Have you ever noticed that, just when you’re starting to feel sorry for yourself about one thing or another, it seems that something horrible happens in the world that has you thanking your lucky stars for how good you really have it?
Everything I’ve read or seen seems to indicate that there is no society more prepared than Japan for facing an earthquake or tsunami. They have frequent safety drills, great architecture, huge sea walls and calm, orderly plans. However, how on earth can any society be prepared to deal with a 9.0 earthquake, followed by a tsunami, followed by hundreds of significant aftershocks, and finally, resulting in the threat of meltdown in multiple nuclear power plants?
As I write this, the official death toll is nearly 7,000, over 10,000 people are still missing, and nearly 400,000 people have been displaced – either because of the destruction or because of evacuations near the damaged nuclear plants.
We’ve all seen the horrendous videos of the violent shuddering of the earth that went on for almost a full minute. We’ve seen entire towns and airports swept away by rushing waves of black water. There have been pictures of huge ships sitting on top of buildings, an entire house floating intact out in the middle of the ocean, and those horrific before and after satellite pictures that show the enormity of the devastation. In these days of instant communication, where everything is broadcast immediately, no matter how graphic or horrific, we've become a little numb. A little immune to catastrophe. However, I can't imagine being immune to the enormity of this situation.
Like most of you, I also can't imagine the horror some of these people who've lost everything and everyone must be facing. So much of the recent news coverage has shifted to the nuclear crisis related to all of this, but there are likely nearly 20,000 people dead and many of whose bodies will never be found. There are hundreds of thousands of people who now have no homes and no belongings. Some of those people who do have homes can't go back to them because of what's happening at those nuclear plants.
These proud people, who just seventy years ago were our enemies, are our friends. While I personally don't agree with everything their government allows to happen (I think their whaling practices under the guise of research are unforgivable), they are our allies and I'm proud of how quickly our military and volunteer search and rescue and emergency teams arrived to help. But what can we do? Those of us sitting in our comfortable houses with our family and belongings intact?
Beyond the obvious answer of donating to legitimate aid organizations like the Red Cross, I don't have an answer. I wish I did. I wish there was more. But I wonder how many of us have actually taken the time to make that donation? The company I work for has a company-matching program for donations like these. That's worth exploring. Does your company have something similar? I know I that felt better knowing that our small contribution was doubled by the generosity of my employer.
Like so many other recent tragedies, and maybe even more so, this is going to be a long-term recovery. Will we remember our Japanese friends six months from now? A year from now?
I hope so.
In the meantime, please consider donating to the American Red Cross or other reputable organization and don't forget to check with your employer to see if they'll match your donation. I know that it's a common recommendation, so just consider this blog to be another reminder.
Thanks for reading.
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