The response to the recent tragedy in Haiti could be seen as a perfect example of how life in a ‘global village’ can be positive. Within minutes of the news reports appearing on the world’s media channels, thousands of people had rushed to send help in the form of charitable donations – many of which were handled online. Entire websites appeared overnight detailing ways to donate, while ‘help Haiti’ became a ‘trending’ topic on Twitter. In one particularly touching example, seven-year-old Charlie Simpson raised over £150,000 on his Just Giving page after being shocked by the plight of children his own age who’d been affected by the quake.

On the face of it, it’s hard to deny that an increasingly global culture brings people together in many positive ways that simply weren’t available in our parents’ generation. Our collective consciousness of world events has never been higher, but aside from large-scale, global disasters, does this constant influx of information tend to call us to action, or are we reaching saturation point? With so much need and poverty in the world, and so much each individual could do, it’s easy to feel paralysed in the face of information overload.

It’s also important to remember that in a global village, we are often at the mercy of those who are feeding us the information. We’re fortunate to live in a society with relatively little censorship or media bias, but we still cannot guarantee that what is important to us will be reflected in news reports and other public information sources.

That’s why it’s crucial to have a strong sense of our own beliefs, priorities and principles, and to team up with others – joining organisations where possible that will fight on our behalf. And to witness as much of life as possible for ourselves, allowing us to draw our own conclusions without relying on what someone else saw. Only then can we hope to make a difference, to know when to react and how we can help: whether the cause is on our doorstep or on the other side of the earth.

Image: United Nations Development Programme