Saturday, January 30, 2010

Let's Not Forget Homebase

We have all been succumbed to the tragic circumstances that have hit Haiti. Before we even turned on the television that very day Haiti was living in a state of turmoil, due to the political upheaval and onset of hurricanes that have devastated one of the poorest and least developed countries. The United States of America offered its aid, and rightfully so, and because of us they will probably in the aftermath become more resourceful as a nation.

It is very hard to compare our nation's poor to Haiti's poor. Our poor still have hope....foodstamps, medicaid, etc. While Haiti's lack of government intervention have left them with no direction, and squalor conditions.

It was wonderful to see the incredible support that all of us Americans have shown toward Haiti. It proved that among our wealth we can still reach out to the less fortunate, even when they are way beyond our reach. It was great to see our very famous come out and ask for support for this troubled nation. Our very best, Bruce Springsteen, Mary J. Blige, Christina Aquilera and many more sang their hearts out, while images of suffering Haitians flashed across the screen. The phones rang and millions have been raised.

My only hope was that they could of taken a few minutes and shown images of the poor tent communities that are popping up all across our fine country. We still have so many suffering here, with 47 million Americans still lacking healthcare. Would it of been an absurd thought to take pledges for just a few minutes for our own brothers and sisters? Have we forgotten what is happening in our own backyard?

1 comment:

  1. I agree but was always afraid to say so, thanks Jill for saying what I was thinking! I agree the conditions in Haiti are horrendous but the conditions here are bad also. How many of us have actually spent time in a welfare office. I have. Most of the people there don't really want to be there. I was lucky to have the support of my Grandparents as a 19 year old single mother, without it I don't know where my daughter and I would have ended up but unfortunately I did have to sit in the welfare office at certain times and sat with and spoke to many of the other "welfare" recipients. Most of them were young single mothers like myself who had no family and came from some God awful places. Most of them were just trying to get an education so they didn't have to work at McDonald's or Taco Bell. Who can raise a child on that?!? Well, anyway, thanks for saying what I was thinking :-)

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