| Ask students to close their eyes and imagine people queuing after a disaster. What images come to mind? Compare and contrast with this photograph. People are not seeking aid-agency handouts. They are waiting for their own money. Many Haitians lost their ID and other documents in the earthquake. If students ran a money transfer agency, how would they solve that problem?
Like hundreds of other journalists, the BBC's New York correspondent Matthew Price interviewed scores of Haitian people in the aftermath of the earthquake.
By talking to him, they helped him in his job - which was to report on what had happened and how the people of Haiti were coping. But what was he doing for them?
This is what he told a BBC Radio 4 programme, the Media Show, about the guilt that he felt. Listen to audio clip.
"Near the end of an interview or a quick vox pop being gathered out on the street, people would say, 'What are you going to do for me?...Where is the help?'"
In a moment, students will have a chance to hear how the journalist, Matthew Price, says he responded to those questions. But first, ask students to imagine that they were in his position. If you had just interviewed earthquake survivors and they had asked what you were going to do for them, what would you reply? What would go through your mind?
Invite responses, all together, or in small groups.
When students have shared their thoughts, let them know what Matthew Price did. Listen to audio clip.
"Well, my initial answer is - look I'm not a doctor, I can't save people, and I don't have any medical training. I'm not a builder, I can't build things. What I am is a journalist, and that I genuinely hope that by taking the interview that you've just given us and putting it out on air, in Britain and around the world, that there will be people who see that who will then be encouraged either to give money at the basic level or there will be politicians who see that who will be encouraged to send more help from their national government. And that in its turn will make a difference."
What do students think of that response? How do they imagine the people he was interviewing might have reacted?
Price says that people seemed to understand.
The journalist goes on to talk about his sense of guilt. He was surrounded by people who needed help, and he was simply carrying on doing his job. He asks whether it would have been better to put down his camera and microphone and do whatever he could - shifting rubble or creating makeshift shelters.
What do students think? Should journalists carry on with their job, or offer basic help to people in need? Together, list the advantages and disadvantages.
Which factors are most persuasive?
After discussion, point out that Haiti wasn't short of strong, willing helpers who are familiar with the area, the people, the customs, the language and the culture. It is difficult to see what significant difference this outsider journalist could have made simply by offering his time and effort as an unskilled helper. He may well have a had a nice warm feeling inside if he felt he'd helped people directly. But that would be all about helping Matthew Price feel a bit better, not helping Haitians. He may very well have got in the way. Haitian people would have looked after him.
As a professional journalist, Price could bring news to the outside world. This valuable service is one which Haitians couldn't easily do for themselves. That's why most people would think it was far more useful for him to work as a journalist.
It is natural to feel powerless, angry, frustrated and guilty in the face of such suffering. But there are limits to the help that can be given directly. Three quick tips for situations like this, and other distressing situations that students may find themselves in:
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Offer what you are good at, what you are experienced in or what you know you can do.
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Listen to what people say they need. Don't try to guess.
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Recognise and acknowledge feelings of guilt or anger - but don't be ruled by them. They don't help anyone else.
Emergency adoption options | Top |
Is it a good idea to take vulnerable children out of an emergency zone to a new country? This quick activity invites students to vote before they read the aid agency guidelines.
Read the adoption quick activity
Try the discussion ideas about the earthquake, taken from our fortnightly news bulletin for schools:
Missionaries arrested dated 5 February 2010
Catastrophe in Haiti dated 20 January 2010
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Students might like to find out about ways to help, including donating clothes to British Red Cross shops.
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