Haiti

The recent catastrophe in Haiti came as a quite a shock to me. It was heart-wrenching to watch those videos and photos of bodies being brought out from under the rubble and debris and then being flung about for want of space. Yes, they should have anticipated a catastrophe of such magnitude and should have been prepared for it. But when you’ve not face such a thing as an earthquake in more than 200 years, you do tend to get a little complacent. But that is not an excuse for not being prepared.

The international group of nations – more importantly – The United Nations Organization (UNO) should not shy away from offering and providing any and all necessary aid / help to the nation. The US, it has been reported, has monopolized the airport at Port-Au-Prince for it’s use leaving no space for other aid to get through. How much of it is true (it at all) I do not know… I only heard about this in the news. But anyway, we should not be blaming anybody for anything right now. We cannot afford to. This is not the time. We should instead concentrate on the future of the aid agencies. The UN has lost it’s representative and his deputy in the country. Both of them were really high ranking officials. Sad. But their families should be proud. They knew the dangers that awaited them. Of course not the earthquake. With all the coups and in-fighting that the country had seen till the last 8 years or so, any peace-keeping force should be prepared for the ultimate test – that of sacrifice when the country we work for is not the country we were born in. When we can truly say that we are prepared for this test, only then can we be true representatives of the international group of nations.

I am a humble citizen of the planet. Have been witness to the 2 wars in Iraq (including the current one), the fight for Kargil sector in the disputed J&K region of the Indian subcontinent and such… I can only say I felt shocked to hear about Teddy Pendergrass. It was sad that he lost his life in this catastrophe.

When will they end?