By Kristin Baldwin Seeman
Contra Costa Times Contributor
Posted: 01/16/2010
'Why did you come here to help us?"
The question was posed to me when I was working as a volunteer in Khao-I-Dang, a Cambodian refugee camp in Eastern Thailand in 1980 as part of the International Rescue Committee. It was asked by a man whose wife and newborn were being taken care of by a team of Bay Area doctors working with the group.
The question stopped me for a moment, and I had to think.
Was I doing it for them? Was I doing it for myself? I did not have a ready answer.
What I finally said was, "I am here because when Pol Pot comes to California to kill my family, I expect you to come and help me."
It was only when I saw the confusion on his face at my answer that I knew I was right, even if it didn't make sense to him. What I should have said was, "Neighbors help neighbors. What goes around, comes around. Do unto others ..."
So when the earthquake shook Haiti on Tuesday, my first thought was, "What can I do?"
I figured I would only be in the way as an aid worker. I'm 30 years older that I was when I did that kind of work. Still, I wanted to be involved.
Peer pressure
I recently learned that studies have shown that asking people to do the right thing is not nearly so effective as is telling them what their neighbors are doing. California recently has passed an environmental law based on this knowledge and soon, instead
of being urged to used less electricity, you will be shown on your PG&E bill how much your similarly situated neighbors are using. This is expected to be much more effective in getting people to act.
So I decided to make use of this principle, and to let people know what I, and other former relief workers that I know, are doing to support the relief effort in Haiti.
I sent a note to various groups on my e-mail list: my writing group, my book group, my high school pals, the Web site for a university in Canada where I am taking a class, the roster for the class I took in San Francisco last year, the group I swim with at the Y, several alumni groups, neighbors, family, and so forth.
With each group I tailored my letter to talk about my own relief work experience and how a bunch of small donations, when aggregated, become so very important. In the end every little donation makes a difference that counts.
Then I talked to some friends who have businesses, and they agreed to collect money at their stores, as well. And finally, I am inviting friends to a "benefit pizza party" this weekend that involves not only giving a little money for the organization I have picked out, and who I think is doing good work in this catastrophe, but I will also ask them to throw an event of their own for their own circle of friends the following weekend. An old-fashioned "House Party" kind of event was what I had in mind.
Make a difference
The point is, of course, that anyone can do this. I mention these ideas, which are no big thing, because I want to give others this gift of knowing how much difference you and your friends can make. The terrible destruction and death is overwhelming. But there are good people right now working to make things better. They know what to do. We can all be part of that.
We need to remember that "there but for the grace of God" go any of us. And when we are the ones who face an emergency there will be others who will come to help us, maybe some who have been saved by what you and I do today.
The group I have chosen to support is Doctors Without Borders (doctorswithoutborders.org), largely because they are French-speaking (a language they speak in Haiti), they are set up with mobile hospitals, I have seen them do wonderful work, and they are already on the ground and working in Port-au-Prince.
But there are many good organizations, all of which can be found on www.whitehouse.gov.
And don't forget to ask your friends to join you.
Contra Costa Times Contributor
Posted: 01/16/2010
'Why did you come here to help us?"
The question was posed to me when I was working as a volunteer in Khao-I-Dang, a Cambodian refugee camp in Eastern Thailand in 1980 as part of the International Rescue Committee. It was asked by a man whose wife and newborn were being taken care of by a team of Bay Area doctors working with the group.
The question stopped me for a moment, and I had to think.
Was I doing it for them? Was I doing it for myself? I did not have a ready answer.
What I finally said was, "I am here because when Pol Pot comes to California to kill my family, I expect you to come and help me."
It was only when I saw the confusion on his face at my answer that I knew I was right, even if it didn't make sense to him. What I should have said was, "Neighbors help neighbors. What goes around, comes around. Do unto others ..."
So when the earthquake shook Haiti on Tuesday, my first thought was, "What can I do?"
I figured I would only be in the way as an aid worker. I'm 30 years older that I was when I did that kind of work. Still, I wanted to be involved.
Peer pressure
I recently learned that studies have shown that asking people to do the right thing is not nearly so effective as is telling them what their neighbors are doing. California recently has passed an environmental law based on this knowledge and soon, instead
of being urged to used less electricity, you will be shown on your PG&E bill how much your similarly situated neighbors are using. This is expected to be much more effective in getting people to act.
So I decided to make use of this principle, and to let people know what I, and other former relief workers that I know, are doing to support the relief effort in Haiti.
I sent a note to various groups on my e-mail list: my writing group, my book group, my high school pals, the Web site for a university in Canada where I am taking a class, the roster for the class I took in San Francisco last year, the group I swim with at the Y, several alumni groups, neighbors, family, and so forth.
With each group I tailored my letter to talk about my own relief work experience and how a bunch of small donations, when aggregated, become so very important. In the end every little donation makes a difference that counts.
Then I talked to some friends who have businesses, and they agreed to collect money at their stores, as well. And finally, I am inviting friends to a "benefit pizza party" this weekend that involves not only giving a little money for the organization I have picked out, and who I think is doing good work in this catastrophe, but I will also ask them to throw an event of their own for their own circle of friends the following weekend. An old-fashioned "House Party" kind of event was what I had in mind.
Make a difference
The point is, of course, that anyone can do this. I mention these ideas, which are no big thing, because I want to give others this gift of knowing how much difference you and your friends can make. The terrible destruction and death is overwhelming. But there are good people right now working to make things better. They know what to do. We can all be part of that.
We need to remember that "there but for the grace of God" go any of us. And when we are the ones who face an emergency there will be others who will come to help us, maybe some who have been saved by what you and I do today.
The group I have chosen to support is Doctors Without Borders (doctorswithoutborders.org), largely because they are French-speaking (a language they speak in Haiti), they are set up with mobile hospitals, I have seen them do wonderful work, and they are already on the ground and working in Port-au-Prince.
But there are many good organizations, all of which can be found on www.whitehouse.gov.
And don't forget to ask your friends to join you.
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