When I was in Auckland last weekend I went for a walk around the waterfront & there was a massive cruise ship parked at the wharf, and by massive I mean the size of an entire inner city apartment block. The area was swarming with tourists and the people who facilitate their visit and I didn’t think too much about it… But the following day I read about a similar cruise ship, which irrespective of the recent & ongoing disaster is scheduled to park at a private beach, reasonably close to the centre of the Haiti epicentre. And there its passengers can have a BBQ, drink cocktails and frolic, protected from the inconvenient disaster victims by a large wire fence with armed guards… The mental image this scenario forms in my head is enough to make me feel sick, but it is too easy to sit back & judge. Am I actually doing any more to help than those tourists?
In response to the Haiti disaster the monome community banded together & created a compilation album featuring 27 artists – go have a listen here and buy a copy (for as much as you can afford to donate, minimum $1) – 100% of the proceeds go to the Médecins Sans Frontières. Quoting from MSF: “It is like working in a war situation,” said Rosa Crestani, MSF medical coordinator for Choscal Hospital. “We don’t have any more morphine to manage pain for our patients. We cannot accept that planes carrying lifesaving medical supplies and equipment continue to be turned away while our patients die. Priority must be given to medical supplies entering the country.”
…and not tourists…
