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News & ArtsFriday, January 15, 2010
Death Port Orchard Woman Killed by Haiti Earthquake
Posted by Charles Mudede on Fri, Jan 15, 2010 at 7:59 AM
The family of Molly Hightower got the call they were dreading this morning: the effervescent University of Portland graduate who was spending a year working with disabled orphans in Haiti had died in this week's catastrophic earthquake.Though it all came down to blind luck, as humans we can't help but wonder why her and not the other? Both are from the school in America, both in the same building, both in the rubble—and yet one is dead and the other alive. In photo after photo, we also see one side of a Port-au-Prince street is untouched and the other completely destroyed. And we want to know why one side escaped destruction and the other did not. But we are looking for a reason in a situation that we know is completely unreasonable and inhuman.Hightower's remains were found early today by search and rescue crews. Her brother, Mike Hightower, said the family got word about Molly early this morning.
Hightower, 22, of Port Orchard, Wash., has been a volunteer for Friends of the Orphans since June. She was living on the fifth floor of the building that crumbled under the force of the quake.
Her friend, Rachel Prusynski, a fellow UP grad, was pulled from the rubble with a broken arm and lacerations. She was taken to the U.S. Embassy and then transported to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
2
More evidence that Charles fundamentally doesn't understand the human condition as well or his own neuroses. The girl who was rescued may be asking "why not me" but the onlooker (at least in my case - see how I don't presume to speak for others) does not.
The onlooker feels sorrow at the death and joy at the rescue.
Even dogs get that, but Mudede is still stuck on Buttsniffing 101 in Dog School - he can't get over his own ass long enough to really try to smell anyone else's.
The onlooker feels sorrow at the death and joy at the rescue.
Even dogs get that, but Mudede is still stuck on Buttsniffing 101 in Dog School - he can't get over his own ass long enough to really try to smell anyone else's.
4
@1 Ditto.
I think what kills me the most is that in the very near future the story will recede from the headlines, the newscasters will go home, George Clooney will move on to the next hot charity case and it will be business as usual in Haiti.
I think what kills me the most is that in the very near future the story will recede from the headlines, the newscasters will go home, George Clooney will move on to the next hot charity case and it will be business as usual in Haiti.
5
hightower and prusynski are admirable people, the type of people who didn't bother much with the cum that affixes together this blog and the print edition. We are the armchair quarterback buttplugs. look out Maddow! beware Beck! we are the effectual Comment Crew! btw, may gruesome photos of dismembered people start appearing more regularly in your "alt" HAHAHA weekly?
NSFW Fuck That Bullshit!!
NSFW Fuck That Bullshit!!
6
Overall, the earthquake in Haiti is another one of those dreadful tragedies made worse by our inability to comprehend the number of dead. We can imagine one death, maybe a dozen, but ten thousand plus? It loses meaning. Ten thousand dead effects us no more or less than eleven or twelve or twenty thousand... which is a horror unto itself.
7
Looking for reason in the unreasonable takes you into dark Pat Robertson territory. Blame cannot always be apportioned, no matter how hard modern culture may try.
8
Friends of the Orphans is the fundraising organization that supports Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos (or Nos Petit Frères et Sœurs as it's known in Haiti), which has been doing substantive and vitally important work in Haiti since 1988. If you're going to send money to help in the relief effort, money sent there would certainly be well spent.
You can find them easily through a Google search, or you can call their Bellevue office at (425) 646-3935.
You can find them easily through a Google search, or you can call their Bellevue office at (425) 646-3935.
9
Good Morning Charles,
Your sentiments are appreciated. Molly Hightower RIP. The fortitude that the Haitians and their rescuers are showing is extraordinary.
I gave cash to the Haitian Relief effort yesterday. The tragedy is of unimagined great magnitude both literally and figuratively. I just read that the port of Port-au-Prince can't accomodate large numbers of ships (because it is so old and unmaintained) and the main airport is jammed (it had to be closed at one point) to capacity because of so many humanitarian flights. It also lacks fuel. No matter what we give the infrastructure simply isn't there. And, time is running out. This is catastrophe at it's worse.
We all know the underlying reason for it, poverty. But, David Brooks of the NY Times makes an excellent point:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/15/opinio…
It is time to consider these approaches to human development.
Your sentiments are appreciated. Molly Hightower RIP. The fortitude that the Haitians and their rescuers are showing is extraordinary.
