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Hmmm, how can we fully comprehend the tragedy that Haiti has experienced? Where do we even begin to look?

In the days following the news of the devastating earthquake, I pondered a blog entry on the subject. But I couldn’t imagine what point of view I could take that wouldn’t already be covered in the steady stream of media reports.

The stories continued to flow day after day and the magnitude of the tragedy began to sink in. So many lives lost. So many other lives changed forever. The time it would take – measured in years, not months – to recover and rebuild.

The tragedy took on a more human personality when a friend, who works for World Vision Canada, shared stories she heard from a World Vision staff member in Haiti. Here are just a few of them:

The constant drone of moaning and crying that lasted well into the night. How it suddenly changed to praying and singing as the survivors turned to God in supplication and then – in a remarkable a show of faith – in praise.

A child found buried in the rubble after several days who was too frightened to be pulled out until his mother was found and brought to him.

The World Vision employee, a native of Haiti, who searched frantically for her daughter until the news came that she was among the casualties. How this woman took but one day to make the necessary arrangements and returned to work the next day. In Haiti suffering is a daily condition and not a reason to take a day off work.

And still the media reports continued. The estimate of deaths rose to 200,000 with a million people – 1,000,000 people – left homeless. I wondered what percentage of the population that represented and went on-line to find out. That’s when another perspective began to emerge.

Haiti ranks 147^th among the countries of the world in terms of land mass. Nine million people live there in an area of 27,750 square kilometers. I wondered how that would compare with Canada and the U.S. The answer was humbling.

Canada ranks 2^nd in the world in land mass (behind only Russia) with 9.9 million square kilometers. 32 million people inhabit that space which equates to a population density of 3.3 per square kilometer. The U.S. is third on the list with 9.6 million square kilometers. 303 million people call U.S. home equating to a population density of 31.6 per square kilometer.

And Haiti? The population density is 321.6. I tried to imagine a population density 97 times greater than what I live within here in Canada. I simply couldn’t. It’s outside the scale of what my mind can process. My eyes scanned further down the chart and the figures became more unfathomable.

China: 35,980 square kilometers. 22.9 million people. Population density 637.

Bangladesh: 144,000 square kilometers. 153 billion people. Population density 1,066.

Hong Kong: 1,092 square kilometers. 7 million people. Population density 6,649.

Then my eyes fell on the listing for Macau – a special administrative region of China. Close to half a million people inhabiting only 25 square kilometers. Population density 18,432 – 5,585 times the population density of Canada.

It suddenly became more evident than ever before how incredibly fortunate I am to live in Canada. And how ridiculous it is to be impatient at a lineup at the checkout counter of a grocery store. And how petty it is to be frustrated at being stuck in a minor traffic jam.

I can’t begin to fathom the true impact of the Haiti earthquake on the long suffering people of that nation. But I can now more deeply appreciate how truly blessed I am to have been born in Canada.

The “human web” metaphor proposes that only six degrees of separation – six metaphorical steps – separate us from any other person on earth. That metaphor may need to be recalibrated.

5,000 kilometers separate Haiti and Canada on the map. Something of that same magnitude – perhaps 97 degrees – separates the quality of life we enjoy. Yet the Haiti people can still praise God in the aftermath of a tragedy of epic proportions.

We have much to learn from Haiti. Humility seems the best place to begin the lesson.

~ Michael Robert Dyet is the author of “Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel”. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog.

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Tags:   earthquake · Haiti · human web · metaphor · Michael Robert Dyet · six degrees of separation · World Vision16 Comments