Imagine losing everything

On January 12, 2010 an earthquake of 7.0 magnitude hit the island of Haiti. An estimated three million people were affected by the disaster, and the Haitian Government reports that up to 230,000 people are feared dead. A further 300,000 have been injured, and an estimated 1,000,000 are now homeless. 250,000 homes were destroyed and 35,000 commercial buildings collapsed.

To bring home the scale of the devastation, it’s the equivalent of most of the population of Perth being homeless, and now living on the streets of a destroyed city. Here in Australia, it’s impossible to fathom just how devastating the Haiti disaster really is.

Can you imagine losing your home, your family, your friends, your job, your possessions, everything you have ever worked for in your entire life – all gone? In a flash? And for the people of Haiti, it is even worse because, as a third world country, they had so little to begin with. How does one start to rebuild amid such devastation? What inner resources must the Haitians call upon to give them the hope and will to keep going when they have suffered unimaginable loss?

It is impossible to imagine the conditions in Haiti, even now, over a month after the earthquake, as people continue to sift through the rubble to find their belongings and the unfortunate victims who lost their lives.

The world has sprung into action with aid from all quarters, but do you ever stop to think about how relatively minor most of the worries that we face in life are, when compared to real disaster on such a scale, with millions of people affected?

It’s at times like this that we need a little bit of perspective. We need to give thanks for the grace and good fortune that we live in such a privileged environment as Australia, where we are relatively safe and secure in comparison to so many others. Yes we have natural disasters, and people suffer heart-breaking tragedies. Many of us are fortunate enough to live a life that must seem charmed and blessed in comparison to the way those in developing countries are living.

It takes a disaster such as this to make us realise how incredibly lucky we are to live a country like Australia. With its strong economy, beautiful environment, stability of government and security of land and property ownership, Australia truly is the Lucky Country. This is the reason why so many people want to live here, and why immigration to our shores continues at record levels.

As we keep the people of Haiti in our thoughts, and offer help where we can, let’s also count our blessings, and realise how lucky we are to live in Australia.