The Earthquake.
A Human Perspective.
“The Hurricane”
I was born in 1949. In my lifetime, I have only experienced one major weather catastrophe. 1996. Hurricane Fran coming straight up interstate 95, at the last moment took an unexpected left turn straight into the unprepared city of Raleigh, North Carolina. The “City of Oaks”. In the darkness of night, adding to the terror of the hours, oak trees were uprooted like matchsticks leaving the town a tangled state.
Yet, just as the next day sun was showing promises of rising, the sound of buzzing power saws could be heard city wide. Recovery had begun. And though recovery would last into the following months, the city did fully recover. No one died.
A year later I wrote:
“Mother Nature took me to task.
Reminding me of my powerlessness, she reared her hurricane upon me as a great warrior.
In the darkness of night, cowering in a shuttered house,
leaving me to struggle with a consciousness of faith.
Or what I had believed to be my faith.
The time comes when one lives the moment of the great test.
Had I been walking the walk, or talking the talk.
I closed my eyes and began to pray.”
“The Wildfires”
Last Friday, I messaged my friends in Australia. A country on fire. In real time, Karen sent me a picture from their deck of the blazing fire burning on the ridge in the near distance.
It was night at the time. She wrote to me, “Hi Steve. Lovely to hear from you. Funny you should ask. I'm sitting on my balcony watching a fire rage across the hill opposite us. It has been going for a couple of hours so we enacted our fire plan and awaited the order to evacuate. It didn't come thankfully! Our fire service did a superhuman job. We're not out of danger yet but I can breathe again. I've never seen anything so terrifying! My husband has gone to bed exhausted from managing our sprinkler systems and packing our cars, so I’m alone, too afraid to go to bed in case we had to evacuate.”
She next day she wrote, “This morning the land is black, but we are still here and so is my family of kangaroos who were enjoying their breakfast on my lawn. “
In the midst of their ongoing crisis, recovery has begun, but it will last into the oncoming years. The people and animals who died will never recover.
I can be empathetic, donate money, but I can never say as an honest man, that I can imagine what it would be like to live through this experience. I can only live through the tales told by those who have. Numbers, stats don’t resonate with me. When I am told “half a billion animals may have been killed in the Australia wildfires”, it is incomprehensible to me. I am numb. I pray.
“The Earthquake”
Tuesday, January 12, 2010. 4:53 p.m. With not an inkling of what was to beset them, Haiti was struck by an earthquake.
Ten years later, those who for the past several years have been relatively quiet reporting news in Haiti, all are reporting on this decade anniversary event. Everyone now has a lot to say. And then some. Numbers, statistics. Politics. The highlights, low lights. I even posted an anniversary article last week, though I chose to cite Jacqueline Charles of the Miami Herald, as she has been consistently, accurately writing articles on Haiti even before the earthquake.
So I am in tune with the news of Haiti and the earthquake. But again, to pretend to imagine what it would have been like on that day at 4:53 would be giving those who were, no respect. But again, when told the numbers, they are incomprehensible to me. And when I do try and imagine its magnitude, it can only pale with the realities.
What I would like to share with those who may be interested, 2 sources I found which best help to, at the very least, give a real glimpse into what it was emotionally involved and how it effected those who did. Those who lived through this experience first hand.
1. A documentary made in 2011 by the Miami Herald. “Nou Bouke [We're Tired]: Haiti's Past, Present And Future.”
This documentary moves me more than all the print I have been reading. It’s about the human side, the emotions of the people. I make a point to watch it occasionally, not just on a milestone event. After watching it, I am silent. Humbled. I say a quiet prayer for the world, as well as myself.
This video is 56 minutes and 25 seconds long. I know from experience that this is too long for most people to find the time to watch it. And thus, an important opportunity lost. The time tested saying comes into play, “you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.” What makes it so frustrating for me is I know how refreshing that drink will be if the horse decides to do so. But this is why I am a member of the Al-Anon community where I am constantly reminded to “Let go and let God.”
You can watch (save, bookmark) this video:
On Haiti.Today.Tommorow
Or YouTube
2. “The Big Truck That Went By: How the World Came to Save Haiti and Left Behind a Disaster” by Jonathan M. Katz. I’m aware there have been written other excellent books about the earthquake, but this is the one which has helped me most in coming to terms with this human event.
Jonathan was an AP reporter who was living in Port au Prince at the time of the earthquake. Especially the beginning of this book, he tells the story in real time. He also tells of his struggles when returning to America after this experience. It best describes, identifies my inability to fully understand what he lived though and his dilemma of living with his new isolation. It reminded me of how those who served in war who come home and struggle with being with those who will never understand what they truly experienced.
Like the documentary, this books humbles me.
One place where this is available, though there are many more, including your library.
With this post, I hope to at least take you to the water’s edge. Partake if you desire.
I know these two experiences have deepened my insight towards Haitians, Haiti as I continue to learn more. Both are an ongoing influence on my continued journey with Haiti.
