Humanitarian crisis: 3 million Pakistanis devastated by flooding

[caption id="attachment_9010" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Children in floods in Pakistan"][/caption]

Carol Forsloff - The numbers are staggering of dead, homeless or injured during catastrophes in the past eight months and  raise concerns that people become so numb by the overwhelming nature of the problems they don't know how to act or won't act.

Todays reports are that 3 million Pakistans are devastated by the biggest floods in 100 years.

Some worry that people become disaster numb, that the overwhelming numbers of suffering people heard again and again make people feel powerless, impotent and eventually numb emotionally. 

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Donald Margulies debuted a play called Times Stands Still  on Broadway that looks at some ov these issues, how people struggle with their consciences and wonder about their feelings as well.  Journalists are tempted to help during emergencies.  But Margulies worries that the impact of these tragedies brings a type of numbness in response as well.

In referring to Haiti, Margulies maintains, "there is compassion fatigue in our society, and that's part of what I touch on in the play. And I think it's understandable—with mass media and the instantaneous nature of it, the pervasive nature of it all, there's no escape. It almost has a numbing effect on people. What's happening with Haiti now is that the coverage was so instantaneous and so enormous that I suspect that the numbness is beginning to take hold. As with any internationally focused catastrophe, there's only so much that people can bear.

Margulies also worries about the impact on the journalists, the sense of frustration that is felt when they believe what they report is somehow not accepted, not read, and not appreciated for the seriousness of the tragedies.

While the public may become weary of coverage, journalists believe there are elements of tragedies that don't get enough coverage.  That's what Margulies says he intends by his play.

What Marguilies tells us is that involvement of a celebrity can keep the concern going on, more so than videographers, photographers and journalists.  It is that celebrity he believes people respond to during these tragic events.

People can begin to identify with these massive problems when they feel they are part of a movement led by a famous person.  That's why organizations involve famous people like a George Clooney, Angelina Jolie, or Susan Sarandon to keep the attention on a major issue.

News reports tell us 3 million people are impacted by floods in Pakistan.

What celebrity will become identified with it or is there a saturation point this year?  With the release of classified documents said to reveal the Pakistanis not entirely in support of the United States war with the terrorists in Afghanistan will that figure into any response that is made?

3 million people in Pakistan is a large number of people to consider don't have homes, proper drinking water or the necessities of life.

Given how celebrities have stepped in and helped call attention to tragedies this large, and what Margulies has said, who will step forward to help?