Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns

The earthquake in Haiti can be a sign of peace for the world
Daniel Tillias, Pax Christi Port au Prince

The effort to bring relief to the Haitian people is without precedent. Haiti once again is the center of the world’s attention. People from everywhere, from every religion, every color and race are in Haiti. Many organizations are trying to help people suffering from the disaster, but cannot meet the great needs of this nation struggling to recover after such a loss.

The official number of people who died is close to 200,000; more than 200,000 are injured; and the financial loss is evaluated in the billions.

Unlike earlier tragedies, like the hurricanes Jeanne and Ike, this earthquake has affected every sector in the country. Every person has reason to mourn for a close family member, a relative or a friend. Churches and school that were hundred of years old collapsed, with their tradition and beliefs that were the foundation of life in Haiti.

If earthquakes were named like hurricanes, the name “professor” would fit this earthquake exactly. In less than one minute Haiti and the whole world received a lesson from Mother Nature, the most eminent professor imaginable.
 
Many people believe that the world paid attention to this disaster because of Haiti’s extreme poverty.. That may be true, but something more powerful is also at work. For too many years humanity has been lost. Individualism and selfishness have been so dominant that we have forgotten that the earth is all we have. Billions have been spent on nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction, while people are dying of hunger and malnutrition. And the environment has been devastated without considering alternatives. Because of all this and other concerns, the world has needed a sign that could provoke awareness and a different way of life.

Unfortunately, great tragedies like two world wars were not enough of a sign; the hunger in Somalia was not enough of a sign; the genocide in Rwanda was not enough of a sign; the war between Iran and Iraq was not enough of a sign; the situation in Sudan was not enough of a sign.

The sign has to be Haiti – the land of mountains, the land of the Spirits and inspiration - to teach the world in one minute what the best environmental expert, antiwar activist, and preacher could not, despite many years of trying.

Haiti is helping the world to understand that Muslims, Christians, black, white, rich and poor can be one. We have seen in the news people from the Dominican Republic waiting for hours on line to donate blood for Haitians in a nearby hospital. People aware of the situation of Haitian migrants in the Dominican Republic can say how significant it is for Dominicans to offer their blood to Haitians. We have seen camps where very wealthy people are sharing a morning cup of coffee with very poor brothers and sisters sleeping in the next tent. These and many other examples point to a major change.

Haiti lived through what no one else should ever have to experience and brings to mind what for too long was out of sight. The all world now cannot claim ignorance of the dangers threatening future generations, like the destruction that accompanies war and environmental degradation.
 
The root causes of war and of earthquakes are profoundly different, but the suffering is the same. This is one lesson the earthquake should teach the world. Haiti helps every person to understand what it means for a little baby to lose both parents in a moment; for people to be under constant threat that the devastation will hit again. The cracks in the houses that people fear entering, all the after shocks, people fleeing, displaced or as refugees, are not unlike the effects of war that some people experience constantly.

At this moment great effort is focused on the Haitian people. It is important to remember that the best therapy for all this is love. Love is more powerful than any relief and it should be the main focus.

And the great commitment to bring relief to the people who survived should be matched by actions in memory of the thousands who died. One way to honor the victims of this earthquake is to end all that causes similar suffering by other people in the world. To end war, reduce hunger, and reduce pollution is the best tribute the world can give to the Haitian people.

Thanks to God and the tremendous solidarity of many nations, the strong people of Haiti are now ready for a new beginning. However, the relief efforts in Haiti will be all for nothing if in the days to come there is news about new bombing or an invasion of another country. Anytime there is suffering in this world, the sad memory of January 12 will be back.

If there is one lesson to take from what happened in Haiti, we believe it should be for the all the world to take this quake as a sign for peace on earth. Then the hundreds of thousands of victims of this disaster would have died in vain. They would be messengers sacrificed to open the eyes of a blind world.