Haiti tragedy: Individual efforts do count

With the devastating earthquake in Haiti, several friends have asked what the tragedy means for Africa.

In other words, will the world’s focus turn to this small Caribbean island at the expense of an entire continent? Will the problems of global warming, corruption, disease and so many other issues become back-burner items again?

The very quick answer is no; Africa is too important strategically. But don’t be surprised if the world focuses for several more months on what is surely the largest humanitarian crisis in recent memory in the Western Hemisphere.

And those efforts may, believe it or not, help Africa in the end.

Africans are familiar with the issues that torment Haiti — the victim of an overseas colonial power (France); ruthless slave traders, massive government corruption, violent gangs and an unforgiving geographical location.

The earth’s plates have been shifting in that section of the world for some time, giving rise to the Caribbean islands and also to the calamity that we’ve seen in the past few weeks. As I write, residents are fleeing the capital because they can’t protect themselves from roving bands of criminals.

In the US, we see daily images of families digging loved ones from the rubble and bodies piled high on street corners. Everywhere in Port au Prince, there is a corpse — in fact, as many as 50,000 are estimated dead.

One of US televangelists, Pat Robertson, made the statement that the earthquake was God’s revenge on Haiti. His reasoning is that some Haitians performed a voodoo ceremony before the successful revolution against the French, and that it was essentially a pact with the devil.

“They were under the heel of the French, you know Napoleon the Third and whatever,’’ said Robertson on his television show. “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. But ever since they have been cursed by one thing after another.”

IN OTHER WORDS, THE HAITIANS HAD this coming to them. Robertson has a penchant for saying that unspeakable tragedies are God’s revenge.

He said that the 2001 terrorist attack on US targets was the result of God’s anger with America because of its stance on abortion, gays and feminism.

In other words, the tragedy was America’s fault.

Most Americans understand that Robertson’s logic is misguided. We’re in the middle of the football playoffs in the US, and our football league and others conducted a texting fund drive for the Red Cross. The flow of funds was phenomenal: some $22 million (Sh1.65 billion) poured in to help Haitians from texting alone.

Former Presidents Bush and Clinton, in bipartisan teamwork not seen since the tsunami in Asia, are helping to coordinate relief efforts.

There is a lesson for Americans in this tragedy that unfolds before our eyes each day. By banding together and giving $10 (Sh750) a person, we’re making a difference. And, I predict that empathy and teamwork will spread beyond Haiti to places that are not often seen on American television.

Many years ago, Mother Teresa said this about giving to others: “We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.”

Recently, a tragedy befell a close friend. His daughter, who had fought a long and valiant battle against cancer, died, leaving behind two teenage daughters and a loving husband. Her chief goal in life: Raise two outstanding young women.