The Tsunami Thru Non-Western Eyes

I discovered a weblog which is simply amazing. It's called India Uncut. A 31-year-old man in India has been writing about the tsunami relief efforts, and it's superb reporting. He provides insights into the role and methods of relief work that I hadn't heard before, plus good reminders of things I already know. It's extremely valuable to see things through the eyes of a keen non-Western observer.

I'm not a fan of using my weblog to simply quote passages from other people. But I'm going to give a few excerpts from India Uncut, just to whet your appetite.

From January 9, 2005: "Why does it take a disaster like this to evoke compassion in us? After all, the needs that we are helping to fulfill now -- for food, housing, medicine and livelihood -- have always existed in all the affected countries....When all is "normal" again, and millions of people are back to scrambling for food and jobs and drinking water in sub-human conditions, will we still care?

"For most of us, I think the answer to that is: No. We block out all the misery in the world as we go along our daily lives, building a cocoon around ourselves that excludes the little beggar at the traffic lights, the homeless people strewn across the streets at night, the millions swept away by a vast tsunami of indifference. It takes a tragedy like this to burst that cocoon, and perhaps it gives some of us a chance to assuage the guilt that may have built up inside."

From January 5: "Over-enthusiastic volunteers, with a desperate, selfish need of their own to fulfill, the need to give, can actually make things worse in disaster areas. Of course, there are plenty of volunteers who work selflessly and untiringly, and those guys are the reason that India is limping towards recovery. The rest of us should not get in their way."

From January 4: "Many of the relief organizations that drive down don't bother to actually spend time in a village and assess its needs -- they simply thrust things into the hands that reach out into their truck, and then they drive off. The consequence of this is that the strongest people end up getting all the goodies, and this happens time and again, as truck after relief truck passes by. The irony in all this is that often the people who are most affected don't even go to the relief trucks to get help. They just sit in what is left of their huts, often in a state of shock. They think of what has passed, and not the truck that passes."

Don't just read the most recent posts. Dig down, all the way back to December 26. It's worth it.

He also links to an essay written in InfoChangeIndia which gives all kinds of food for thought. Among other things, the writer talks about the "greed of giving," which is a fascinating phrase. From the vantage point of a denominational headquarters with its own missions agency, I've seen this--people in churches who go on work trips to other countries, see needs, and rush in with what they perceive as "help." But it's not always helpful.

Posted on January 10, 2005 05:52 PM|