Sunday, January 17, 2010

Haiti

Today I was thinking that while I have lived through two natural disasters ('98 ice storm and 2003 hurricane Juan), nothing in my experience could ever compare to what the people of Haiti are going through right now. All of my first world "problems" are trivial in light of the suffering of so many people.

Last night, my baby slept in a warm bed, between his mama and daddy. He had milk to drink. He ate cereal this morning. His daddy played the guitar and sang to him this morning. He visited with a friend today. He got a new book. He napped in a cozy bed. He played with his toys. He had his diaper changed. He had a nice supper. He had a warm bath. His mama sang him songs and now he's sleeping.

When my baby cried today, it was because he was frustrated about crawling. He cried today because he had a burp that wouldn't come up while he slept. He didn't cry because his mama wasn't there, or because he was hungry or hurt.

And so tonight and every night, I will hold him close and be thankful for his tears, his laughs and his diapers. And I will whisper some prayers for the babies and their mamas and daddies in Haiti.


The Yarn Harlot has thrown up the Knit Signal, (like the Bat Signal, but for knitters), encouraging us to make donations to Medecins Sans Frontiers. She is also encouraging us to mark our donations as being directed to "Greatest Need" or "Emergency Relief", as this will enable MSF to use the funds to continue work in other areas as well as in Haiti.

If you are interested in making a donation to another registered charity, the CBC has compiled a list HERE to which you can refer.

If you are able to donate, MSF and many of the registered charities listed on the CBC website are a great way to go. If you aren't able to donate, please, say a prayer, light a candle, send some love, some light, some words their way. I'm sure that Haiti can use whatever you've got.

ETA: This note from Mimi at The Loop in Halifax:
Steph--I'd like to throw in a plug for The Loop's fundraiser for the Red Cross. We're accepting donations of lovely yarn all week, and on the weekend of Jan 23rd & 24th, we're going to sell off the donations (and more), with 100% of the proceeds of the sale going to The Red Cross Haiti Relief. So next weekend people can do some de-stashing and stash enhancement and help Haiti at the same time. Details are here:
http://www.theloophalifax.ca/

Thanks Mimi - what a great way to raise funds!

3 comments:

  1. Steph--I'd like to throw in a plug for The Loop's fundraiser for the Red Cross. We're accepting donations of lovely yarn all week, and on the weekend of Jan 23rd & 24th, we're going to sell off the donations (and more), with 100% of the proceeds of the sale going to The Red Cross Haiti Relief. So next weekend people can do some de-stashing and stash enhancement and help Haiti at the same time. Details are here:
    http://www.theloophalifax.ca/

    ReplyDelete
  2. Heart breaking, isn't it Steph? I wish I could do more than just donate, but I think librarians are the last thing they need down there right now. It's sad that it's taken a tragedy like this for me to realise I'd like to go back to Haiti some day.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hey, y'know - there's also the Craft Hope etsy shop. All the proceeds from there are going to MSF.
    http://www.etsy.com/shop/crafthope

    I'm hopefully going to be able to finish this project I'm working on, and will be donating it to the site there.

    ReplyDelete

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