My friend (and Christian author) Anne Jackson is going to Haiti in November. It’s her second trip there — she was compelled to go back after she saw firsthand the post-earthquake devastation.
She’s going with a group called To Write Love on Her Arms. While it may be a group of Christians going on the trip, they’re not there to proselytize or build churches or “save” everyone in sight.
They’re there to help. For real.
We’ll be helping by working on water projects. We will be serving in orphanages. Teaching children and parents about hygiene. We have a medical person on our team, so we she may be helping out medically. We’ll be serving in whatever capacity we’re asked.
I think that’s wonderful.
Unfortunately, they’ve only been able to raise a couple hundred dollars.
For mostly pure (and maybe slightly evil) reasons, I would love it if some atheists could pitch in… and perhaps out-donate the Christians. Let’s show them all up and make them feel so bad, they’re compelled to give more.
(Oh, yes, and the money would be going to an important cause. That is also a good thing.)
I gave $20. You can, too. If you PayPal it, leave a message that you’re an atheist who’s glad to help out.
And if any part of that makes you uncomfortable (and I don’t know why it would), Sebastián Vélez has been working with Humanist Charities (run by the American Humanist Association) to do similar things.
Consider donating to that group as well. I had a chance to hear Sebastián’s story at the AHA conference over the summer and his team is really doing amazing work there. Go hear his story if you haven’t already.
***Update***: Anne has responded to this post on her own site.