Disaster in Haiti a reminder to all

A CHALLENGE TO MY COLLEAGUES IN MOLDOVA: USE THE STORY OF HAITI

Yesterday, my home town heard the news from Haiti it had not wanted to hear. A girl my age, in fact someone I had been friends with through elementary school, died in this week’s earthquake. Molly Hightower, 22, was in the middle of her year of service with an organization called “Friends of the Orphans.” You can read her blog here. We did not remain friends through the chaos called junior high, and I neither knew that there had been an earthquake, nor that someone from my town was in Haiti, until my Mom called me from the states. But as I know the family, friends, and communities Molly touched are grieving, and asking why these things happen, I felt at a loss for most appropriate emotions. Or at least, I didn’t know which one was appropriate. I have neither seen, nor spoken to Molly in years, but instantly memories of my first softball practice (her dad was the coach) and horseback riding at another friend’s house came streaming back.

To make a long story short, as I went into my session with my advanced English Club on Thursday, nothing but the earthquake was really on my mind. With my advanced speakers, we don’t do actual lessons, but just hold discussions. This week, we discussed the earthquake—the number of people that died, what makes the recovery difficult, and most importantly, what to do in an earthquake.

Where I grew up, earthquake and fire drills were almost monthly occurrences. Here, I found the youth having very little idea what to do in an earthquake—and yes, they are in Moldova’s history books. With the youth we discussed not only how to protect one’s self in an earthquake, but picked out specific locations to go in each room of our youth center. I think at our next youth council meeting I would like to run a full scale drill.

I still don’t know exactly how to grieve someone you once knew, but barely recognize in recent photographs. Yet, I know that Molly was doing some great things in Haiti. Certainly, this tragedy affected me differently than if I had been in the comfort of my own home, with my family. But I decided to write this post to foster a discussion among my PCV colleagues.

What lessons can we take from this tragedy? How can we honor the memories of the victims in a way that also serves our Peace Corps goals? Teachers—I want to know if it was just my particular youth who didn’t know how to respond to earthquakes, or a country wide phenomenon? Do you have fire or earthquake drills in your schools? Did anyone else have a discussion with their beneficiaries after the earthquake? If so, what did you discover about your organization?

I realize not all responses to the questions above will be appropriate to discuss in a blog media. So please email me if you have comments that are questionable.