Moral Responsibility

As many people have been intently focused on the progress of relief efforts in Haiti, I've been encouraged by the outpouring of love and support and compassion. Despite some of the criticisms of the bureaucracy and delays of medicine, food, water, and other necessities, the general public support of this crisis has been phenomenal. It reminds me of the response from previous disasters including the Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004 and Hurricane Katrina.

But what has been more surprising is how journalists covering the aftermaths of the earthquake have aided in the recovery efforts. More specifically, I admire Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta for their actions in getting their hands dirty and aiding search and rescue teams as well as medical teams to save lives. Some news outlets and the general population of cynics have surprisingly (or unsurprisingly depending on your perspective) lashed out at CNN's apparent exploitation of the situation for sensationalism and money. Sure, reporting about how you saved someone's life can be seen as self-aggrandizing. But are we, as a society, so cynical that we can't appreciate that journalists like Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta essentially save people's lives? Too often journalists are judged and criticized for merely covering tragic events without lending a helping hand. Now, some are criticizing them for actually doing something good to help out the situation. It's pretty unbelievable, if you ask me.

Something about Dr. Sanjay Gupta applying his trade as a doctor to give medical attention to the needy was inspiring. I'm sure he had other responsibilities as a journalist and could have easily ignored the pleas of the injured and proceeded to report objectively from a distance. I don't want to speculate on what his motives were to help, but it was refreshing to see that he would tend to the sick and injured himself. Wherever God leads me after graduate school, in whatever job/career I'll be in, I wish to show the same kind of moral fiber that these journalists (and hopefully many other journalists in Haiti) showed by helping out in any way possible even if we're not responsible for it.

Haiti

It is home to nearly ten million people, most of whom live in abject poverty. Its long pattern of corrupt governance has rendered its people helpless. It is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. And today, it finds itself in the most dire situation after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake ravaged its most densely populated city, Port Au-Prince. It is feared that more than a hundred thousand are dead and many more unaccounted for in a country too poor to invest in the proper infrastructure that could withstand earthquakes.

Reading, listening, and watching the news unfold in the past 24-hours via CNN, New York Times, radio stations, blogs, etc., I'm compelled to give out of my poverty what I can to do something to the people of Haiti. At times like these, I wish I had more money so that I could at least give more. At times like these, I wish I could be mobilized to even go to ground zero and help in the search and rescue operations. But I believe that if my God could feed thousands with just five loaves of bread and two fish, then my small financial donation could be multiplied in bringing healing and compassion to those in desperate need.

Instead of hearing fundamentalist and televangelists (once again) attribute a horrific natural disaster to the work of God's judgment and a curse, I wish to live out my faith by serving the poor, the weak, and the orphans. Jesus did not come down to condemn, but instead, he came to seek and save what was lost.

Will you join me and others in giving, not out of wealth, but out of poverty to those less fortunate than us? Here are some places taking donations to serve the people of Haiti:

• International Red Cross
• American Red Cross
  
• World Vision
  
• Samaritan's Purse
• CARE
• Doctor's Without Borders
• Catholic Relief Services