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What Iowans are Saying About Haiti
by Paul Deaton“So take a minute and dig deep. Do
what you can to help.“
Iowans have never stopped talking about Haiti and this week’s
earthquake there highlights the reasons we engage in Haitian affairs.
This week, a television evangelist said of the Haitian
slaves who rebelled against the French colonialists, “they got together and
swore a pact with the devil…and ever since they have been cursed by one thing
after the other, desperately poor.” The mainstream media was quick to pick up
the story, rebroadcast it and locate the Haitian Ambassador to the United
States to address it
as follows: “I would like to address one thing that I heard tonight about how
the pact with the devil made it possible for Haiti to suffer the way it is…” This
tit for tat talking head confrontation, the kind that characterizes talk
television, led the host to apologize for the evangelist and backtrack on
publicizing the story by making fun of him. I have found that people in our
community look at Haiti in a much different light than the buffoonery of
television evangelists and manipulative talk show hosts.
One Iowan wrote, “My God!!!…Haiti, the second poorest
country in the Western Hemisphere…crushing, grinding, HORRIBLE poverty and on
top of all that they get a 7.0 earthquake?! So tragic!!! Skip a latte or two
and send money to Oxfam, Lutheran World Relief or Church World Service. Each
has very good connections with Haiti and less than 5% overhead.”
Another wrote, “
Another, “Here is the
link to the Haitian Creole pig story and re-population efforts.”
It
is all about race and racism, and not that different than the way New Orleans
was treated after Katrina. Haiti already suffers from being the impoverished
doormat of US imperialism and neglect. The best help Haitians can have is
help from their own countrymen sending aid from diaspora in the US.”
I asked a friend about a project we are working on
and she said, “Will get back later. Right now, Haiti at the top of my priority
list.”
“attention med
students: don't eat breakfast at home tomorrow! come to the merf atrium
and buy bagels and Starbucks coffee (plus plenty of bake-sale goodies)
to benefit World Wide Village, a nonprofit working on the relief effort
in Haiti!”
“Good news from two in Haiti: missing adoptive daughter found, friend had enough cell service to call her mom in CR.”
The thoughts, prayers and aide of regular
Iowans are more useful than the mainstream media as we try to do what we can to
alleviate some of the suffering in Haiti. So take a minute and dig deep. Do
what you can to help.
~Paul Deaton is a native Iowan living in rural Johnson County. Check
out his blog, Big Grove Garden.
E-mail Paul Deaton
Follow this link to the White House's list of ways you can help.
Blog For Iowa 