I haven’t been paying attention to the news lately because–and this excuse is true–I haven’t found the time. For someone working in the media, this is unacceptable. I understand that a magnitude 7 earthquake hit Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. I’ve seen the web reports on the lack of international aid, the rampant looting, the damaged buildings, but most of all, the dead, the dying, and the survivors. Local news hasn’t been that thorough as the focus has been on Filipinos working in the area, occasionally touching on the plight of the Haitians.

Perhaps being a third-world country ourselves prevents us from acting too altruistic, or at least feeling altruistic towards the people of Haiti. But that’s no excuse. I’m a visual person. It’s hard to imagine that on the other side of the world, this is going on. But it is.

Haitians survey the damage to a building that collapsed onto a road in downtown Port-au-Prince , Haiti (REUTERS/Hans Deryk)

A mob of Haitians reach out as goods are thrown from a nearby shop in the downtown business district on January 17, 2010 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. (Chris Hondros/Getty Images)

Georges Boutin of Fort Lauderdale, Florida (with hacksaw) and daughter (right) Pier Boutin of Lenox, Massachussets use a hacksaw to amputate a woman’s leg in Port Au Prince General Hospital. It was the first surgery at the country’s largest hospital since the earthquake. (Globe staff photo/Bill Greene)

A Haitian mass grave receives unclaimed, unidentified bodies in the suburbs of Port-au-Prince January 16, 2010. (Olivier Laban Mattei/AFP/Getty Images)

Men stand near a burning body left in the street in Port-au-Prince, Sunday, Jan. 17, 2010. U.N. peacekeepers patrolling the capital said popular anger is rising and warned authorities and aid organizations to increase security to guard against looting after Tuesday’s earthquake. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Looters steal a bag of another looter who lies dead, shot by the police on January 17, 2010 near the Hypolite Market in Port-au-Prince. (Olivier Laban Mattei/AFP/Getty Images)

A man pulls the body of an earthquake victim from a coffin in order to steal the coffin at the cemetery in Port-au-Prince, Friday, Jan. 15, 2010. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

People walk on a debris-covered street in Port-au-Prince January 17, 2010. (REUTERS/Daniel Aguilar)

PHOTO/CAPTION CREDIT
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