Voices: Our short attention span for overseas disasters

MIAMI — Spend enough time watching natural disasters around the world and it's easy to see a pattern in how the U.S. responds to them.

First, there's the shock and sympathy, a flood of well-wishes and prayers. Then there's the rush of emergency assistance and financial aid. And then, before long, it's time to move on.

That's what Todd Chapman, the U.S. ambassador to Ecuador, describes as the natural "life cycle" of interest and support from Americans responding to international disasters. He's seeing that play out right now in Ecuador, which was rocked by a magnitude-7.8 earthquake in mid-April that killed more than 650 people and left more than 30,000 homeless.

At first, he saw the overwhelming response. The U.S. government contributed more than $3 million and a steady stream of disaster experts to help the country in the immediate chaos following the quake. U.S. businesses that have long operated in Ecuador, like General Motors, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, have collectively raised more than $6 million.

And he's seen smaller acts of generosity in schools and neighborhoods across the U.S. A Girl Scout in Illinois collected school supplies and toiletries for young girls in Ecuador. A middle school class in Alaska sold homemade bracelets for $1 each. Scour through GoFundMe, a fundraising website, and you'll see donation drives organized at the universities of Penn State, Purdue, Notre Dame, Texas Tech, Virginia Tech, Quinnipiac, Yale and the Savannah (Ga.) College of Art and Design.

"At those times, I'm very proud of being an American, seeing that kind of outpouring of compassion, concern and generosity," Chapman told me during a trip to Miami.

Now comes the hard part, when the eyes of our nation turn elsewhere. I've seen that happen over and over again, from Haiti to Mexico, as all the foreign interest and assistance dries up just as locals prepare for the long slog toward recovery from an earthquake or a hurricane.

Part of that is completely understandable. As a nation, and as individuals, we have our own problems to deal with, our own jobs to maintain, our own families to protect. Anybody who writes a check or contributes online to groups helping countries recover from calamities deserves a hearty pat on the back, because those small donations add up to help victims in big ways.

But after spending so much time in countries facing such arduous climbs backs to normalcy, I wonder why we can't maintain our interest just a little bit longer. Is it hard to remain interested in a place you know little about? Does the fact that the media moves to new subjects just as quickly contribute? Or do we just have an incredibly short attention span?

It's hard to dismiss that final point, given that Latin America is a region full of distractions right now. Venezuela continues spiraling toward economic and political ruin. Brazil suspended its president just as it prepares to host the 2016 Summer Olympics. Central America remains mired in record-setting homicidal violence, Cuba continues cracking down on political dissidents and the Zika virus is quickly spreading north.

Whatever the reason behind the short-lived concern, the reality is that Ecuador, like so many countries before it, will be back on its own very soon trying to rebuild from a crippling disaster.

Chapman says Americans have been working in Ecuador for so long that a core group will remain to help. From the U.S. Agency for International Development to dozens of non-governmental organizations, he says they will continue coordinating with the Ecuadorian government to help those left homeless by the quake and help the coastal region hit hardest remake its fragile economy. And he says U.S. businesses could help by establishing new operations in Ecuador to help create more jobs and opportunities for those displaced by the quake.

"The immediate sending of assistance was wonderful," Chapman says. "Now we're moving into a different phase. The needs still are very real. They will be very real for the years to come."

For the sake of all those Ecuadorians living in shelters and wondering how they'll rebuild their lives, I hope that next phase doesn't go unnoticed.

Gomez is a Miami-based correspondent for Paste BN.