Take Action: Haiti Earthquake

There are two different types of tragedies one might face in this world. Ones that are beyond our control (acts of God, forces of nature) and ones that are completely within our control (ignorance, hate) if we choose to change them.

The 7.3 earthquake that struck Haiti on January 12, 2010, resulted in the loss of an estimated 50-100,000 lives and the potential for more loss due to the logistic challenges posed from such a catastrophic event (water supplies, sanitation, and supplies distribution). It’s a tragedy beyond our control that no on one on this earth could have ever foreseen. The other tragedy is the disgustingly dim-witted remark that ‘televangelist’ Pat Robertson made on the 700 Club http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/13/pat-robertson-haiti-curse_n_422099.html in stating that Haiti has been “cursed” by a “pact to the devil.” That a long time ago, while under the heel of the French (Napoleon III, he presumes) the Haitians gathered together and swore a pact to the devil if Beelzebub released them from the oppression of the French. True story (so Pat says). For any of us who have lost or witnessed the suffering of a loved one from any tragedy statements like that must feel like an evil curse. No one deserves this.

I am more than aware of the predicaments that many of us find ourselves in (unemployment, ill health, disability, financial shortcomings, emotional upsets) and the reasons we might make to forgo on helping out with aid of any kind (aid isn’t just dollars it can be clothes, volunteerism, blankets, shoes). I received a bit of a shock myself in that this week my property agent sent out a notice saying that if any tenants chose to make a donation to the Red Cross towards Haiti earthquake relief efforts that they would match any donation made. So no excuses, if the landlord can cough up than so can I.

Here are ways you can help...

• Donate $10 by texting “HAITI” to 9-0-9-9-9
• Visit http://www.redcross.org/ or call 1-800-RED-CROSS
• Volunteer for the American Red Cross, please contact your local chapter
• Check with your employer, church, property management to enquire about matching donations

Some tragedies we can turn around so when the rubble begins to clear in Haiti then perhaps, God willing of course, we can band together again and purchase Saint Robertson a first class airplane ticket to the 21st century.

Take Action: Congolese Women, Raped and Refugees

I am not ashamed to say that when I watched Hotel Rhwanda a few years ago I was mortified and bawled more than halfway through the movie. I am ashamed to say that, I had NO clue of the highly disturbing conflict that took place a decade ago. For as much as I adore the Clintons, why did the U.S. turn a blind eye to that disaster?

As I speak, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, more than 5.4 million people have died in the last ten years in two civil wars. Genocide is happening in Darfur. More horrifying is that women (children and the elderly) have been brutally raped with bayonnets and guns...repeatedly and sometimes fatally. It's escalated from war crimes to regular street crime. It can happen to any woman, anywhere at anytime. Often the outcome of rape is pregnancy and with the stain of rape and illegitimacy, women are shunned by their own family, villagers and even husbands, asked to leave and left with nothing.

UNICEF ambassador Dayle Haddon posed the question "How do you destroy a community...by destroying its women. But the Congolese women are fighting back. They have created a women's tribunal to report to the government and the world what has happened: they're building communities where women can protect themselves and teach each other skills and literacy."

Visit http://www.raisehopeforcongo.org/ where you can register for updates and/or sign a petition demanding President Obama pressure Congo's leaders into stopping the violence.

Source: Marie Claire, March 2009