Home HTF News Misc Articles New year, new beginnings. But what now for Haiti?
New year, new beginnings. But what now for Haiti? PDF Print E-mail
Written by Peter, Bishop of Bath & Wells   
Thursday, 14 January 2010 00:00
Peter, Bishop of Bath & WellsAs I began to prepare this article one of my sons called to say that his wife was in labour, and that they hoped their baby would be born today.  Today too, came news of the full extent of the unfolding tragedy following the earthquake in Haiti. With it came appeals from the Disasters Emergency Committee, TEARFUND and many other organisations for funds to help those who are suffering. I very much hope that the dioceses will respond generously to this appeal, and pray for those who are suffering and those who are seeking to help.
In Romans St. Paul writes of ‘all creation straining on tip toe just to see God’s children come into their full inheritance.’ I thought of this text today. All being well, our grand child will be safely born into a loving home, with caring parents and a reasonable prospect of a good life. But what of those new born babes in Haiti, whose prospects of survival, let alone a good life are slim to say the least? Are they too not God’s children, deserving of all that we hope for in our children and grandchildren?  There is little doubt that any large city would have suffered greatly as Port au Prince has. Many natural disasters have hit the Caribbean in recent times. A hurricane which destroyed huge numbers of people in Haiti recently, caused only some four deaths on Cuba, and it was of the same severity. Why the discrepancy?

The poverty of Haiti is no accident. It is a deliberate policy. There has been a refusal by the international community to invest in poverty reduction, the building of earthquake resistant houses, and the development of an agrarian economy. By themselves these would not have saved Haiti from the earthquake, but they would have reduced the death toll and the reliance on international aid

Jon Sobrino, a Catholic priest has observed, ‘Tragedies like earthquakes have natural causes, of course, but their unequal impact is not only due to nature; it stems from the things that people do with each other, to each other, against each other. The tragedy is largely the work of our own hands. We shape the planet with massive, cruel and lasting injustice. We think of the planet belonging to 25 to 30 percent of the human family; the rest – the poor, the victimised majorities – have to wait for the leftovers, the crumbs from the rich man’s table. This iniquitous inequality is evident in normal times, and even more in an earthquake.’

‘When did we see you hungry, thirsty, victim?’ people ask of Jesus in Matthew 25. ‘when you have seen the least of the little ones. Jesus replies. Change happens when ordinary people, do little things in unimportant places, and achieve extraordinary results. This should be our response to the waiting for  ‘God’s children to come into their full inheritance.’ Just like the little life we expect and hope for today.
 

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