Something completely incomprehensible!

You watch the visual images on television or the net and just wonder what must have gone through the minds of the mothers, fathers and children of the Asian basin as that wall of water crashed ashore in so many places.

The fear on the faces is one to wrench your heart, the feeling of helplessness compounded by the distance from the actual event.

The totals of the dead rise by the hour, seemingly never to end as more and more villages are rediscovered abandoned as the water recedes. In most cases those that had so little to begin with, now seem to have even less.

The International community is slowly coming to the scene to offer whatever aid and assistance can be provided with such a historical tragedy of Nature. Donations are asked for and surely will be provided. Yet internal politics will get in the way, already reports are coming out about Muslim groups in Sri Lanka refusing aid from Israel, refusing to put aside hatred in aid of their own people. Splinter groups of rebels have refused to allow government troops inside their territories to render assistance when it is most needed. There are already fears that whatever monies are provided will only get caught up in a bureaucracy that seems incapable of placing the common good at the forefront of the list. The concept of it all boggles the mind, when tragedy on a scale such as this takes place surely ancient hatreds and rivalries, not to mention bureaucratic incompetence can be put aside for the good of the ones suffering the most.

Canada has provided some monies and NGO organizations are sending their forces to lend assistance. One curious absence is the DART component of the Canadian Forces, a supposedly rapid relief force that has been designed to respond to just these types of emergencies, yet curiously has rarely been sent to many international disasters. This time it supposedly is because we haven’t been asked for, yet when you read of the mission statement of the force, there probably is no better example of why it has been assembled. Sadly our cash and equipment starved Forces have found themselves in this situation before, unable to load up and head out until the need has passed. This is not the place for pointing of fingers and such, but there needs to be a serious accounting of why one of the world’s richest countries seems to be incapable of responding promptly when these major disasters strike. Paul Martin has made much of his bid to return Canada to the forefront of the world’s nations. The time is long nigh for less talk and far more action. We need to provide tangible assistance and not just kind words and pats on our own back.

For now though all our thoughts and prayers should be with the people who have found their lives shattered by the wrath of Nature. Totally unpredictable these waves have washed far beyond their shores. You only need watch television and see the grief on their faces to realize the horror that they have suffered. The numbers of the dead are numbing, the potential for even more devastation through disease and hunger even more daunting.

You feel so helpless when these things happen. The feelings we have; is it guilt or relief that it was their part of the world and not yours? The random fate of humankind seems so unfair at times, one day you awaken to start your day, and suddenly you won’t awaken again. Times like these truly are tests of faith, reconciling how such a thing can happen with the human spirit to reach out and do what we can to help. You fear it may never be enough, but you have to start somewhere I guess. The question is will we stay for the long haul, long after the visual images are replaced on our television.


Some who are trying to help:

The Canadian Red Cross

Oxfam

World Vision Canada

Unicef

Care Canada

Caritas Canada

Mennonite Central Committee