Another news!
In the previous post, I wrote about the unjustifiable issue (Pakistan ousting the humanitarian NGO). There is another one, but I think for some people, just like the last post, this news will not affect their feeling, let alone their lives.

Ok, so what is the news then? Well, it is about Dominican Republic (DR) implementing a mass deportation of Haitian illegal immigrant (thought to account for more than 200,000) to return to their country, even though some of them were born in DR and never been to Haiti. And many people are waiting document more than months. And the deadline to meet the requirement? It’s today!!

What caught my interest regarding this news was that, how this kind of big movement had not been prevented by media, protest, etc. In other words, I think many people unconsciously didn’t/don’t care about illegal Haitian people in DR. Yes, the U.S. UN and even pope pressured this movement. But I guess the fact that this went thorough means that the attention was not enough at all.

Here is the broad but really important question, especially for those who work in humanitarian or aid field:

Why is it difficult to convence people to contribute to humanitarian matters even though we think they are important as a global and/or moral issue??

I think the answer is a lack of psychological or physical connection. Even if you don’t live in the country where some tragedy like this is happening, if you have any good Haitian friends, have traveled to the country and are interested in the history, you might care much more.

For the detail and video about this news, please see the CNN article
For me, there were 3 reasons for which I became interested in this news:
(1). Connection with illegal immigrant because I had many undocumented Mexican friends in NY
(2). I liked a band from DR so I had some kind of connection with the country and;
(3). I met one Haitian guy in an airplane, who was illiterate and asked me how to read and write immigration form, which was pretty striking (for more detail in this regard, please see my previous post “the world we see“).

So my point in this entry is, we are busy for daily routine and although we think we care about other global issue, disaster etc., not many of us will act upon it unless there are some kind of connections.
So I think the aid/humanitarian workers need to promote connection between public and project target area instead of focusing too much on the content it self, be it through culture, foods or people.

Thanks for visiting, and I hope you feel connected (in the future if not now).