“Haiti and the shaming of the aid zealots: How donated billions have INCREASED poverty and corruption”

Ian Birrell wrote this article on the Haiti relief effort.

Excerpt:

“The reality is rather different — and shines a stark light on the assumptions, arrogance and deficiencies of the ever-growing global relief industry. As promises were broken, mistakes were made and money was wasted, prices of food and basic supplies for local people soared, sanitation deteriorated, there was less safe water to drink and well-meaning interventions made matters infinitely worse.”

Read the Full Article!

  • Clynn05

    The commentary after the show summed up the situation best.  It is what my thoughts were as I watched.
    “It always comes down to the infrastructure of the country.” 
    I couldn’t help thinking that, ok, so all these aid workers are staying in nice hotels and eating at expensive restaurants.  While this is reprehensible, they do have to stay somewhere, and they do have to eat, and if they spend large amounts of money where is the culpability of those restaurants and hotels, taking in all that lovely foreign money, to help their own fellow countrymen?  There are many ways to benefit a country in crisis.
    Instead of providing tarps, and tents, and latrines, I can’t understand why these aid organizations can’t be in there rebuilding actual homes and plumbing.  What a piddly ineffectual effort it is.  With the huge amount of donations given I can not see why such paltry efforts are being made.  I am quite sure that all those who donated expect more than tarps and tents, and ongoing misery for these people.
    As far as the latrines I can see a few solutions.  One is, why haven’t the people taken it upon themselves to provide latrine patrols to see to it that everyone cleans up behind themselves the best that they can.  Why can’t disposal containers for paper waste be provided by the aid agencies and be kept emptied by the people themselves?  In a situation where everyone needs money and no one has work, why not pay the people to do latrine patrol?  To remove the trash?
    It’s fine to want a helping hand, and they should get help, and people want to help, but people need to take what responsibility they can for themselves as well.
    Those were my thoughts as I watched.  I also shed many tears while watching.  I find I am always sad for the state of the human condition.

  • Patty

    What a shame that there couldn’t be a little balance in the special “Where Did the Money Go.”
    My brother left his family for almost 2 years to work in Haiti for an NGO. He was building shelters. When he first got there they had to find land to build a secure area to bring in all the building materials. He had to order the materials and get them shipped in. He trained the locals how to build. He and his wife had tool drives and books drives and toy drives back in the states so that he could distribute hammers and tool belts to his crews; books to the wonderful people he met in Haiti; and jump ropes and balls for the children to play with. (He and his wife spent a lot of their own money doing this.)
    One problem is that you can’t build a shelter just any where! You have to get permission and have some kind of deeded or legal rights. And just because people are in camps in a location doesn’t mean that you can build there!
    Another problem is what to do with the rubble left by the earthquake.
    And he did not stay at a fancy hotel. And going out to eat was only an occasional treat. And electricity and water were sporadic, at best.
    And while he did love the people he met and worked with, he did have more incidents than I care to think about like the one that the reporter recounted about her guide sensing a dangerous situation.
    No simple answers or quick fixes.

  • Clynn05

     Hi Patty,  I appreciate your comment.  I wish there were more people paying attention to things like this.

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