NOT FOR NOTHIN': Haitian tears for humanity

 An old man lay at the side of a dirt road. He was hungry. He was mostly used to it, but could feel his stomach scraping against itself. 

His stomach cried out until his whole body shook. It shook again and the man looked around; traffic had stopped. It was a tremor. 

The world was quiet as his stomach cried out again.  The people on the street were alert. The man held his stomach and closed his eyes.  In an instant, the earth’s stomach turned inside out, lurching and grasping for human life. The tremor ended. The world became loud, but the hungry cries of the man’s stomach ceased. 

He was dead.

Aside from vigils and short moments of prayer and commemoration, the world has been loud ever since, raising voices to create awareness and bring swift humanitarian aid to the victims of Haiti’s recent natural disaster. 

The world has shifted its attention away from political relations and toward an urgent global calamity: the life after an earthquake estimated to have killed 150,000 people in Haiti. In a few moments, the lives of hundreds of thousands of people were taken. Just a few moments later, the world moved into action.

In the rubble the world went in search of bodies, only to encounter something more troublesome than that which could come from a single earthquake. By digging through the refuse, we have gained perspectives on real Haitian society. 

For decades, Haiti has been wrought by oppression, extreme poverty, human rights abuse, political upheaval, environmental exploitation and relentless natural disaster. The Haitians represent one of the most historically marginalized populations in the Western hemisphere. 

Although it was one of the world’s first black republics, Haiti is now considered a failed state. Long before any sign of natural disaster, Haiti was a place of turmoil, a blight below the United States, with its people mostly forgotten or ignored. Meanwhile, its neighbor with which it shares the island of Hispaniola, the Dominican Republic, is the number one tourist destination in the Caribbean. 

It took an inordinate tragedy to have Americans boarding boats and planes in a rush to the island.

Haiti’s plight has brought together millions of people in an immediate apolitical cause: helping humanity. Recent weeks have seen individuals shaken from their complacency and moved into action, to serve, donate and gather supplies in a slew of creative initiatives. In fact, many with hopes of joining the relief effort have been turned away. 

The world has acted swiftly and, dare I say it, in solidarity. No one may cast blame about too little, too late.     Or so it seems.

Aid arrives on shore in Haiti by the tons, yet people are dying each day from injuries, infections, hunger and the inability to find proper shelter. Still the world cannot seem to find places to “put” the victims, the right materials to tend to their wounds or a way to organize the effort in a way that leaves no person behind.

 With the help of the entire world, we still fail to meet the needs of one tiny country. No, Haiti is not a failed state; the world failed Haiti long ago. 

The relief effort has shown the world that we have the resources to help, that people across borders, from every economic background and of every faith, are prepared to lend a hand, to contribute the skills, space, time and money that the situation demands. President Obama calls this a duty to our “common humanity.” But did our humanity become common only a few weeks ago? 

The plight of Haitians has been visible for years. But we have gotten away with casting the blame for their troubles on evil people, weak institutions, bad politics, corruption or on the sorry reality of third world poverty. Before the earthquake, we called their plight one of inequality, or simply unfortunate. 

Unfortunate it is that we have stood by as poverty permeated every corner of Haiti, while we live only an hour and a half away by plane. 

Fortunate it is, however, that it is such a short distance to deliver emergency supplies when natural disaster strikes.

In the past few weeks, we have sat together on humanity’s mourning bench as we take in images of the destruction in Haiti. We have crowded the bench, crying that we have done everything possible, shaking our heads at the bad luck that is the Haitian’s fate. 

But that bench was full long before any earthquake…humanity has been mourning the destitution in Haiti for years; but we’ve only just caught on. 

While the world has become loud with the desire to bring aid, humanity still mourns in dark corners throughout the world. 

Let us not rely on natural disaster to awaken us to their cries. Listen.   

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     Amy Richards is a senior honors, Spanish and global interdisciplinary studies major from Kings Park, N.Y.  She can be reached at amy.e.richards@villanova.edu.