Mike Pouraryan
What I've learnt from Haiti
:
I wonder if the World will have the courage
The World right now continues to be focused on Haiti. The focus is so right in light of the utter devastation going on. The desparation is evident and the scenes are heart breaking. I cannot even comprehend what Kerry Sanders, the NBC News Correpodent is reporting right now:
What I worry about is California. As a member of my local City's Public Safety and Emergency Prepardness Committee, I wonder whether we can deal with the big one. What I know is that the big one will happen in California in light of the tremendous resource challenges it has right now. As I wrote about Haiti, though, all of us will do our part. The recovery will take a long time. The whole country has to be literally built from scratch. It is great to see that this massive moblization effort is across ideological lines.
As I continued to survey the devastation, I thought about France. Despite the ugly colonial history, I commend France for stepping up as they have. For Haitians, the world will insure that there continues to be hope and the will to live has to be brought back ever more. I also commend President Obama has done in asking President Clinton and President George W. Bush to get involved as President Clinton and President George H.W. Bush did after the tragedy in Indonesia.
This tragedy needs to be a wakeup call for us all to come together as humans to realize how fragile life is. We need to overcome the prejudices in order to be able to come together. I wonder if the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan understand that. I wonder if the ubber-rich in India understand that as the untouchables in India continue to suffer. All of us must remember this admontion from Joseph Addison as quoted by Dr. Stephen Covey in his Book, the Seven Habits:
"When I look upon the tombs of the great, every emotion of envy dies in me; when I read the epitaphs of the beautiful, every inordinate desire goes out; when I meet with the grief of parents upon a tombstone, my heart melts with compassion; when I see the tomb of the parents themselves, I consider the vanity of grieving for those who we must quickly follow; when I see kings lying by those who deposed them, when I consider rival wits placed side by side, or the holy men that divided the world with their contests and disputes, I reflect with sorrow and astonishment on the little competitions, factions, and debates of mankind. When I read the several dates of the tombs, of some that died yesterday, and some six hundred years ago, I consider that great Day when we shall all of us be Contemporaries, and make our appearance together." (Covey, The Seven Habits, p. 97)
When will we all learn?
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What I worry about is California. As a member of my local City's Public Safety and Emergency Prepardness Committee, I wonder whether we can deal with the big one. What I know is that the big one will happen in California in light of the tremendous resource challenges it has right now. As I wrote about Haiti, though, all of us will do our part. The recovery will take a long time. The whole country has to be literally built from scratch. It is great to see that this massive moblization effort is across ideological lines.
As I continued to survey the devastation, I thought about France. Despite the ugly colonial history, I commend France for stepping up as they have. For Haitians, the world will insure that there continues to be hope and the will to live has to be brought back ever more. I also commend President Obama has done in asking President Clinton and President George W. Bush to get involved as President Clinton and President George H.W. Bush did after the tragedy in Indonesia.
This tragedy needs to be a wakeup call for us all to come together as humans to realize how fragile life is. We need to overcome the prejudices in order to be able to come together. I wonder if the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan understand that. I wonder if the ubber-rich in India understand that as the untouchables in India continue to suffer. All of us must remember this admontion from Joseph Addison as quoted by Dr. Stephen Covey in his Book, the Seven Habits:
"When I look upon the tombs of the great, every emotion of envy dies in me; when I read the epitaphs of the beautiful, every inordinate desire goes out; when I meet with the grief of parents upon a tombstone, my heart melts with compassion; when I see the tomb of the parents themselves, I consider the vanity of grieving for those who we must quickly follow; when I see kings lying by those who deposed them, when I consider rival wits placed side by side, or the holy men that divided the world with their contests and disputes, I reflect with sorrow and astonishment on the little competitions, factions, and debates of mankind. When I read the several dates of the tombs, of some that died yesterday, and some six hundred years ago, I consider that great Day when we shall all of us be Contemporaries, and make our appearance together." (Covey, The Seven Habits, p. 97)
When will we all learn?
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