I know. You come here for goofball rants and (sometimes) inspiration. That’s cool.
I can’t ignore the situation in Haiti and I feel strongly that I should say something here.
This is a country that’s had significant problems and needed outside help for years. One military coup following another, their first democratically-elected leader exiled in South Africa, and economic strife. It’s not like Haiti has been rolling along like a bullet train.
So why care now?
It’s funny, that’s much of the sentiment I’ve read on Twitter lately. Suddenly people care about Haiti? Another blogger jumping on the Haitian Relief bandwagon. That guy is just trying to make a quick buck.
Yeah, there’s some of that happening. It’s not the way I roll, but I’m also not going to point fingers or pretend that I thought much about Haiti before Tuesday.
The way I see it, no matter who it comes from or how they may profit from the situation, if relief cash gets to the organizations who need it right now, that’s what matters. I really don’t care if somebody sells their product as a vehicle to generate relief funds.
Right now it seems that there are people moving into the area to help. It looks like they’re even having trouble managing all the relief efforts converging on the island. From what it sounds like, what’s needed most is cash.
I suppose a more cynical view would be that all that cash goes to pay high salaries of the relief organizations’ CEOs and a private jet for Bill Clinton. A more cynical view would be to say that because we didn’t send money to Haiti before the earthquake, we’re hypocrites for caring now.
Over 100,000 people are presumed dead. Over 3 million people are in need of food, shelter, water, and medical care.
I don’t see where cynicism fits in there.
One way to help
My friend Mark Silver sent an e-mail today that mentioned Mercy Corps, which seems like a sensible, well-organized group that deserves support. Don’t go on my word, of course. Read about it yourself on Faith Danforth’s page and decide what you should do.