Like many people around the world, Micaiah ben Malachi and I have been glued to the television, following the news coverage ever since the earthquake occurred in Haiti on January 12, 2010 at 4:53 PM Eastern time. We also watched the Hope For Haiti program last night, which was televised on many networks around the world and was the largest charity program ever in history.
As everyone knows, the first five to six days was spent with rescue efforts from the rubble only to find more dead bodies than there were people who were still alive. Bodies were buried in mass-graves and old crypts that were other people's tombs while those who were rescued alive had difficulty getting to the makeshift hospitals that were being set up one by one because many roads were blocked and/or messages to be relayed to the makeshift hospitals to pick up the rescued were not getting there. Until last Monday or Tuesday, airplanes and helicopters that were carrying food and water were being accepted at the airport while medical supplies were being turned away. Though the food and water were equally important as medical supplies were, the lack of medical supplies were hindering doctors' abilities to treat the many patients. Two to three days after the earthquake occurred, Dr. sanjay Gupta was working with the United Nations doctors at a makeshift hospital when the supervisor overseeing the doctors began to feel that there was a security issue. Doctors were ordered to leave with their supplies to move to another site, but Dr. Sanjay Gupta remained at the hospital overnight, caring for the patients with the minimal supplies that were left. The doctors did return the next day, though, because of CNN's reports from Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Then, six to seven days after the earthquake, a seventy-year-old woman was rescued alive from the rubble, but there was nobody available to bring her to the hospital. As a result, CNN's Anderson Cooper and his news crew took her to a hospital in their pick-up truck. As if this wasn't enough, two to three days ago, two Haitian police officers were controlling a crowd of people who were trying to cause a riot for food and water by shooting their guns up in the air. Even though the crowd remained in control for the most part, a twelve-year-old boy was hit in the head by a rock someone threw. Nobody from the crowd came to rescue the boy, so Anderson Cooper intervened, getting blood all over himself. Why did news crew have to intervene when there main reason for being there was to report the news?
When the United Nations personnel arrived, they sought to give the public the notion that the Haitian government was still in control but that the United Nations was only there to help out. Meanwhile, the United States stood back, allowing for the United Nations to coordinate the rescue effort and assign the tasks even though many doctors and other personnel were sent by planes and ships upon President Obama's command. The lack of coordination along with medical supplies being turned away at the air port instead of being accepted in conjunction with the food and water contributed to the problems mentioned above. Yes, people like Anderson Cooper and Sanjay Gupta meant well, but if the United Nations and the United States started on the tasks they knew they would be faced with upon arrival instead of deciding who was going to work at what site, then more people would've probably been rescued alive and probably not as many people would've died before arriving to the makeshift hospitals or while waiting in the hospital to be treated. If the Israeli Defense Force is able to assemble their makeshift hospital structures and equipment within minutes, and if those from Bolivia can control food lines by having people enter through one side and exiting the other with their food rations, then everyone around the world, including the United Nations, could've achieve their rescue goals efficiently. All it takes is the kind of training the Israeli Defense Force underwent and the repeated exercise strategies they often perform periodically.
Those orphans whose adoption process was completed before the earthquake were speedily flown out of Haiti, a few people have been rescued alive even eight to ten days after the earthquake, which is by G*d's grace, and medical supplies are now finally arriving in the groves. however, there are still many more orphans, including the new group of children whose relatives died during and after the earthquake, who have no home to return to. The orphanages they are now at are not structurally sound, and the staff is not equipped financially or with the necessities. Those people who were rescued alive will also still be living in abject poverty. In addition, many of the antibiotics that arrived are to be administered in doses for adults, not for children, and most of the I.V. needles are to be used in adults with large veins, not for children with small veins. Moreover, there are no prosthetic limbs available. Even many of those who did receive medical care will require follow-up surgery and other medical attention. What's wrong with countries lifting their adoption restrictions or nation quotas? What's wrong with bringing people needing follow-up medical care to places like the United States so that they can receive the care they need? What's wrong with hospitals donating their many supplies, personnel, and prosthetics to Haiti so that the injured can receive the medical attention immediately?
As we watched the continuous news coverage, I could see The Late Michael Jackson in my mind. He would've donated all that he could financially, cried and wanted to adopt as many of the orphans as he could, and traveled to Haiti to meet with the people to give them hope. When the Hope For Haiti program was aired last night, I envisioned that Michael Jackson would've been one of the many people helping out to put the program together as well as performing. Yes, it's sad that Michael Jackson's no longer physically here with us, but he actually still is with us in spirit. Even though people, like George Clooney, were pushing for donations to different charity programs before Michael Jackson's death, George Clooney's now carrying on Michael Jackson's torch of giving. Likewise, Micaiah and I received an e-mail from our rabbi, Rabbi Celso Kukierkorn, about two days after the earthquake, asking for donations so that the Jewish organizations could buy food, water, and other supplies for survival and medical care. We donated some money. When we clicked onto his website to make our donation, there was a video clip of Rabbi Kukierkorn and his daughter handing out bags of necessities to the poor in his area of residence. One of the recipients said that she was a Christian, not a Jew. Rabbi Kukierkorn replied, assuring the recipient that religion didn't matter. The recipients race, creed or color didn't matter to Michael Jackson, either. So, if we all carry on the late Michael Jackson's belief in unconditional love and giving, then the goal to heal the world and make this world a better place will, eventually, be achieved.
Makedah bat Leah.
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