YKYW - Nursing Student Blog

It seems I struck a chord with a few people on Friday with my entry about tsunami relief.

During dinner on Friday night, SK and I discussed the entry and everyone’s responses. Since I hadn’t seen her comment yet, she told me how she felt about donating (I donated because I am overwhelmingly grateful to have been spared the nightmare that Southeast Asia is experiencing. I donated because my life is profoundly blessed — and the Big Mac I skip could buy something as simple as clean drinking water for a child who has lost everyone and everything that exemplifies safety and normalcy to her. I donated because I am flawed and humble and selfish and I realize that I am lucky to live in a country where we can afford to give. I donated because I can relate to human suffering without regard to politics or borders or histories or rhetoric). I am blessed, as well, and I welcome this glimpse of compassion from a soul truly motivated by selflessness and consideration for our fellow man.

I believe charity is a personal thing, spurred by that little voice within us that weeps to see starving stray dogs, battered children, lonely elderly people, homelessness…What suffering in this world inspires me to action may not be the same thing that clamors for your attention. For me, violence against women and children always generates that gut-wrenching reaction. I made the decision long ago to donate to causes that help survivors of domestic and sexual abuse.

And so I explained my money was already ear marked for other places and I could not afford to give more. She told me that $1 would provide clean drinking water for 40 people. That number amazed me.

In regards to the parable, as much as I think I have been jaded by the world, I would still pick up that injured snake. In my heart, I would hope that to this one I could make a difference. I would rather err on the side of helping. When I told SK this, she told me about the quote she ended her comment with: “I would rather make mistakes in kindness and compassion than work miracles in unkindness and hardness.” ~ Mother Teresa

To respond to excerpts from a few comments:

I swear, we’re becoming defined more by our nationality then by our humanity all the time. And I imagine that if you or I were living in that area, born and raised there, we’d be full of wrong opinions and hatred towards America too… I don’t think that these people should be punished for hatred born of misunderstanding. That’s just being human.

You are right – I had never really considered how I’d view America if I weren’t an American. Kindness and compassion shouldn’t stop at the trivial markings on a map.

And yet, deaths in Africa (Congo, Sudan) go unremarked and unaided. 2.5 million people have died in the last 2 years in Congo, alone. The World press decides who’s worthy of help, it seems.

Exactly! If a few thousand people are not killed at once, it’s not considered a big deal.

Bottom line, I think it’s good that America helps them. Whether individual people help is up to them. I didn’t donate money to any other disaster ever, so I’m not going to donate money now. But I certainly wouldn’t exclude them because of who they are. If someone I hated was suffering, I wouldn’t say, “serves you right”.

This is the best comment that summed up how I feel.

Are your feelings about them being hostile toward us *enough* to withhold aid to those in need?

I appreciate this question, but in the end it’s not about withholding aid from that person; it’s just choosing to respond to the tragedies closer to my home.

But the bottom line is: would you want the world to judge you based on the actions of your parents, your neighbors or the complete stranger sitting next to you on the bus?… My neighbors may be members of the Ku Klux Klan for all I know. They might be selling children into sexual slavery. I have no idea. But I sincerely hope that if our neighborhood were to be hit by a tornado, people would not refuse to help me just because someone I live near is loathsome.

Ah, good point. No, I would not want to be judged on the action of those around me.