Yushu earthquake provides a teaching moment for all of us

• Source: Global Times
• [21:25 April 21 2010]
• Comments

By Thabet Hassan

An old and wise man once told me that every event in life, even if it is tragic, is a teaching experience.

As I grew old, I began to see the merits of his argument.

When I read the news about the earthquake in Yushu county, Qinghai Province, his words started ringing in my ears, prompting me to think about ways to transform the event into a learning experience.

I think that donating money and clothing is commendable.

Nevertheless, I feel that it is motivated by a selfish reason, which is acquiring a good feel-ing for being a socially responsible individual.

While I was thinking about how to transform the sad disaster into a learning experience, I remembered the devastating earthquake in Wenchuan, Sichuan Province in 2008 and how I dealt with it.

At that time, I allocated a few classes to discuss the event with my students.

I emphasized that we are a part of our universe. Whatever happens anywhere impacts all of us.

I explained to them that we could be the victims of a natural disaster in the future. In that case, we will need their help then as they were asking for ours now.

I can't forget the generosity of spirit of my previous students as they collected money, clothing and other necessities to send to the victims in Sichuan.

To give them a good example to follow, I equally contributed money, items and time to their efforts.

Upon accomplishing the task, I was full of pride that my students fulfilled their social responsibilities toward the victims of the earthquake.

I decided to do the same with my current students.

I discussed the possible means to help the victims of the earthquake in Yushu by emphasizing that learning about social responsibilities is an essential part of the learning experience.

I stressed that we must come to the rescue of our patriots in their hours of need believing that we may need their help in the future if we are ever subjected to a similar disaster.

I assigned a student in each of my classes to collect whatever they can afford from their classmates. I explained that the victims of the earthquake lost everything including clothing, furniture, their fortunes and their dear ones.

We can donate money, blankets and other necessities of life. I encouraged all of them to donate blood to the injured victims.