Disaster Relief as a Global Effort (Part I)

“We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men.”
-Herman Melville

Turning on the television this morning I was greeted with images of destruction. Images of human suffering. Images of unimaginable loss. But also, there were images of hope. Images of heroism. Images of the human spirit behaving at its best. The massive earthquake that struck Haiti last week has brought out the best in us, as we try to help those who can’t help themselves.

When disaster strikes on such a massive scale, humans band together and help each other, when under different circumstances, the problems of those same others are ignored. In the instance of Haiti, a handful of relief organizations have been active at trying to help the impoverished nation for years, but never before in Haitian history have the Haitian people had the support and sympathy of the entire world focused on them. Despite the devastating losses, Haiti stands a good chance at emerging from this disaster better than ever. The global community is helping to recreate a solid infrastructure, and people from all corners of the globe have been moved to contribute to the disaster relief effort.

As disasters have become more globalized through media, technology, and our generally increasing interconnectedness, people are beginning to pay attention to what is happening in other countries and on other continents. And the more awareness created by major disaster events, the more the international community, when welcomed, can help make like better for those affected.

This shift in global awareness has happened rapidly. Using the United States as an example, the flooding in 1998 garnered nearly no international attention, but by 2005, when Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and much of the gulf coast, the international support came on a scale never before seen by Americans. The Mexican government sent aid almost immediately, and was followed with aid offers from 98 other nations and 11 International Organizations. While much of those offers of aid went uncollected, the sentiment was still the same. People wanted to help those affected by disaster.

The 21st century has ushered in an era of global communication and awareness than has never been possible before now. As globalism continues, we are likely to become more and more interdependent on one another, and more aware of difficulties, such as large scale natural disasters. People helping people is one of the great achievements of a global mass media, hopefully that spirit of altruism grows in the coming future...