It is Easy to be Cynical in the Face of Disaster.
May 15th 2008 00:58
It is Easy to be Cynical in the Face of Disaster.
More so when people are trying to do something about it and face every conceivable obstacle that exists. Even more so when you find that many of problems are being caused by human interference and inaction.
In the past fortnight we have seen two absolute disasters hit: One in Chine where recent estimates put the number of dead at over 20,000 and the other in Burma where it could be as many as 100,00 dead. In both cases there is a crying need for urgent help to save desperate people who just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. The level of distress and suffering is beyond what we in the safe havens of the world can even begin to imagine. We can see photographs and images but it is a far cry from actually being there and waking up each day to realize that through no fault of your own your life has suddenly become much harder and basic survival is the primary focus of your day.
On Boxing Day 2004 a Tsunami wreaked havoc across the world from Indonesia to as far as the coast of Africa. Like the current disasters the numbers first reported may have seem spectacular until they were doubled each day with seemingly no end. When the counting and number crunching finally stopped the figure was between 250,000 and 300,000 people killed.
Within 2 days I received a phone call from some people within the Sri Lankan community asking for me to attend a meeting that would arrange emergency aid to the Island Nation. The stories were still pouring in about the scale of the disaster and it was clear that over three quarters of the coast had been swamped killing 30,000 people and making millions homeless. Many were living in seaside shanties. The meeting brought together about fifty people from all the different community organizations and with the help of the Lions Club International they arrange for shipping containers to be filled with emergency good like food, clothing, bedding etc. Within a short period of time there were 5 containers of aid donated not just from the Sri Lankan community but also from the wider Australian community.
Days later I the Committee that belong to decided to run a fundraising concert in aid of the Tsunami victims in Sri Lanka. The Lord Mayor of Melbourne John So donated the use of the Melbourne Town Hall and over 200 artists donated their performances. It is worth noting that much of the stage direction and organization of performers was done by a 19 year old female high school student. A sizeable amount of money was raised as was done by a myriad of other benefits working independently across Australia.
Like other organizations we had money to give to a nominated cause and at the same time we were now accountable legally and ethically for that money. Most other organization hit the same stumbling block. Many went ahead and gave to unaccountable and later had difficulty explaining where the money went. Others wanted to help orphans but the Sri Lankan govern quickly passed laws to prevent that because of the fear of exploitation. Others were accused of sending aid money to terrorists and so many innocent fundraisers were blackened with the same accusation.
The most insane situation occurred when the 5 container loads of aid was stopped at the Colombo docks with the demand from customs to pay an import duty. The fact that this was emergency aid aimed at helping the nation was immaterial to these pompous government officials. The situation remained out of the news for weeks with few people willing to talk about it in case aid donations stopped all together. Finally after the story broke in the international press the containers were released.
The immediate situation moved from immediate rescue as tent shelters and shanties were created to house the homeless. Yet there was a second Tsunami that was about to hit Sri Lanka. Not one that came from the sea but one that came from the waves of human exploitation, greed and desperate power struggles from every direction. New reports were filled with stories of donated billions only to find that much of the money seemed to disappear from government accounts or never reached those accounts. Other reports came in that aid convoys going into rebel controlled area were being stopped and raided. Some aid organization had to pay a levy just to bring medical aid to villages. Aid donated to the government at that time in the form of clothing and food was handed over to traditional village heads, which were responsible for its distribution. Many of these village heads were nothing more than party stooges who controlled the aid to blackmail and coerce the desperate. Reports of demanding sex for aid was confirmed in one case. In other cases the aid went to party loyalists who were never affected by the Tsunami. Some of the aid was being sold in shops with the desperate missing out completely. For many the Tsunami took everything but for others it was a great career move.
It is easy to throw up your hands in a situation like this and swear that nothing can be done so that nothing should be done. Some editorials at the time showed all the callousness of Job’s comforter by trying to make banal point scores about religion. Yet few of such people were found pulling bloated rotting corpses from water ways. No such people were there to offer one word of comfort to people who had lost everything.
I do remember that whilst the government officials and party hacks jostled for a new advantage it was the temples and churches that were taking on the bulk of the real work. Often Buddhist temples opened their gates to let homes camp inside, fed them and looked after them. This was similar with Hindu Temples and Churches that looked after a great bulk of these people and some still do today. Aid sent directly to many of these did get to the poor but aid sent to government run organizations often went somewhere else.
The crying need after the crisis comes years after as each person affected must learn to deal with a new and uncomfortable reality. Like soldier after a war many of the people are traumatized to their very core. I personally know of two people who have lost over sixty members of their family each. Indirectly I know dozens are in the same situation. A whole generation of family members no longer exists for many and that is an unimaginable burden for some to carry, even harder to take when they have no access to psychiatrists or professional counselling.
I remember seeing an international journalist interview a Buddhist Monk who was keeping hundreds of homeless in the grounds of his temple.
“What do you say to people who have lost everything?”
His answer was simple enough.
“We are living always living in a state of flux and nothing is permanent.”
Who knows what our futures may be?
As the crisis is happening in both Burma and China we can be tempted to look around for scapegoats and people to blame. Yet often we do so from the comfort of our own living rooms and throw accusations at the very people who trying to help. It is easy to find people wanting to help but often it is very hard to do ‘some good’ against the tide of self interest. Yet sometimes when something good happens, even if it is very small, it is worth the effort.
