embarrassed about is how long it took our own government to respond appropriately. Had this been Manhattan, or Chicago, Boston or Los Angeles, I can't help but believe that help would've been there immediately. These are among the poorest people in the nation and it grieves me that they have been so poorly served by their leaders.
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