It was a painful way to get a perspective. Suddenly Jamaicans – possibly the biggest complainers on Planet Earth – were giving thanks that we were spared the 7.0 quake that shook Haiti. By the time Prime Minister Golding faced the microphone on Wednesday evening, his announcement of his Debt Exchange Programme, the imminent downsizing of the public sector and increase in property taxes created barely a ripple.

The first encouraging sign came even before the formal announcement when JMMB CEO Keith Duncan wrote in the New Year’s Day Observer: “Jamaicans are tired of the ‘tit for tat’ politics which has not worked for us as a country. It would be a breath of fresh air for all of Jamaica if our politicians could grow up and really ‘PUT Jamaica FIRST’ so that Jamaica can manifest its true potential.” This son of PNP MP DK Duncan lived up to his word, becoming the first banker to throw his support publicly behind the Debt Exchange Programme. The cooperation of other members of the banking sector and commendation of various private-sector organisations should give some measure of relief to the Golding government.

In fact, the PM got bigger press for his media briefing on government assistance to Haiti and his trip to the shattered city of Port-au-Prince on Thursday. His invitation to his Opposition counterpart, PNP President Portia Simpson Miller, to tour with him was lauded and the tragedy in Haiti dwarfed his problems.

Jamaica continues to be its brother’s keeper. It was Jamaica who had given temporary asylum to former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 2004 after his hurried departure from Haiti, and it was our then Prime Minister PJ Patterson, who, on behalf of Caricom, spoke up for fellow member Haiti.

This week’s media coverage showed us the bravery and nobility of the Haitian people. CNN’s Anderson Cooper took us through the rescue of a 15-year-old girl who was able to speak strongly after her ordeal, declaring, “I was never afraid.” She is of course the descendant of Haiti’s great soldiers, led by Toussaint L’Ouverture who defeated Napoleon in 1804, creating the world’s first black republic.

On a visit to Haiti in 2006, I described “the touching gentility among even the poorest that I met lining up, waiting without a murmur for up to five hours to finally own a cellphone. And there was the art – fine carving, enchanting pottery, vivid paintings…Their craftsmen could teach ours a thing or two – not one vulgar carving did we see on the sidewalks”.

I also described the fashionable side of Haiti, a hillside location where tables were covered with crisp white linen and adorned with deep red roses in crystal. The service there and in other restaurants was impeccable and the ladies were chic and svelte.

The Haitians show incredible forbearance and resourcefulness. I met a well-educated young businessman, the third generation of his family-owned concern, who continued to soldier on. Yes, there is a side of Haiti that never gets press coverage and so we only view the country as one of misery, although it offers so many opportunities.

We hear that an intellectually limited evangelist has been shooting off his mouth about Haiti’s earthquake being a punishment for voodoo worship. We in Jamaica had better be careful how we judge others. At least Haiti lost their people to a natural disaster. We have lost 1680 precious souls to violence, so we should be the last ones to talk about retribution.

I have been receiving regular updates from the leading charitable organisation in the US, Food for the Poor (FFTP – founded in Jamaica by Jamaican Ferdie Mahfood), which has been running homes, schools and clinics in Haiti for over 20 years. A representative wrote on Thursday, “Haiti is truly a mess with lots of mayhem, dead bodies everywhere. Everyone of our employees has lost a family member and friends. All of our FFTP employees are accounted for and no life has been lost.”

Sadly, she says that at their infirmary called Elderly Village “two of the elders died not from the earthquake, but from the fright of the event”. A child at one of FFTP’s homes died when she was hit by a falling object during the quake. She says she is mourning with staffer Lesly Clervil: “They went to his mother’s house and he found his mother and sister were dead, along with his two aunts and three nieces.”

Angel Aloma, FFTP executive director wrote, “The devastation in Haiti challenges the senses. One of our US employees leading a mission group there was buried alive for 17+ hours until she was dug out this morning (Thursday). She is recovering in a hospital in the Dominican Republic. Now that the dust cloud has settled, the place looks like a post-apocalyptic movie. People are weeping and wailing on the streets for their dead, others unable to find their dead beneath the rubble.

“We have a tough road ahead and I am exhausted, but I take comfort in a passage from 2 Corinthians 4:8, “We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed and broken. We are perplexed, but we don’t give up and quit.” Although we are accepting only three items of canned food (canned meat and fish, canned milk), cash is our greatest necessity. We are planning an initial response to this horror of 400 40ft containers of food, water and emergency supplies, followed by lumber and zinc for construction and repair. We have a tough road ahead of us, thank you for travelling it with me.” To give online to the Food for the Poor Haiti relief, go to www.foodforthepoor.org/HaitiQuake.

After three days of being glued to the television and going to work in a twilight zone of grief, I think I am approaching some level of discernment. Perhaps it took this terrible quake to focus the world on a country that has been bleeding unnoticed for too long. Perhaps now the international community will finally carve out a plan to help the beautiful people of Haiti build a strong democracy, finally realising the dream of its legendary liberator.

lowriechin@aim.com

www.lowrie-chin.blogspot.com