…when those who have so little are giving so much. That’s what I’m left thinking, after reading the BBC before bedtime:
People in India’s Andaman and Nicobar islands are yet to recover from last year’s tsunami, but they are now helping South Asia quake victims.
…A senior official of the Andaman and Nicobar Chamber of Commerce and Industries, Mohammed Jadvet, said the first consignment of relief materials included 200 tents, over a 1,000 blankets and three tonnes of biscuits.
So, while Kofi Annan slams countries for only committing to about a tenth of what quake victims need, victims of the tsunami—who are still suffering from their own tragedy which stole 200,000 lives all over Asia— have donated to local quake relief efforts. Maybe the world is suffering from “disaster fatigue”.
“The islanders could not come out of the trauma of the 26 December tsunami. Thousands are still staying in intermediate shelters. Still they have decided to help the quake-hit people of Kashmir,” the official said.
“This shows the true spirit of the islanders.”
Reading such news takes me back in time, to other words read before bed that were so different and yet, similar. They taught me about the significance of small gestures:
“And he looked, and saw rich men putting their donations into the treasury. And he also saw a certain poor widow donating two mites. And he said Truly, I tell you, that this poor widow has cast in more than all of them: for they have all given but a portion of their great wealth, as an offering to God, while she, in her poverty, has given all that she had.”~ Luke:21
:+:
I keep thinking about the brown blogosphere’s powerful, united response to IIPM. And then I think about the larger world of blogging and how they used the power of their words for good, after Katrina. And I wonder if we should use our power for good, too. What do you think?
