What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared
to what lies within Us
When the January 12 earthquake hit the country of Haiti, the nations of the world were quick to react. Indeed, our Sunday bulletin for every week since this disaster has included information on Canadian Lutheran World Relief’s “Haiti Earthquake Appeal”. The Canadian government has announced that it has set aside $50M of funds to match the donations made by individual Canadians to humanitarian agencies.
In the days following the earthquake, it’s been impossible to avoid the faces of broken humanity in this impoverished country. Throughout these dark days, the eyes of the world have been focused on the plight of the masses in a country where 70% of the population were living below the poverty line prior to the natural disaster.
It almost seems as if natural disasters were designed to refocus the world on social issues, of the suffering that is a part of the daily lives of so many people across the globe. The graphic images make us uncomfortable, make us want to share the wonderful things that have been given to us by virtue of living in Canada. It’s a wakeup call for all of us whose senses have become dulled by the comparatively easy lives we’ve come to accept as our birthright in this country.
But don’t let the television images fool you. The need in our own country is both great and grave. In November 2009, twenty years after the House of Commons had resolved to end child poverty in Canada by 2000, 1 in 9 children in Ontario were living below the poverty line. In Toronto, the statistics are even more sobering…1 in 3 children in our city lives below the poverty line.
In December 2009, the Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology released a landmark report on poverty and homelessness in Canada, “In From the Margins: A Call to Action on Poverty, Housing and Homelessness.” In its report, the Committee concluded that “eradicating poverty is not only the humane and decent priority of a civilized democracy, but absolutely essential to a productive and expanding economy." (You can view the report at http://www.parl.gc.ca/40/2/parlbus/commbus/senate/com-e/citi-e/rep-e/rep...)
In the coming months, as you give generously to the many relief agencies that are springing into action to provide relief in the face of natural and unnatural disaster, remember the sobering statistics from our own country. Write, call or e-mail your MP, your MPP, Stephen Harper and/or Dalton McGuinty, asking what progress the government is making in fulfilling its commitments to ending child poverty/addressing the issue of child poverty. Volunteer at your local food bank. Contribute funds to one of the many agencies who provide support to the victims of poverty in Toronto.
As we’ve learned with the Haiti earthquake relief efforts, together, we can make a difference.