I gave cash to the Haitian Relief effort yesterday. The tragedy is of unimagined great magnitude both literally and figuratively. I just read that the port of Port-au-Prince can't accomodate large numbers of ships (because it is so old and unmaintained) and the main airport is jammed (it had to be closed at one point) to capacity because of so many humanitarian flights. It also lacks fuel. No matter what we give the infrastructure simply isn't there. And, time is running out. This is catastrophe at it's worse.
We all know the underlying reason for it, poverty. But, David Brooks of the NY Times makes an excellent point:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/15/opinio…
It is time to consider these approaches to human development.
12
@9: Thanks for posting that link to the Brooks article. His main argument, that "...some cultures are more progress-resistant than others..." is a compelling one, but not particularly new. This was a common idea idea in the 1960s when most development programs focused on cultural change as a means of promoting development, and the results were bloody awful. Probably the most egregious example was what happened in Bolivia: a group calling itself something similar to Peace Corps - without actually being the Peace Corps - established a sterilization program of indigenous women, because the thinking at the time was that many problems on the road to development had to do with overpopulation. This was a profound violation of Bolivian cultural norms (to say nothing of the women themselves), which led to the actual Peace Corps getting thrown out of the country for something like 30-odd years and reinforced a deep mistrust of outsiders. All of this is beautifully illustrated by the film, "Blood on the Condor."
Anyway, I digress.
The point is this: if we're going to engage in top down, North-to-South paternalism as Brooks suggests, we run the risk of making stupid mistakes and destroying people's lives. I suppose you could argue that the existing efforts to promote development have done the same thing, if only because they've been so ineffective. But it's dangerous for the people we want to help and dangerous for our own security if we engage in the type of stupid paternalism illustrated by the Bolivian case. If we're going to seriously attempt to fuck with other cultures, we're going to be playing with fire.
Anyway, I digress.
The point is this: if we're going to engage in top down, North-to-South paternalism as Brooks suggests, we run the risk of making stupid mistakes and destroying people's lives. I suppose you could argue that the existing efforts to promote development have done the same thing, if only because they've been so ineffective. But it's dangerous for the people we want to help and dangerous for our own security if we engage in the type of stupid paternalism illustrated by the Bolivian case. If we're going to seriously attempt to fuck with other cultures, we're going to be playing with fire.
13
No Charles. We don't actually want to know why one and not the other. We just want you to shut the fuck up.
14
Ditto on @1. The sad fact is that this place has been a hellhole for centuries, and is there a way out? Doesn't look promising.
15
Charles, read Thornton Wilder's "The Bridge of San Luis Rey" for the answer. Or you can read the Wiki article if you're too busy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bridge_…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bridge_…
18
You guys are being awfully hard on Charles. I thought this was a good post... I actually do think, why one and not the other. Or, at least, I think about how if she had been three feet to the left, would she have survived? Maybe it's something about having grown up in the Midwest and dealt with tornadoes, which are even more seemingly random, but I almost always am fascinated by the fate, luck, randomness of natural disasters when they happen.
19
@12TVDinner,
Good insights. As a Returned Peace Corps Vol., I admit I have reservations about well-intentioned progressive "cultural change". I've worked in Africa, Central America and even volunteered in a literacy program right here in Seattle and discovered it might just be a damned if you do and damned if you don't propositon. Everyone from Christian missionaries to Planned Parenthood makes mistakes. I discovered in Africa promoting birth control (I didn't do that but a question was posed "why do white people not want us to have babies?" On the other hand, a colleague of mine in Africa had great distress trying to support 5 children. Only when asked did I discuss condoms with him) isn't necessarily good.
I think Brooks has a point. Another point to ponder is "Does foreign aid work or should we diminish and eventually eliminate it (this is contra to Bono et al) save for relief?" I recommend Dambisa Moyo's fine book "Dead Aid". She is a Zamibian and Harvard educated economist who argues forcefully against foreign aid to developing nations. Good stuff.
Good insights. As a Returned Peace Corps Vol., I admit I have reservations about well-intentioned progressive "cultural change". I've worked in Africa, Central America and even volunteered in a literacy program right here in Seattle and discovered it might just be a damned if you do and damned if you don't propositon. Everyone from Christian missionaries to Planned Parenthood makes mistakes. I discovered in Africa promoting birth control (I didn't do that but a question was posed "why do white people not want us to have babies?" On the other hand, a colleague of mine in Africa had great distress trying to support 5 children. Only when asked did I discuss condoms with him) isn't necessarily good.
