How the internet has changed our response to emergencies

The release of several fundraising singles (my own favourite is the Shane MacGowan/Nick Cave version of Screaming Jay Hawkins hit "I put a spell on you") to raise money for survivors of the Haiti earthquake has made me think about when poverty, hunger and the need for international humanitarian assistance really entered my consciousness.

When "Do they know it's Christmas Time (Feed the World!)" first came out 25 years ago to help alleviate famine in Ethiopia, I was a teenager in the UK, and if I'm honest, partly through my youth and lack of worldly experience, I didn’t know anything about suffering in other parts of the world. I helped out with occasional local charity events but generally the world of need was far away. It was not only far out of sight, it never came to mind.

Then came that song, and the accompanying images of starving Ethiopian children. In a pre-internet world these were truly shocking, and although I’ve since become a little more cynical of the "shock" approach to gaining public sympathy, it really struck me then. All of a sudden, I was not only seeing the people in need, but the world in which they lived. Tiny huts woven from sticks and straw. Landscapes of dust and withered grass. And children in the most appalling need.

I wonder how many other people were woken up to the plight of the world’s poorest with that song and those photographs. There have always been visionary humanitarians but for the rest of us, what are the events and circumstances that bring the hurting world to our attention?

Maybe it’s because, 25 years ago, we were governed by the limited worldview that newspapers and television gave us. And so, when crises like the Ethiopian famine faded from the airwaves and headlines, they largely disappeared from our consciences. But today, with the ubiquity of information that the Internet helps provide, we’re better able to choose what we read, connect with the people and places we most care about. And then, if we choose, to take action.

Or maybe this is just an era of greater consciousness. Maybe the world is truly a smaller, more intimate place and our fortunes more intertwined than ever before. I'd like to think so, but I am not always sure.

But then I hear of ex-colleagues back in the UK who've raised $10,000 for Haiti, I hear of children as young as 6 & 7 running a sponsored mile to raise funds for a country few had even heard of a few short weeks ago. And I wonder when did they make that connection?

I am of course each day grateful for the governments & adults around the world who are giving so generously to protect Haiti's present and preserve it's chances for the future, but the children really give me hope for the future and fill me with wonder.

It's both intrinsically sad and at the same time truly uplifting that children are already so aware of the world of need.