You have undoubtedly heard and seen a lot on the news about a country called Haiti in the last couple of days. If I turn back time before this week, the only other mention of Haiti that I've heard is through the villains in Bad Boys 2 (they stole some cars and shot at the police.)
However, time cannot be turned back, and if it could perhaps there would be no need for me writing this; what you are about to read is unfortunately not a made up story like Bad Boys 2, it's a non-fiction report on the natural atrocities plaguing a third world country desperate for any help we can give them.
On the 12th of January 2010, an earthquake measuring 7.0 on the rictor scale (research has shown that 7.0 is fucking gnarly) hit the small Caribbean country of Haiti. Within one minute of impact, early indications suggest that the death toll was set at 100,000. As a point of comparison, imagine half the population of Aberdeen wiped out in one minute. Gone.
I know that the relentless pleas for help and aid from different organisations are probably getting very annoying now, but it is only because the situation is so severe that these cries for help persist. On the news tonight, I was listening to a British Broadcaster narrate how a home full of elderly people were beginning to die due to starvation and dehydration.
Can you imagine being so stoked that you were in the half of Aberdeen that didn't get wiped out, only to realise that lack of water was going to kill you anyway? When was the last time you went to Asda and spent all your change on Monster Munch and Haribo? Would it make a world of difference to your daily diet if you forewent these sugary indulgences?
If the answer is no, then instead of placing your change in the hands of the Asda superpower, I urge you to instead slot it into the first British Red Cross box you see. Even if you are in WHSmith about to buy your favourite magazine, think about what £3.75 could do if everyone was willing to give that to aid people in distress? Just read the magazine in the shop for Christ sake, then you get both! You get to feel as if you are contributing to resolve a dire situation as well as your daily intake of Men's Fitness or whatever the fuck you read.
Normally, if I am approached by one of those suspect looking people with a bright red jacket and a clipboard hovering outside HMV on a piss poor Saturday afternoon, I'd just keep walking past. I got taken by surprise one day not too long ago and was made to feel rather guilty about a milkshake I had just bought. Because I wanted it, not because I needed it, it was from Marks and Spencer's and although delicious, very much overpriced. A young lady sporting the afore mentioned attire of clipboard and red jacket announced that she worked for The British Red Cross and proceeded to show me some of the most heart rendering pictures you could imagine. These images alone convinced me that donating even just £7 a month can and does make a world of difference to men, women and children alike in situations that we would not wish to be in. I signed up on the spot and haven't missed £7 a month once. I know it's going to a cause far more worthwhile than 5 Marks and Spencer's milkshakes.
The public response to the Haiti disaster has been nothing short of incredible, but it is not enough. Violence and looting on the streets sore, people fighting for scraps to eat or even tables they can salvage in order to transport the bodies of their loved ones on, all because there just isn't the resource to distribute aid quick enough to everyone. If we can increase the amount of aid soon, we can help quash the reason for violence and increase the speed in which stability returns to the area. The images from the news should evoke in you what that lady in the bright red jacket did to me that rainy afternoon - unless all our common decency toward fellow human beings has gone out the window, we should donate anything we can afford now and do our part to help.
I watched a woman be pulled from the rubble of a collapsed bank building in Haiti on ITN the other night. In an interview given from a stretcher, the woman sang gospel songs and implored the fact that her faith in God had kept her alive. This woman’s resolve astounds me. I do not have faith in God, but I have decided that I will place all my faith in the generosity of human beings instead, and I hope that in reading this, people will be encouraged to donate some money to help rescuers get the tools they need to get to victims quicker, to ensure medical teams have enough medicine to help the injured, and so that enough food and water to gets to those fortunate enough to survive the earthquake do not fade away through lack of nourishment.
I know that this has bored some of you who have taken the time to read it. But for those of you who have any sense of compassion and are in a position where they can spare £20, or £10 or even £5, please give as quickly as possible. As the saying goes, every little helps, and in Haiti right now, all help is needed.
Click any of the links below to get involved, or if like me, you feel a little sketchy about donating money over the internet, Korova Bar in Aberdeen is having a "Rock For Haiti" fundraiser night this coming Friday, January 22nd. Check out their Facebook page for details, link at the bottom of the following list.
UNICEF
CHRISTIANAID
DEC
REDCROSS
KOROVA FUNDRAISER
Text by Colin Bruce
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