Praying for Haiti

I have been keenly following the devastation in Haiti brought on by a massive earthquake. For the most part, I found that I was Nightline with my face cupped between my hands as I watched people being pulled out of the rubble, dead and alive. An occasional tear ran down my cheeks as men cried like babies at the loss of their families. I thought I had been pretty strong while following the developments of this heartbreaking story.

On Friday night, I turned to ABC Nightline, my favorite TV show, knowing that there was going to be a special on the Haiti earthquake. Nothing could have prepared me for the scene that unfolded before the cameras as volunteer pulled out a little toddler girl who had been trapped under the rubble for three days. She was alive. Visibly malnourished, but alive. What struck me the most was the look on her face. She was not crying. She just stared at the people around as if expecting an explanation. It felt like someone had just thrown a heavy rock on my heart. I broke down and cried. I cried loudly like a baby. This little girl had probably cried her eyes out from fright, fear, hunger and loneliness that she could not cry any more. I wanted to reach out and hold her and love on her and protect her and let her know that everything will be alright. As a mother of a toddler, when I see a child suffering I feel like it is my child. I see my son's face in their faces and it rips my heart to pieces.

My tears turned to anger. Where was all the over US $400million that had been collected from allover the world to help the Haitians? Three or four days later and the locals are still digging with their hands to find their loved ones and food only reaching a few people four days later. The ABC report implied that the foreign volunteer seemed to be selective in whom they were helping, something that resounded with what I had been feeling. It seemed to me that the wealthy foreign dignitaries, tourists and the people staying at the posh hotels had received immediate help and medical care, while the locals were still struggling on their own. I had contributed some money by phone and even though it was not much, I knew that there are thousands of people out there who had rushed to send in their contributions so that the Haitian locals would receive immediate help.

It is now the fifth day since that deadly earthquake struck and reality is sinking in. Hope is starting to fade, knowing that five days later, there are hundreds of people who will die simply because help did not come on time. There are probably a few people still clinging to life down there, but will soon have to let go, if their bodies do not give in first as morale dies and local volunteers run out of enthusiasm. On a bright note, five people including another toddler have been found alive and rescued five days later today.

My prayers remain with Haiti and for the rebuilding of this nation