Let’s be grateful for what we have and share what we can spare.

We’re often so blindsided by media stories, numbed by the hype that surrounds the mundane to keep our interests alive that when something as almightily tragic and sad as is the case with the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake, there is a risk it becomes just another story or another news item.

But like the layers of an onion each story revealed seems to reveal a sadder situation still. At time of writing Haiti has buried 40,000 of its dead with another 100,000 believed to be dead. There is no emergency service infrastructure to speak of in existence that is able to respond to the simplest of situations let alone a tragedy of this scale. A prison collapsing during the earthquake has resulted in 4,000 prisoners escaping on to Haiti’s streets

For some while now, orphanages in Haiti have been dealing with children that have been abandoned, some children old enough to be aware. Molly Mackenzie, an American volunteer working in an orphanage shares her experiences on her blog. Molly was tragically killed in the earthquake. See Molly's Blog here

See the videos posted by Molly before tragedy struck, it’s good to see them in happier times, maybe one day they will be happy again.

See the children of St. Helene Orphanage, Kenscoff, Haiti.
See the children enjoying Global day for handicapped

Whilst some locals have taken to looting adding to the chaos, other locals are taking what tools they can get their hands on to try and help free those who are trapped.

The presence of International aid is growing, most notably just reported the 10,000 US troops being deployed. Millions of pounds/dollars/Euro’s are being raised globally to support the aid effort.

This situation always makes me reflect a little on myself. So when I next complain about having to wait a few days for the bins to be emptied or that the traffic is running too slow, or that friends or family are giving me reason to be upset. I need to remind myself to be thankful that I have the blessing of a clean environment to live in and that I can travel about my business in the knowledge that by and large I live in an incredibly safe society and that if I were involved in any accident that our emergency services are always on hand and above all I must remember that no matter how much friends or family may occasionally upset me (and I am sure, I them) I will be grateful for however much or however little time I have to love them.

Disaster Emergency Committee (DEC) Donations
As recommended in Times online Jan 14th