Some personal local-global connections

When I teach environmental classes, I always encourage students to make local - global connections, such as what the local demand for food and fuel does to many parts of the world.

Today, I decided to share two, more personal, local-global connections:

(1) The loss of the village my father was born in (Lai Pyout, Burma) with the tsunami in the Indian Ocean in August 2009.

(2) My father's (most likely) last trip to Burma.

When I talked to my father in mid-August of 2009, he told me that the village where he was born is now buried under water from the tsunami that hit the Indian Ocean region a few days before. Although an earthquake triggered tsunami is clearly a natural event, I sometimes wonder about all the things we do to aggravate the damage from tsunami. Should we be building so close to the water? Should we be taking away natural habitats (that can mitigate water damage) so close to the coasts? As with all environmental concerns, the answer lies in some balance between human needs and demands and the need to be aware of natural events and cycles. I don't know where that balance is, but I have been thinking about it and searching for it. It seems to me that as a society we need to discuss the balance we feel comfortable with. In order to begin discussions, we must all agree that we only have one earth, and that there is limited resources on earth.

As for my father's last trip to Burma (he is just spending his last two days of this last trip right now), I agonized over how much money I should send with him to give to relatives. Again, it is that balance of doing the right thing for others, allowing others to live comfortably, but trying to make sure that money does not cause more damage...