I was dreading the task of writing a story about Haiti's earthquake. In 2006 while living on the island of Hispaniola (which contains the nations of Haiti and the Dominican Republic), I wrote about the plight of human trafficking victims, but the same issue of justice doesn't seem to enter the picture when talking about an earthquake.
What light could I shed on the enormity of suffering and destruction with my slight contribution? It's the Caribbean's worst earthquake in 200 years and it hit the nation least equipped to cop the 7.0 magnitude.
Up to 100,000 are feared dead and another three million are suffering. If there is a place on Earth that could have done without an earthquake right now, it's Haiti. It's the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, with 80 per cent of its people living in extreme poverty. What response would suffice?
My email inbox is full of statements and media releases from various church and humanitarian organisations around the world. These contain up-to-date information and details of the relief efforts they intend to carry out.
Crisis response teams meet to discuss what they can do. Even before the earthquake it was a challenge for aid organisations to provide medical supplies, sanitation, clean water and food in Port au Prince's shantytown areas.
In the face of human suffering, our instinct to reach out runs strong and deep. We either want to do something or we want to find out what's happening as a form of empathy with the victims. Within minutes of the quake, cyberspace was awash with people seeking and exchanging information.
Among the emails and news alerts in my inbox, there were two that stood out — one encouraging, and one downright disappointing.
The encouraging email was a personal message sent to me from a young Haitian man living in the United States who happens to be a Muslim (Muslims make up less than 1 per cent of Haiti's population). He was responding to a video I posted on Youtube which I took from the roof of the Jesuit novitiate in Port au Prince in 2006. In the background of the video you can faintly hear the call to prayer coming from a nearby mosque at dusk. He wrote:
'I saw your video about the Islamic call to prayer in Port-au-Prince. I am Muslim and Haitian. I wonder if