By the time this is posted, I have no doubt that Hurricane Matthew would have done some serious damage by now: homes torn apart, lives lost, families displaced— all the tragedies that come with hurricanes of this strength. I truly do pray that everyone was able to heed to the proper precautions, ensuring the death toll stay as low as possible. With that being said, I see a lot of posts and weather reports warning about the dangers that could come with the hurricane, and not enough of what the hurricane has already done, especially in places like Haiti.
Haiti has been through a number of fatal natural disasters in the past decade, most popularly, the earthquake of 2010 that affected one-third of the country's population. That, unlike the damage caused by Hurricane Matthew, was plastered over every news source for weeks with endless service organization fundraising to help the people affected. Death tolls in Haiti are over 800 in lieu of Matthew and there's no doubt that the numbers will rise. But, there are no trending news stories; no relief funds; no Facebook filters; nothing that would portray that one of Haiti's biggest natural devastations in almost a decade had just occurred. The only way to see the damage done is to go searching for it yourself.
As a Caribbean woman, it infuriates me to see these tragedies happening and the only people, it seems, that can help you don't even care. Don't even get me started on those who say that these tragedies happen because of the country's supposed "love for witchcraft." If that were true, there would be a few places all over the world, even here in America, that would receive the same fate. Where is the love? As upset as I am, I have to say that I'm not surprised, and that is the saddest part to me. The world has a way of conveniently ignoring countries of color in times of crisis.
In the attacks in France and Brussels, there was live coverage on every news station and everyone in the world seemed to stand in solidarity with them. Which, don't get me wrong, is beautiful and constant support is encouraging when going through a tragedy like that. But when we compare the coverage of those tragedies to the attacks on Ivory Coast, Baghdad, Turkey, Pakistan, Nigeria (I can go on and on) they don't come within miles of each other. Tragedies that occur in these nations get less coverage and that's, unfortunately, just the way it is. Now, I'm not saying that it's done intentionally or unintentionally, none of that matter to me, what I am saying is that this trend needs to be recognized and it needs to end.
Haiti is in dire need of assistance; there is no electricity, the streets are flooded, homes are torn apart, and food and water resources are running low. If they are left without aid, the country would only be left with further devastation.
I haven't found any relief funds, but if you do, please donate and tell everyone you know to do the same. Spread the word. Spread the love. #PrayforHaiti
