Thanks to Nicholas Kristof for putting things into perspective. PLEASE read his article (quoted and linked below). He presents a perspective of death and suffering in Congo and in Haiti.
I was in Congo when the earthquake hit Haiti on January 12th. So I missed all the pictures and video news coverage. I had to follow it by the internet postings when possible.
So we heard about it. Also, I felt the lost when UN workers in Kananga mourned the lost of their colleagues in Haiti. Finally, we were puzzled when Congo government donated $2.5 million in emergency relief to Haiti.
Op-Ed Columnist - Orphaned, Raped and Ignored - NYTimes.com.
Sometimes I wish eastern Congo could suffer an earthquake or a tsunami, so that it might finally get the attention it needs. The barbaric civil war being waged here is the most lethal conflict since World War II and has claimed at least 30 times as many lives as the Haiti earthquake.
Yet no humanitarian crisis generates so little attention per million corpses, or such a pathetic international response.
That’s why I’m here in the lovely, lush and threatening hills west of Lake Kivu, where militias rape, mutilate and kill civilians with a savagery that is almost incomprehensible. I’m talking to a 9-year-old girl, Chance Tombola, an orphan whose eyes are luminous with fear.