Thursday, January 14, 2010

Let's Achieve Something Great Today. Lives Depend On It.

Here's the thing about me.  I'm am not a nurturer.  In fact, my family calls me "Nurse Ratchett".  When my husband is hurt he asks for my help only out of desperation.  I don't like pain and suffering. I'm more of the 'suck it up' 'your legs aren't broken' type of person.  I think I've actually told my kids that. OK. I confess. I have told my kids that. 

Yet, I'm oddly empathetic to total strangers and those in need.  I still get choked up about the Titantic, people.  When I read a blog post, "It's Getting Real Bad" from Virginia, a Pittsburgh blogger, I got choked up.  Then motivated.  She has friends Jamie and Ali McMutrie in Haiti who run an orphanage there.  If you didn't read the link I just posted here's the brief version.  The kids are almost US citizens.  They are inches away from being adopted by US families, yet with all that is going on there right now they are stuck.  Living in a yard with contaminated water and no food.  They are sleeping on the ground and things are going to get even worse real fast.  Riots. Starvation.  And worse.  While Jamie and Ali can get out via the US Embassy they would have to literally abandon these children.  Imagine that.  Just leaving a yard of children to fend for themselves in that mess that you are watching flit across your television screen.  It makes me cry each time I think of it.  Then get mad, then motivated even more. 

Jamie and Ali will not leave these children.  They need two things- a private plane to take them back to the US with the kids and then something much harder to obtain.  They need the "government here, in the US, to grant the children some sort of temporary refugee status so that they can come home and be with the families that are waiting for them. we are in no way experts here. we have no idea how to go about making it happen. what we need are connections, string pulling at the highest levels of government. this is a tall order."

But we are Americans right?  We like tall orders. No, we LOVE tall orders. We like to do BIG things.  We like moving mountains and doing the impossible and being saviors to others. We get off on that stuff daily.  It is what we are known for and what we are about.  So what can we do, people?  Can you call your local news station and newspaper and tell this story?  Can you call your congressman or woman and beg them to get their butts in gear and get themselves some good PR in the process?  Can you just do something today like pass this on to others who might know someone and get the word out even more? 

Don't just look at your television screen and think what can I do?  Make an impact.  Make a call.  Write an email. Save a life.  Really. 

1 comment:

  1. I've RT'd in hopes that some State contacts can give advice. I don't have any amount of pull unfortunately. I also posted this comment on Virginia's blog: "Have they contacted the US Embassy in Port-au-Prince yet? They have emergency consular services going on. They may be able to get some kind of visa. Also, today it was announced that illegal Haitians in the US will be getting a reprieve from deportations. There should be some way to get those kids in."

    Just some brainstorming.

    ReplyDelete

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