Long week, but it still went fast. Matt started teaching again this week, so we had to adjust to the new semester schedule. It's not so bad, but it is just different. I volunteered in the classroom twice this week because Gabe's teacher was short-handed, and those Kindergartners always wear me out. Chi had his check-up and all is fine. We had a small celebration for his birthday on Saturday, and he was clueless as to what was going on but he enjoyed it. Gabe had choir and we spent the evening with friends tonight. So all in all, a good week, but exhausting.
On my mind, like so many others, has been Haiti. Before this disaster 80% of the country lived in abject poverty, literally eating mud cakes for what little nutritional value they could give. Not only have I grieved for the people of the country, I have grieved over what a supposed religious leader of this country would say. I was horror-struck by Pat Robertson. But Jim Wallis was right when he wrote this week: "My God does not cause evil. God is not a vengeful and retributive being, waiting to strike us down; instead, God is in the very midst of this tragedy, suffering with those who are suffering. When evil strikes, it’s easy to ask, where is God? The answer is simple: God is suffering with those who are suffering."
If you want to help there are many ways. Dear to my heart is ELCA International Disaster Response which was already present in Haiti and its building survived the quakes so they were up and running immediately. There is the Red Cross, Compassion International and many other effective organizations that can use your donations. Many of which like the ELCA have all of the donations going to disaster relief and not to overhead. There is also a petition from the ONE campaign calling for debt forgiveness for the country to help in the long term economic recovery. Their debt, in the large amounts of the world economy are minimal, but to Haiti, insurmountable.
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