Written: October 19, 2005
My friend Margaret emailed me last week to tell me she’s heading off to South Asia. Thinking she was going to help earthquake victims in Pakistan and India, I asked if she’d like to blog about her first-hand experience in the quake zone.
She replied, "I’m not going to the quake. I’m going to India and Indonesia, to update efforts to help the people displaced by the tsunami."
Her reply made me think...
I, like so many others, have been so wrapped up in the earthquake in South Asia and Hurricanes Katrina and Rita on our own Gulf coast, I confess, the people who survived that horrifying tsunami last December had flown out of my mind. Margaret’s email planted them firmly back front and center, complete with images of the monster wave and what little it left behind.
I felt ashamed. I know I’m not the only one.
We recently reported about "donor fatigue" – ordinary folk pushed to their limits of giving – as the world reels from one disaster after another, both natural and man-made.
We can only give so much, right? How can one person help so many countless numbers of men, women and children who are so desperately in need?
Several international aid agencies are located right here in Western Washington and points nearby. I know each and every one would appreciate a hand answering phones, gathering supplies, and who knows what else, as they work to help those who can’t help themselves.
I’m reminded of a bumper sticker that was so popular not long ago: "Think Globally, Act Locally."
It doesn’t seem like such a hard thing to do, especially now.
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