shining my little light for haiti

I don't have adequate words to express the sorrow and helplessness I feel in response to Haiti's disastrous earthquake. I've read and heard and seen so many reports that I'm in a constant state of moving from quiet weepiness to thoughts of hope and peace back to the weepiness again.

Although I, along with the rest of us, have been inundated with information about the suffering of the Haitians and the seemingly insurmountable obstacles that will have to somehow be overcome, I still know that I have no read understanding of what is going on there. Here I sit in my den, just having finished up a mug of hot chocolate, my child resting in the next room, trying to understand an event and its consequences that seem so surreal to me.

I am grateful for what I have, for what we have here in the US. Even when we're hit hardest, I think that we are so much better off than many other people in the world. (Yes, this is spoken from a position of high privilege. I live in the western United States. I've never dealt with hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis, terrorist attacks, or anything else even slightly comparable. I know how lucky I am that I can say this. I do not mean to downplay the excruciating hardships of people such as those killed by and those who survived Hurricane Katrina, for instance, but I do believe that we have more at our disposal when faced with disasters. I could continue to go on qualifying, but this isn't my focus here.)

I'm sure that everyone already knows where she or he can send monetary aid if she or he is able and would like to. Just in case, though, here's a list I just pulled off NPR's site. I know that times are difficult, financially, for most people I know. I only donated $5 to Doctors without Borders. Five dollars: an amount that seems to ridiculously inconsequential, but I do believe that every little bit can help.

A couple of other notes. First, I read here, a blog post by Chris Sacca, something I find very useful. Yes, he lists several organizations to which you can send donations, but his last in his list of ways to help is the suggestion to learn more about Haiti. I have a tendency to try to make concrete situations that feel abstract to me. I appreciate that he suggests that we can help just by understanding who it is that we are so disconnectedly sending donations to. (I say "we" here because I don't personally know anyone who has gone down to Haiti to provide physical assistance. All I have been able to send is a small bit of money.)

Also, I very much appreciate this post by Amanda at SouleMama. She acknowledges that not everyone can or feels comfortable sending money, but that this is not the only option. She suggests we can also send prayers and positive thoughts. Although I don't pray, I do believe in sending out goodwill in the formlessness of thought, as you probably know from the many times I've asked for you to send goodwill my way. I know some might scoff at such "aid" but I truly believe that it can be helpful to keep someone in our good thoughts. I'm doing this for the people in Haiti.

Here are a couple of other links responding to the devastation in Haiti:

dooce (this is where I found the link to Sacca)
the blankie chronicles (by Kate, whose words I always find comforting)
cake wrecks (where I linked to their Doctors without Borders donation page)