The Mission:
We must forge an international community. Not only at MacArthur, not only in N.E.I.S.D., but we must unify our efforts across the city of San Antonio to help those affected by the earthquake in Japan.
While March 11th changed the world in its geography, our geography can change the world.
An article in USA Today entitled “No Donor Rush To Aid Japan”, demonstrates the lack of interest to help what we perceive to be a first-world nation. Referencing a study conducted by Indiana University’s Center on Philanthropy, in four individual catastrophes (the 2001 Terrorist Attacks, the Indian Ocean Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, and the Haiti earthquake), American donations amounted more than 1.5 billion USD in the first days following the catastrophe, while Japan has received less than 50 million dollars for an issue that is as equally pressing as any of the aforementioned events.
Despite Japan’s superficial industrial nature, the magnitude 8.9 earthquake devastated even the most unfaltering corporations, leaving thousands without work and access to basic necessities. But the atrocities do not stop there; Japan’s Fukushima Nuclear Plant is at a literal boiling point- either the reactors are cooled and stabilized, or the world is confronted with an ecological catastrophe that surpasses Russia’s Chernobyl; it is imperative that we unify and mobilize.
Demonstrating that San Antonio has more to offer the world than our beloved Spurs and our tourism industry, hosting a benefit for the people of Japan is beneficial not only to their populace, but for our city as well.
We are known as one of the most diverse cities in the United States, and with that reputation surfaces an obligation to help the international community which has helped our own progression, culturally and economically.
Developing aid programs, donating, and hosting fundraisers exemplifies the idea that these first few years of the 21st century have given us: If we change the world, it will change us. That is to say that supporting the Middle East’s democratic demonstrations through social networking websites no longer means passivist support, but rather shows that even though we are thousands of miles away, we’re willing to engage in current events that shape human history.
Involvement is necessary in resisting and defeating the world’s evils, natural and man-made.
We owe it to ourselves to truly understand the motto “let’s make a difference”.
Donation Links:
Bravo Estefania! She believes so strongly in the cause for aiding the Japanese, and it comes clearly across in her passionate writing. I applaud her determination to not let us become complacent. May I add the site for “Médecins sans Frontières” ?
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/news/article.cfm?id=5126&cat=field-news