Thanks for the attention, Rory

I have a Google alert for Haiti and lately, in addition the usual reports on politics, WikiLeaks, and mission trips, Rory McIlroy, the young golfer who won the U.S. Open, has been featured prominently. Everyone seems to love the story of how he lost it at the Master’s and then recovered with a trip to Haiti, which gave him a little perspective.

As the article I got today said, “The harrowing plight of six-year-old Haitian Daphnie Pierre is said to have helped the US Open champion keep things in perspective and stay calm during the toughest moments in the competition at the Congressional course in Maryland last weekend.” She lost her father and her home in the earthquake.

This sort of thing of course make me nauseated. McIlroy went on the trip to “raise awareness,” which of course resulted in a tiny amount of awareness compared to the overall awareness that people have about insignificant things like golf. The trip smacks of the throwaway charity that developed countries favor, where they’re not actually making a sacrifice to do what’s right, but giving away something they didn’t want to feel a little bit better about overconsumption and privilege.

In a moment of generosity, though, I wondered. Did his trip do anything to help? I think we could all use a dose of keeping-things-in-perspective every once in a while, when we freak out about things like, well, a golf game. This includes many of the aid worker folks living posh lifestyles in Petionville. Still, is this for our benefit or theirs?

I suppose I’ll be getting a lot of absurd Google alerts about Haiti in the next year. For a sample, read this story about a college class project wherein a bunch of clueless Americans try to “help” Haiti by proposing a project that has nothing to do with the reality here.  As one student said, ”We have to teach them to provide for themselves, without just giving to them.” I’m confused. What is it that they can learn from you?