The devastating tsunami in Asia has an impact on all  of us. We cannot look at these images without recognizing  that these hurt people need help. That help comes to those  Asian communities by having those in need increase their  circles of helpful communities. The whole world recognizes  this – some countries faster than others. We are hearing  phrases in the press such as the “world community” or  “community of nations” in discussions about the response to  disaster, and so it should be. None of the local  communities in Asia will fix themselves without the aid  from the world community.

I am personally hit with the images of this disaster.  I have worked in different areas of the world and know how  poor communities receive the brunt of natural disaster. In  1998 a hurricane devastated Honduras. I visited the  country months after Hurricane Mitch flooded communities,  caused mudslides, and washed sections of plantations away.  As part of a medical team assessing the status of medical  relief, I could see with my own eyes that poor communities  got hit the worst and that Honduras would not recover  without years of aid from the world community. Today,  Honduras is better, (though still impoverished) largely due  to the aid it received from many countries. It will take  years for the Asian countries to recover with aid from  around the Globe as well.

Each disaster I witness reminds me of lessons learned  from previous disasters. Many of these lessons are basic  and logical. It is a wonder why we don’t listen and take  these lessons to heart between disasters. These lessons  should serve to guide us in decisions both personal and  communal. Here are the lessons I have learned.

1. It is easy to break things down.

2. It is harder and more costly to build things up.

3. It takes cooperation to make things better.

4. To make things better, we must rely on a community of  people to be sources of aid.

5. We hold human life in high regard. Human life is the  greatest value we have and we feel this most with  tragedies and unreasonable unexpected deaths.

6. We respect those who help others the most. Unselfish  people are great blessings.

7. Tragedies lead us to times of unselfishness.

Think about these lessons for a moment. These lessons  are applicable to many situations. Whether we are talking  about the war in Iraq, the tsunami in Asia, or the deaths  of family members in an auto accident, these lessons hold  true. These are really rules of life that everyone should  heed, not only in times of tragedy but all days of our  lives.

If we thought of these as a basic of how we live our  lives, we would work to build better communities. Better  communities would be in better position to withstand  difficult times. Better communities would help support  stronger families. Today, as we live in a society which  emphasizes “ownership” and the individual, we need to step  back and listen to the lessons of the tsunami. Rather than  emphasizing the achievement of individuals, our society  needs to emphasize unselfishness, cooperation, and  community.