They need us still

...underneath the beauty was a rift
in the heart of the land was a rift
and the rift in the land reached the rift in our heart
and we lost our
people and the land... Michele Voltaire Marcelin

My friend Maureen, over at Writing without Paper, has written a blog today about Haiti. and included three powerful sites to visit. The one is Michele Voltaire Marcelin's site -- Born in Port-au-Prince, this poet, spoken word performer, actress, novelist, and painter writes eloquently and provocatively of Haiti. She is a "must visit"

The country needs us still, Maureen writes. And it does. I watched the video clip she included and was moved by the stoicism on the faces of the people. And then, by the guns. Not moved. But confused. Earthquake. Sorrow. Devastation. Despair. Guns.

I wonder how a people so downtrodden, so impoverished can find peace after nature's fury with guns surrounding them.

Yesterday, there was a shooting here in Calgary.

I can remember a time when a shooting was unheard of. If one occurred, it hit front page news. Water cooler talk circled around and around the thought, "How can that happen here?"

The shooting didn't make the front page today. But then, neither did Haiti. I search the paper and find not a mention of the island country still so torn up by an earthquake. Still so disheveled children shower in the water sprinkling from a giant tanker truck while women carry buckets of water to and fro.

An avalanche where two men died and dozens were buried is still headline news. It takes two whole pages. And still no mention of Haiti.

Unlike the victims of Haiti's earthquake, the death toll from this act of nature could have been avoided. The Avalanche Danger warning was extreme. Fresh new snow on an unstable base created 'the perfect storm'. The snowmobilers chose to ignore the warnings. And people died.

The children and mothers and fathers and aunts and uncles, the people of Haiti had no such luxury. To be here or not to be here?

Where else could they go?

For the shooters whose fifteen minutes of fame did not hit the front page -- They were known to each other, the news report said. This was not a random act.

Not a random act of man.

But then, the earthquake was not a random act of nature. It was a premeditated grating of two tectonic plates. Mighty. Fierce. Immutable.

The forces have been building. Over time. Over eons. Moving. Edging close together. Rubbing up against eachother. Tightening. Grasping.

The forces have been building.

And then they hit.

A not so random act of nature whose devastation seems random in the wake of its destruction. A wall stands here. A man lies dead over there. But not there. A child cries. And over there, a mother weeps, her child silenced forever more.

Who will bear witness if we take our eyes off the plight of an island nation, lying in the sun, its heart burning up, despair and destitution searing the lives of those left standing in the dust?

This was not a random act of man. This was not a shooter with a gun choosing to pull the trigger. This was not a wanton disregard of warnings in a perfect storm. The avalanche was man triggered. The snow load was there. The perfect conditions for an avalanche. Warm sun. South facing slope. Unstable base. Heavy top load of fresh, movable snow. Add weight. Noise. Machinery. It was man's presence that released nature's load bearing down upon a mountainside in a cacophony of sound and wind and ice and nature's fury sweeping everything and everyone in its path under the force of its descent. Nature heeded the call.

Will we heed the call of Haiti? Nature against man has turned around to man against nature. We can help. We can make a difference. We can continue to pay witness to the devastation. We can continue to pay witness to a people's need.

Haiti needs us still, Maureen writes.

Let us not forget. The children and mothers and fathers, aunts and uncles, grandmothers and grandfathers, the people of Haiti need us still.