Misguided use of energy

The battle to save ram-shacked Haiti has made headlines in newspapers all over the world, not to mention aid from fellow countries and organizations, to school children who desperately want to do their part to help those in need.

Video cameras have captured images that will forever be stored in our memories - from crying children and starving Haitians reaching through gated, guarded areas begging for food, to the injured and crippled writhing on the streets amidst decaying bodies.

The scene in Port Au Prince, Haiti, defines despair and suffering, yet, it also defines hope. In a city where hope is all that remains, it warms the heart knowing that Haitians refuse to stop digging through collapsed rubble in hopes of discovering survivors.

During Rex Murphy's CBC Radio Sunday night call-in show, Cross Country Checkup, a seventh grader called in to talk about what his school is doing to raise funds for the people of Haiti. At the end of the conversation, Rex asked the youth if other schools are doing similar work. The student said he didn't know of any, but added he hoped the local school board would hold larger fundraisers to do its part in helping mankind.

The student was well spoken and optimistic that what his school is doing would make a difference, and even pressured his school board to do something, anything, to help the homeless, the sick, and the needy in Haiti.

Another caller, a nurse from British Columbia, urged any aid organization to call her if it needed help in Haiti. She had apparently made numerous calls, but to no avail, and said she was ready to travel to Haiti if any organization needed her services.

During a time when good Samaritans far and wide, young and old, are doing what they can to make a difference, other people have used their energy to place blame and transfer negative waves of energy towards those who have been hit by a massive earthquake-wave of destruction, death, starvation and deepest despair.

After Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive said "well over" 100,000 people may have died in the 7.0 quake, Pat Robertson, the American Christian televangelist and host of The 700 Club, announced to the world via his media outlet the country has been "cursed by one thing after another" since they "swore a pact to the devil."

Mr. Robertson said, "Something happened a long time ago in Haiti and people might not want to talk about. They were under the heel of the French, you know Napoleon the third and whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said 'We will serve you if you will get us free from the prince.' True story. And so the devil said, 'Ok it's a deal.' And they kicked the French out. The Haitians revolted and got something themselves free. But ever since they have been cursed by one thing after another."

Rather than publicly pray for the starving, injured, homeless survivors, and those who are working towards rebuilding a shattered society, Mr. Robertson decided to kick the Haitians while they were down.

As a man of the church, a man of faith, Mr. Robertson decided to attack rather than help. On the other side of the coin, a Grade 7 student called an adult-driven radio talk show to discuss what his school is doing to help those in need. Why is it that an Evangelist is slinging mud, while youth go to the airways in hopes of persuading others to fundraise in a time when Haitians are dealing with one of the worst crisis' in their country's history?

Maybe we'll never know, but just like the earthquake that ravished a nation, we don't ask for such heartaches - we deal with it the way we know best. Hopefully, God willing, Mr. Robertson will realize his efforts can be better served elsewhere, and will use the airways to encourage the Haitians to keep believing instead of slinging aftershocks of blame and negativity.

info@ganderbeacon.ca