As civil society organizations, we unfortunately find ourselves often in a place of criticizing government for falling short of expectations or for failing to act, plan or respond. The all-too-frequent message to government leaders can frequently be whittled down to two simple words: do more.
Just over two weeks ago, the nation of Haiti was ravaged by a massive earthquake that caused widespread damage in the capital and surrounding areas. Entire cities fell to the ground, and when the dust settled, the people of Haiti – whose history is one of struggle, survival and incredible resilience – buckled down for what may be their greatest fight for survival in centuries.
The world watched as news cameras and photographers captured images of utter devastation, loss and grief. But also of remarkable strength, hope, and will to survive.
The Canadian government responded swiftly and generously. Within hours, civilian and military emergency experts had been deployed. Within 24 hours of the earthquake, $5 million had been pledged for urgent humanitarian needs, such as shelter, medical services, food, water and sanitation services.
And, as the damage and death toll increased so did the response of the government. The Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund program was announced, wherein the Canadian government committed to match dollar for dollar eligible donations made by Canadians to registered charitable organizations, up to $50 million. And then, last weekend in response to the exceeding generosity of Canadian citizens, the government removed the $50 million cap, promising to match every dollar donated until February 12, 2010.
Individual Canadians, too, have been generous in their response. Last weekend’s Hope for Haiti event alone generated $9 million – with matching funds – $18 million. A CTV news report notes that in just two weeks, Canadians have donated more than $67 million (not including the money raised through the Hope for Haiti telethon), all of which will be matched by the Canadian government. The money raised will be divided among nine aid groups including the Canadian Red Cross, Care Canada, Plan Canada and UNICEF.
Canadian civil servants have also risen to the challenge, in a number of departments, cutting through process and bureaucracy to simply do what is needed. Special immigration measures have been implemented to help reunite family members of Canadian citizens and permanent residents affected by the disaster, and the way has been cleared for a number of adoptions of Haitian children by Canadian families.
All told, it looks as though the Canadian government’s contribution to humanitarian assistance, relief and reconstruction efforts in Haiti will reach about $135 million.
And the contributions and commitments to Haiti have not merely been financial. Canada has sent relief supplies, police, security and military personnel, special task forces to assist the government of Haiti and the UN, as well as DART, Canada’s Disaster Assistance Response Team. Nearly 1000 Canadian soldiers, sailors and air crew are either on the ground or off the coast of Haiti aboard one of the two Canadian warships deployed to provide medical relief. Over the weekend, 1 Field Hospital was deployed from Petawawa, which will provide 100 doctors, surgeons and nurses, an operating room and more than 50 much-needed hospital beds.
It is difficult to understand this sort of tragedy, and many – including myself – wrestle with the question of how God can let this happen. I don’t pretend for a second to know the answer, and too often it seems that attempts at answering that question only do more violence to those who are suffering. But maybe “why” isn’t the right question to ask. Maybe, instead, the question is “how”. How ought we to respond when tragedy like this strikes? What does it look like for us as individuals and as a nation to prefer the people of Haiti at a time like this? How would Jesus have us respond? And how can we be like Him in our responding? These questions are the work of the believer – no less in our day to day than in the face of crisis.
If I am to ask where is God in this tragedy, the answer is more readily apparent. He is in the coming together of people around the world whose paths would likely otherwise never cross, bringing out the best in and from individuals and nations who respond with compassion and who rise to the call and challenge to physically go, to provide material or financial assistance, to rally others, to pray, to listen. And I see him in the will and action of a government and people that says we simply must do what we can … because we can.
As we have witnessed the response of the Canadian government to the earthquake in Haiti, our message is this: well done. Well done for being swift and generous in your response. Well done for being generous in your donation of resources – financial, human and material. Well done for building on the lessons learned following the tsunami. And well done for seeing beyond the fears and constraints of the financial crisis to rise to meet the needs of a shattered and grieving nation.