The phone rang. Unknown name with an 800-number. It was just another sales call. After all, that’s all who called the house number. Anyone important would have tried a cell. If it were important, they’d leave a message.
They did.
The recording was barely audible but loud enough to gather a sad undertone. At first, it sounded like a donation request, but it was the end that made those donations change from an annoying sales call [that interrupted dinnertime] to one that made the biggest news of 2010 — Haiti — hit home.
“If we find out that your child has been injured or otherwise, we will call back and let you know,” the message said as it died out. Unsure of what I heard, I asked my parents if they had a child I didn’t know about. When they looked confused, I told them about the message.
Apparently, my parents signed up to sponsor a child in need from a Third World country, sending $25 a month. Immediately thinking of a “sponsor-a-child today” commercial, it was heart breaking to realize how little Haiti had before the earthquake.
Now, all they have is rubble.
Two weeks ago, the country was slammed with a catastrophic earthquake. Eight days later, Haiti was still experiencing aftershocks, like the 6.1 magnitude earthquake that rocked the country’s streets.
As relief workers struggle to help in an area that has become surrounded with sorrow, people are left to their own devices, like looting and violence, for survival.
“Things started shaking. We were really afraid. People came out into the street,” said Victor Jean Rossiny in a Reuters news service article. “We have nothing here, not even water.”
Compared to the devastation in Haiti, it’s easy to see how grateful U.S. citizens should be for what we have. We should share what we have with those in need. Every little bit helps. Contact legitimate local Haiti support drives to donate unnecessary clothing, canned food or money.
It was one thing to hear about Haiti through media but another to find out that the child my family was helping, now needed much more help than the $25 a month. From the photos broadcast across the Internet, it’s easy to tell that the earthquake took what little the country had.
Reach out. Help. It’s no longer young children who need help in Haiti.
