{"id":180350,"date":"2010-01-14T10:23:06","date_gmt":"2010-01-14T15:23:06","guid":{"rendered":"tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54fc8012e8833012876d5387f970c"},"modified":"2010-01-14T10:33:36","modified_gmt":"2010-01-14T15:33:36","slug":"the-haitian-earthquake-dr-paul-farmer-and-partners-in-health-whats-our-responsibility-in-repairing-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/180350","title":{"rendered":"The Haitian Earthquake, Dr. Paul Farmer, and Partners in Health. What’s Our Responsibility in Repairing the World?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

This is a reposting of my September 24, 2008 post.\u00a0 I can’t get it out of my mind.\u00a0 And I can’t get this week’s devastation of Haiti out of my mind.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

So eerie that this post was written after the Sept. 14, 2008 hurricane that hit Haiti over a year ago.\u00a0 How does this country get the strength to keep getting up again and again?\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Strange that I woke up the morning of Sept. 24th, 2008 with a nightmare.\u00a0 Same thing happened again last night.\u00a0 And I don’t often have nightmares.<\/p>\n

If anyone plans to make contributions to Haiti, please consider Partners in Health,<\/a> the organization founded by Dr. Paul Farmer.\u00a0 Tracy Kidder wrote about him in the award-winning book: Mountains Beyond Mountains.\u00a0 Healing the World.\u00a0 The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer.<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Farmer is one of the most courageous, self-less, inspiring, remarkable people in this world.\u00a0 His story is a must-read.<\/p>\n

To read what Tracy Kidder says about Partners in Health<\/strong> and the plight of Haiti in today’s New York Times<\/strong>, “Country Without a Net”<\/strong>, click here.<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

September 24, 2008<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/strong>
<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Ramadan – Rabbi Heschel – Rosh Hashanah – What’s Our Responsibility in Repairing the World?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Superman\"<\/img><\/a><\/p>\n

I can\u2019t stand to fly
\nI\u2019m not that naive
\nI\u2019m just out to find
\nThe better part of me<\/strong><\/h3>\n

–Superman, Five for Fighting-<\/em><\/p>\n

The cure of the soul begins with a sense of embarrassment,
\nembarrassment at our pettiness, prejudices, envy, and conceit;
\nembarrassment at the profanation of life.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

–Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel<\/em>–<\/p>\n

There must be a thin line between feeling grateful and feeling guilty.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

-Shiraz Janjua, Associate Producer of Speaking of Faith-<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n


<\/strong><\/p>\n


<\/strong><\/p>\n

September 1, 2008<\/strong> marked the start of Ramadan for Muslims.\u00a0
\nIt’s a month of fasting, introspection and giving.\u00a0 It’s the month to
\nbecome aware of one’s spiritual weaknesses.<\/p>\n

September 1, 2008<\/strong>
\nmarked the start of the Jewish month of Elul, the month that precedes
\nthe High Holy Days.\u00a0 It’s a month of intensive personal preparation for
\nthe New Year. A time of self-examination of one’s spiritual, physical,
\ninterpersonal and communal responsibilities.<\/p>\n

It’s odd how my life sometimes just nudges me to PAY ATTENTION <\/strong>exactly when I need it the most.<\/p>\n

I had my recurring nightmare<\/a> again last night–the one that reminds me I have responsibilities greater than myself, and I need to PAY ATTENTION.<\/p>\n

So…I
\nwoke up pretty shaken after this nightmare.\u00a0 I sat down with the
\nnewspaper & a cup of coffee, and from there I clicked on American
\nPublic Media’s\u00a0 Speaking of Faith website.<\/a>\u00a0 I had listened to a mind awakening piece on The Origins and Impact of Pentecostalism<\/strong><\/em> during my walk yesterday and I wanted to learn more.<\/p>\n

Instead,
\nI ended up reading Shiraz Janjua’s powerful essay about fasting for
\nRamadan with Rabbi Heschel’s words echoing in his head, Of Veggie Omelets and Cognitive Dissonance.
<\/a><\/p>\n

Shiraz
\nasks, “How do we live our lives when part of us is so grateful for all
\nour blessings, and the other is so guilty about all we have in the
\nmidst of all the brokenness in this world?”\u00a0
<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n


\nHow do we watch the news or read the newspaper and see something so
\nhorrible happening to someone else, and then just go on with our day?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n September 15, 2008\n <\/div>\n

Of Veggie Omelets and Cognitive Dissonance<\/a><\/h2>\n

Shiraz Janjua, Associate Producer, Speaking of Faith<\/p>\n

I woke up this morning around 4:45 a.m. to eat before my day of
\nfasting. To keep myself from passing out into my leftover veggie omelet
\nfrom the night before, I turned on the TV. It was about 4:55 a.m. The
\nfirst thing that confronted me as I scooped food into my mouth was the
\ndestruction of Haiti. People standing in mud, broken. Helicopters
\ndropping off bags of food, long lines, the complete absence of
\nbuildings. The government has apparently stopped counting the death
\ntoll. Without numbers, the reporting on Haiti is going to end up even
\nfurther down from where I found it: the last report of the hour.<\/p>\n

Following the report, the beautiful, dark-haired host smiles with
\nher moist lips and signs off, wishing me a good day. A good day? Are
\nyou mad?! I\u2019m ready to intentionally deny myself food to try vainly to
\nunderstand where I stand in this world. As I\u2019m eating, there are people
\non the other side of the glass who are traumatized after three (or
\nfour?) hurricanes. And the host has the gall to wish me a nice day? Did
\nshe even watch the segment that just aired? The cognitive dissonance
\nwas a bit much, but there I sat with my leftover veggie omelet, my
\njuicy organic yellow peach, my full glass of milk, and my disgust of
\nthe human race, cursing at the screen. I heard Heschel<\/a> blaring at me, at the newscaster: \u201cSome are guilty, but all are responsible.\u201d<\/p>\n

At 5:30 a.m., I went back to bed, to catch a few more hours of sleep
\nbefore heading off to work. I lay there wishing for a red cape and blue
\ntights and the chance to fly across the continent and do something. But
\nyou never see Superman fighting systemic poverty, or downgrading
\nhurricanes by flying in a counter-Coriolis trajectory. He fights Lex
\nLuthor.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the afternoon now. I\u2019m still hungry, but come 7:23 p.m.
\ntonight, I\u2019ll eat. I can. Yet today, my life feels like the platitudes
\nof that news anchor. I saw something horrible, yet I got on with my day.<\/p>\n

In conversations I\u2019ve had with friends on this subject, the answer
\nis invariably that it\u2019s my duty to live my life more fully and more
\nappreciatively, that the more tempting response of sullenness isn\u2019t
\ngoing to help anyone. Instead, bring your earnestness into whatever
\nelse you do. Working here is important to me because I can integrate my
\nskills and energy toward something that is, in my view, part of some
\nlarger solution. And that\u2019s good. Still, every time my cheeks stick
\nfrom thirst, they drag my thoughts back to this morning, faithfully as
\na dog on a leash.<\/p>\n

“You are not obliged to finish the task, neither are you free to neglect it.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

-Pirke Avot-<\/p>\n

\"Hurricanike\"<\/img><\/a>\u00a0<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/img><\/a>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is a reposting of my September 24, 2008 post.\u00a0 I can’t get it out of my mind.\u00a0 And I can’t get this week’s devastation of Haiti out of my mind.\u00a0 So eerie that this post was written after the Sept. 14, 2008 hurricane that hit Haiti over a year ago.\u00a0 How does this country […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2896,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-180350","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2896"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180350"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180350\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}