Remember your Promises

This morning, President Obama made a promise to Haitians: America will not forget you. I hope and pray that this will be so. However, if what we have done in past relief and development situations is any indicator, Americans will indeed go about their lives very soon as if nothing had ever happened.

Why is this so? There are a number of reasons, but I think that one of the biggest is that Americans tend to be very individualistic and, as a result, turn back to their own lives (their needs, their desires, etc…) and simply forget. The rhetoric, however, is always meant to be sincere, and indeed, it is touching. I just hope that America will continue to invest into Haiti, and to help develop the country in the long run – responsibly, rather than in ways that would take advantage of the people or put them into a place of receivers.

On a different note, there has been a lot of good that has poured out of the hearts of many over the last 48 hours. Here are some of my favorite tweets (some of which contain some good articles) from the last few hours:

@food4thhungry:
RT @FH_ERU : The safety of 2 more FH staff in Haiti has been confirmed – Praise God, and continue to pray for the people of Haiti

@indychristian:
#Prayer — PTL that the U.S. is willing to help meet needs in the world. #Haiti — Let’s pray we’ll try to improve even more in the future.

@cheeriop9:
text “Haiti” to 90999 to donate $10 to the Red Cross. or, donate to egc.org and Boston Haitian community will direct funds.

@jeremydelrio:
“Haiti helped re-form me. Help rebuild her.” Thoughts on the earthquake and more: http://jeremydelrio.com/blog/2010/01/13/haiti/

As Jeremy Del Rio says, “For as long as the news cycle has our attention fixed on Haiti — and far beyond, I hope — let’s love Haiti and her people, and serve them as they rebuild their country. But let’s also learn.”

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