I think Brooks has a point. Another point to ponder is "Does foreign aid work or should we diminish and eventually eliminate it (this is contra to Bono et al) save for relief?" I recommend Dambisa Moyo's fine book "Dead Aid". She is a Zamibian and Harvard educated economist who argues forcefully against foreign aid to developing nations. Good stuff.
20
I am just so very sorry that such a giving, beautiful, young, smart, and empathic humanitarian met her demise. I have been brought to tears and as I watch her videos and look at her pics I feel warmth for her selfless acts and a great pain in my heart. Her parents should be proud of their daughter they raised a fine specimen and she through her work has touched many and now post mortem has touched even more. I can only imagine what it would be like to lose such an amazing daughter. My prayers are with you in these troubling times... God bless!
21
@19: I'm also an RPCV; served in Nicaragua from 2004 to 2006, and I also volunteered at the Seattle Public Library branch in a pre-HOPE IV housing project chock full o' immigrants from all-the-fuck-over. It was a hell of an education.
I'd thought that after my service I'd continue to work internationally, hopefully promoting economic development in underdeveloped nations, but I found myself stymied by the question of when is it ok to try to change a culture so it's more conducive to capitalism and when is it not. Who am I to point at someone else and judge his/her behavior as dysfunctional and tell them they should be more like me?
These questions swirl around almost every kind of international aid, and I personally could never resolve them. Certainly there were times during my service when I felt comfortable judging the machismo bullshit of Nicaraguan culture as retrograde and unhealthy for their society, but how about Nicaraguans' cultural bias against planning for the future? Is it right for me to tell them they need to change that, so they can enjoy the benefits of economic development, which includes a lot of cheap plastic geegaws that destroy our ecosystem? Of course, it also includes food security and a stronger health system.
Finally, it's frustrating to see the type of thoughtless aid that gets funneled to the unwashed brown masses of the "developing" world by amateurs, like church groups who fly in for two weeks to paint houses (when there is massive underemployment and plenty of people to paint their own damn houses), all because they are trying to fulfill their own agenda. That agenda, all too often, is trying to relieve their own white guilt.
So lark, do you agree with Brooks that we need to go back to trying to change culture in order to promote development?
More...
I'd thought that after my service I'd continue to work internationally, hopefully promoting economic development in underdeveloped nations, but I found myself stymied by the question of when is it ok to try to change a culture so it's more conducive to capitalism and when is it not. Who am I to point at someone else and judge his/her behavior as dysfunctional and tell them they should be more like me?
These questions swirl around almost every kind of international aid, and I personally could never resolve them. Certainly there were times during my service when I felt comfortable judging the machismo bullshit of Nicaraguan culture as retrograde and unhealthy for their society, but how about Nicaraguans' cultural bias against planning for the future? Is it right for me to tell them they need to change that, so they can enjoy the benefits of economic development, which includes a lot of cheap plastic geegaws that destroy our ecosystem? Of course, it also includes food security and a stronger health system.
Finally, it's frustrating to see the type of thoughtless aid that gets funneled to the unwashed brown masses of the "developing" world by amateurs, like church groups who fly in for two weeks to paint houses (when there is massive underemployment and plenty of people to paint their own damn houses), all because they are trying to fulfill their own agenda. That agenda, all too often, is trying to relieve their own white guilt.
So lark, do you agree with Brooks that we need to go back to trying to change culture in order to promote development?
22
@21TVDinner,
Cool, that you're an RPCV. BTW, you'd still be cool if you weren't.
I can't answer that last question yes or no. But, I agree with him it is time to consider those approaches. In my training to be a PCV, I concluded and many of my fellow trainees did as well that essentially speaking Peace Corps is neo-colonialistic. So be it. If that is what it takes to get hellholes like Haiti, Somalia and Congo going. But, it must be nuanced. I do have reservations to be sure. Good on you for serving.
Cool, that you're an RPCV. BTW, you'd still be cool if you weren't.
I can't answer that last question yes or no. But, I agree with him it is time to consider those approaches. In my training to be a PCV, I concluded and many of my fellow trainees did as well that essentially speaking Peace Corps is neo-colonialistic. So be it. If that is what it takes to get hellholes like Haiti, Somalia and Congo going. But, it must be nuanced. I do have reservations to be sure. Good on you for serving.
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