THE EDITOR, Sir:
IN LESS than two months, we have witnessed hurricanes raging across the Caribbean and the United States, terrorist attacks in London and presidential deaths in Sudan. Having departed Kingston on the last British Airways flight before 'Dennis' struck, upon arrival in London, I found the city in gridlock; the result of terrorist attacks launched throughout the city on the morning of July 7.
These are just a few of the atrocities that immediately spring to my mind. Amidst all of this there have been births, deaths, marriages and divorces; monumental events in individuals? lives. It seems that we go from the throes of one catastrophe to another. Have these life-altering events become normal to the extent that the vast majority are numbed by them? Worse yet, some of us still manage to believe that we are immune to these things happening in our lives.
RACIAL LINES
As I sit in war-torn Sudan's capital Khartoum, I am outraged to see that the natural disaster that recently hit New Orleans, Louisiana and Mississippi is now being analysed along racial lines. The mere fact that this sordid thought is being entertained is evidence enough. So now I'm left pondering, what progress have we truly made?
Who could have thought that the day would come when the United States of America would need to seek out the help of the much criticised United Nations? Alas though, there is hope. Clearly, this complex organisation is capable of responding to disasters in a somewhat organised manner. After all, isn't this the demands of our mandate, the very one that member states are quick to slaughter and slow to honour their commitments to? America has now been likened to a developing country, to Africa. Many are questioning, how could this happen in America? My question is, why not America?
Ironically, as the world is about to remember the horrors of 9/11 our attention span is now torn. And we are seeing that everything is indeed relative. Allegedly, as many as 10,000 people may have died at the mercy of Katrina. That figure more than doubles the amount of 9/11, yet only represents a minute percentage of the one million killed in Rwanda in less than 100 days. But be that as it may, I am reminded that the loss of any human life is precisely that; a loss that is grieved by someone somewhere.
NOT JUST A MATTER OF RELIGION
I am here serving with UNMIS - the lofty UN office creatd by the Comprehensive Peace Agreement - to bring an end to 21 years of tribal war and internal strife. The reasons for this are complex and multi-faceted. Were it simply a matter of religion, it could be easy. But there's more to it than that.
In Marley's words, "There's war in the east, war in the west, war up North and war down south. Everywhere is war." n our st, mdia tycoons simplify th story by focusing on th horrors of Darfur, painting only a partial picture of the dismal horrors. On August 6, Jamaica celebrated 43 years of independence. Simultaneously in Sudan, the people were grieving for the loss of their vice-president John Garang; their chosen one to lead them to long lasting freedom. On this day, I understood what lies at the root of my violent land and people. Unlike the Sudanese, the Jamaican people have forgotten, albeit somewhat involuntarily, who we are. We have lost our dignity. Pride prevails in the absence of dignity. And when this happens blind conceit rears its ugly head.
In Sudan, I am reminded of the importance of rituals and rites of passage. For example, to honour one's elders is sacred. And to respect the laws of nature is divine. I bring together this mural of global events of epic proportions in the hope of highlighting that none of these are isolated events. Therefore our choice of response ought to be one that is universal rather than one that is divided along geographical, ethnic, social, religious and other human-made lines. After all, this is a basic tenet of the Universe and humanity.
I am, etc.,
NADINE McNEIL
nadine_mcneil2000@yahoo.com.
Khartoum, Sudan
Via Go-Jamaica
