The piece below was originally published on the blogsite, thingsfromsomewhere; republished with permission.
A major earthquake had recently killed thousands of people. In the aftermath of the earthquake, a mobilization began across the country to take the necessary measures to prevent such a devastating disaster from happening again. Meeting after meeting was held. At one of these meetings, officials from various institutions in a city somewhere in the country had gathered to discuss what needed to be done to prepare for earthquakes.
The chairman of the meeting said:
“First of all, we need to raise awareness. Earthquake awareness comes first. We need to educate our schoolchildren and teach them how to behave during an earthquake.”
Voices rose from the crowd:
“You’re right, Mr. Chairman.”
“We need to raise awareness first.”
The chairman continued:
“Also, every household should have an earthquake emergency kit. Do you have one at home?”
The crowd responded:
“Yes, Mr. Chairman.”
“Every household should have one.”
Then, a never-ending discussion began about what the earthquake kits should contain.
“Three days’ worth of food.”
“Water.”
“Scissors.”
“A whistle” …
The meeting took a break. Outside, officials gathered in groups and began whispering among themselves:
“An earthquake kit, they say. What good is an earthquake kit if you don’t make your building safe?”
“Seventy percent of the buildings are unsafe. They all need to be rebuilt. But no money is being allocated for that.”
“What good will educating a child do when a ceiling falls on their head?”
“Inspections need to be tightened, and corruption needs to end.”
“Everything is tolerated for the sake of profit.”
As the break came to an end, I passed by two officials talking with the chairman on my way back to the meeting room. I heard the chairman whisper to them, “Seventy percent of the buildings are unsafe.”
We went back into the room. The meeting resumed. The chairman turned to the crowd:
“Yes, education, awareness… Any other ideas?”
A voice from the crowd said:
“There should also be a battery-powered radio in the earthquake kit.”
A murmur spread through the crowd:
“Yes, he is right. The electricity will go out.”
“Telephone and internet connections will be down.”
“Yes, a battery-powered radio.”
“And a flashlight!”
