I was stunned this morning, as we all were, to hear about the devastating earthquake and tsunami in the Indian Ocean and all those people that have been killed. Already estimates of the death toll are at 14,000 and counting. My heart goes out to the people there. I wish there was something more I could do, other than send positive thoughts, sympathies, and what monetary or other help I can provide to organizations giving aid.
I suppose it will be too much to ask those of us from wealthier countries not to blame the victim in this tragedy. This type of event is extremely unusual in the Indian Ocean — and the countries hit are some of the poorest in that region; too poor to build elaborate alarm systems to warn of such a rare event.
The US government was a little late in responding but has said it would send help. I’m not quite sure what ‘appropriate’ help is, but I imagine this is nothing more than official talk, and we’ll send the help we have, and the help that’s needed. And looking at the pictures, and hearing the amount of devastation, there is a lot of help needed. I can’t even imagine what the people in the area are facing right now — it most be a nightmare without waking.
Let’s not lose sight of this, my friends. Or forget that another casualty of major tragedies such as these is that communication can falter and fail at times–in more ways than one.