Comfort never lasts forever.
More so when people are trying to do something about it and face every conceivable obstacle that exists. Even more so when you find that many of problems are being caused by human interference and inaction.
In the past fortnight we have seen two absolute disasters hit: One in Chine where recent estimates put the number of dead at over 20,000 and the other in Burma where it could be as many as 100,00 dead. In both cases there is a crying need for urgent help to save desperate people who just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. The level of distress and suffering is beyond what we in the safe havens of the world can even begin to imagine. We can see photographs and images but it is a far cry from actually being there and waking up each day to realize that through no fault of your own your life has suddenly become much harder and basic survival is the primary focus of your day.
On Boxing Day 2004 a Tsunami wreaked havoc across the world from Indonesia to as far as the coast of Africa. Like the current disasters the numbers first reported may have seem spectacular until they were doubled each day with seemingly no end. When the counting and number crunching finally stopped the figure was between 250,000 and 300,000 people killed.
Within 2 days I received a phone call from some people within the Sri Lankan community asking for me to attend a meeting that would arrange emergency aid to the Island Nation. The stories were still pouring in about the scale of the disaster and it was clear that over three quarters of the coast had been swamped killing 30,000 people and making millions homeless. Many were living in seaside shanties. The meeting brought together about fifty people from all the different community organizations and with the help of the Lions Club International they arrange for shipping containers to be filled with emergency good like food, clothing, bedding etc. Within a short period of time there were 5 containers of aid donated not just from the Sri Lankan community but also from the wider Australian community.
Days later I the Committee that belong to decided to run a fundraising concert in aid of the Tsunami victims in Sri Lanka. The Lord Mayor of Melbourne John So donated the use of the Melbourne Town Hall and over 200 artists donated their performances. It is worth noting that much of the stage direction and organization of performers was done by a 19 year old female high school student. A sizeable amount of money was raised as was done by a myriad of other benefits working independently across Australia.
Like other organizations we had money to give to a nominated cause and at the same time we were now accountable legally and ethically for that money. Most other organization hit the same stumbling block. Many went ahead and gave to unaccountable and later had difficulty explaining where the money went. Others wanted to help orphans but the Sri Lankan govern quickly passed laws to prevent that because of the fear of exploitation. Others were accused of sending aid money to terrorists and so many innocent fundraisers were blackened with the same accusation.
The most insane situation occurred when the 5 container loads of aid was stopped at the Colombo docks with the demand from customs to pay an import duty. The fact that this was emergency aid aimed at helping the nation was immaterial to these pompous government officials. The situation remained out of the news for weeks with few people willing to talk about it in case aid donations stopped all together. Finally after the story broke in the international press the containers were released.
The immediate situation moved from immediate rescue as tent shelters and shanties were created to house the homeless. Yet there was a second Tsunami that was about to hit Sri Lanka. Not one that came from the sea but one that came from the waves of human exploitation, greed and desperate power struggles from every direction. New reports were filled with stories of donated billions only to find that much of the money seemed to disappear from government accounts or never reached those accounts. Other reports came in that aid convoys going into rebel controlled area were being stopped and raided. Some aid organization had to pay a levy just to bring medical aid to villages. Aid donated to the government at that time in the form of clothing and food was handed over to traditional village heads, which were responsible for its distribution. Many of these village heads were nothing more than party stooges who controlled the aid to blackmail and coerce the desperate. Reports of demanding sex for aid was confirmed in one case. In other cases the aid went to party loyalists who were never affected by the Tsunami. Some of the aid was being sold in shops with the desperate missing out completely. For many the Tsunami took everything but for others it was a great career move.
It is easy to throw up your hands in a situation like this and swear that nothing can be done so that nothing should be done. Some editorials at the time showed all the callousness of Job’s comforter by trying to make banal point scores about religion. Yet few of such people were found pulling bloated rotting corpses from water ways. No such people were there to offer one word of comfort to people who had lost everything.
I do remember that whilst the government officials and party hacks jostled for a new advantage it was the temples and churches that were taking on the bulk of the real work. Often Buddhist temples opened their gates to let homes camp inside, fed them and looked after them. This was similar with Hindu Temples and Churches that looked after a great bulk of these people and some still do today. Aid sent directly to many of these did get to the poor but aid sent to government run organizations often went somewhere else.
The crying need after the crisis comes years after as each person affected must learn to deal with a new and uncomfortable reality. Like soldier after a war many of the people are traumatized to their very core. I personally know of two people who have lost over sixty members of their family each. Indirectly I know dozens are in the same situation. A whole generation of family members no longer exists for many and that is an unimaginable burden for some to carry, even harder to take when they have no access to psychiatrists or professional counselling.
I remember seeing an international journalist interview a Buddhist Monk who was keeping hundreds of homeless in the grounds of his temple.
“What do you say to people who have lost everything?”
His answer was simple enough.
“We are living always living in a state of flux and nothing is permanent.”
Who knows what our futures may be?
As the crisis is happening in both Burma and China we can be tempted to look around for scapegoats and people to blame. Yet often we do so from the comfort of our own living rooms and throw accusations at the very people who trying to help. It is easy to find people wanting to help but often it is very hard to do ‘some good’ against the tide of self interest. Yet sometimes when something good happens, even if it is very small, it is worth the effort.
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