What happened in Haiti?

It's pretty difficult to not have heard about the awful earthquake that has struck Haiti, and the horrific loss of life and suffering. It would take a pretty cold heart not to be concerned, and not to want to do something to help. I hope that circumstances work out that I might get to help there, especially among the many there who are our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Why did the earthquake cause such death and destruction? On the simplest level, you can blame it on concrete buildings which were not built to withstand earthquakes. Concrete is a cheap and durable material for building in much of the world where wood gets eaten by termites in short order and steel is way too expensive. Concrete buildings can be built to be relatively earthquake resistant. So why weren't they?

Haiti is an example of a country whose culture is "event driven." This means that the perspective of life is to take care of what is necessary only in the very near future. My family and I lived in Belize for eight years, which has a similar cultural view. When events happen, they happen spontaneously, without very much planning. Throwing a party or church event? We'll start the preparations a few hours beforehand. Running late? No problem, it won't start until it starts, and an hour delay is perfectly OK.

Our country is more "schedule driven." This means that events are planned in great detail, months or years in advance. I know of churches who have already scheduled their missions conferences four years in advance, complete with venerated keynote speakers that may or may not live that long. Before the event starts, we'll make sure everybody's watch is coordinated so that there's no chance of awkward five second delay. Walk in late? Shame on you!

There are advantages and disadvantages to both societies. When living in Belize, I bit my nails to see so much brinkmanship in the planning of events and projects. But, they did get done, an the spontaneity was actually fun. In the U.S., we are so scripted that spontaneity makes us uncomfortable.

The difference between cultures gets amplified when there is a disaster. In the schedule driven society, there's a plan in place. Unlock the filing cabinet, look for the folder on what to do in case of Disaster X, and go for it. Heaven forbid that you don't have a plan, because when it's all over, you will no doubt get blamed. Witness the political blame-game that was the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Make sure that you rehearse the plans for Disaster X at least yearly. Don't worry if you don't really get much other work done, just make sure your disaster preparedness is up to snuff.

For the event driven society, a natural disaster gets response, but it's a spontaneous response. We went through several hurricanes and floods in Belize, and on every occasion the Belizeans stepped up to the plate to help out their neighbors in the immediate aftermath. Where they suffered was on the larger scale. Because it was perfectly OK to leave the roads unpaved because it was cheaper to occasionally smooth them with bulldozers, the dirt roads were sure to wash out and leave people stranded for weeks. It wouldn't make much sense to make your concrete house earthquake resistant... nobody's had an earthquake around here in a while.

I wish there were a happy medium. A society that was not too loose, not too rigid. A society that valued spontaneity, but was able to plan for the future. Maybe we'll get there one day when the Kingdom comes.