Mother Nature has been showing her worst side of late: first the Haiti
earthquake, then the one in Chile, which was followed by a tsunami.
Meanwhile, Europe, too, was hit by a storm named Xynthia, which caused
about 50 deaths in France and one in Belgium (a person hit by a falling
tree).
Relief agencies are complaining that donations for Chile are slow in coming.
This is to be expected in cases like this, where the public is numbed by a
“one-two punch.” Besides, our own economy is still in the dumps, so how
can they expect us to take care of everybody else, right? It’s called “donor
fatigue.” Surprisingly, experience has shown that generosity knows no
bounds. In the case of Haiti, for instance, donations came not just from the
wealthy, or even the reasonably comfortable, but even from people who
were themselves receiving government assistance. As long as we have a
roof over our head and know where our next meal is coming from, we’ll
always be able to share. The human spirit can be marvellous to behold.
In the case of the Gazette, we have been and still are, largely dependent on
the kindness, if not of strangers, at least of our readers and well-wishers.
Many times we have wondered where the money was going to come from
to run this publication for another month, another year, but our donors
have never let us down. Thank you for your continued support.
Meanwhile we are trying very hard to take the pressure off our faithful
supporters by searching for corporate sponsorship and other sources of
financial aid. Needless to say, in this day and age, that is not easy. So we
have to count on all of you a little longer yet. But we will understand if you
think of the earthquake victims first.