Haiti Earthquake Appeal

Haiti is a country in crisis, five days after this appalling disaster the pictures coming out of Haiti are incredibly grim. For an earthquake of this magnitude to hit a developed western nation would be catastrophic, but for a country like Haiti which is one of the poorest nations on earth and has been beset with political and social problems for decades, Haiti simply does not have the recourses to manage a disaster on this scale – thankfully prosperous nations around the world including the United Kingdom are assisting in the relief effort in any way they can through the combined efforts of the Disasters Emergency Committee, and right now the DEC needs every assistance it can get from people willing to give generously. Please visit www.dec.org.uk and contribute whatever you can. No matter how small, it really will make a difference. The immediate goal is to try and save as many lives as possible, but over the longer term Haiti will need help with reconstruction and shelter for its people. Please donate anything you can to the DEC at www.dec.org.uk

Hurricane Katrina Flooding

Hurricane Katrina in the United States

Five days after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast of America, thousands of people face starvation and dehydration from virtually non-existent food supplies, a trickle of relief help is in the area but this pales into insignificance when you look at the number of refugees living on the streets without access to even basic medication.

From the television pictures one could be mistaken for thinking this was the scene of a poverty-stricken African continent, yet we are reminded this catastrophe is right on the doorstep of the only global super power in the world. This begs the question of why America has done nothing to quell the spin over many years that it really is the world’s only super power – in my judgement from the atrocities of September 11^th 2001, the space shuttle Columbia disaster, and now a natural disaster on this scale, has America got to the point where it really believes its own hype and feels indestructible to the consequences on its own doorstep.

The American psyche really believes it is the dominant force on the global landscape, yet in the face of adversity it cannot even protect, save or help its own people in a crisis. Wake up America, nobody believes a word you say anymore and although I don’t think it’s very dignified to air such a view, many around the world today will be looking at the United States and saying to themselves, “I told you so”.