Let the corruption begin.
That telethon last week was incredible. We got an all-star concert to watch that brought in $100 million in donations. Donations toward what?
Does anyone really know where their $100 million went? Surely it will go straight into the hands of some homeless Haitian, right?
First of all, I am not sure how much that will help. The individuals do not need money. “Give a man a fish, he eats for day, teach him how to fish, he can eat forever”, right?
In that case, the money should go to the government to build schools, you say.
Am I the only one that worries that giving money to any government or agency in Haiti will disappear faster than those aid trucks from the Dominican Republic that were hijacked at the border? Corruption in that country is widespread.
So, maybe we should give our money to the US and international relief efforts. While probably the best bet, I still do not believe in what they will do with my money. Yes, the first $2 million will go toward food and medical supplies. Then what?
We’ve all seen what FEMA has done with the $6 billion pledged for New Orleans. Only $2 billion has been spent so far while the FEMA managers sit on their ass and receive $100k plus benefits per each additional year they sit in New Orleans. Most of the spend thus far was used within the first 60 days after Katrina to provide emergency food and shelter. It saved lives, but did nothing for long term “support”.
In my opinion, as usual, Haiti needs education. They need education in areas that will help their country rebuild. Paul Shirley argues that Haiti could have been better prepared for this earthquake. He will not put his money into relief efforts without knowing where it will go and I worry about the same lack of transparency. However, if I knew the money was going directly into a school, I would donate aggressively.
I do not know how to make sure of this other than to create it from scratch. To be more specific, if we were to create a civil engineering school (much needed in a country sitting on a huge fault line), or a fund for the building of such a school, would you donate to it too? Would you rather give to clear educational progress than give to Mel Gibson blindly? Or do you prefer to pay to talk to a celebrity and throw your money away with zero clarity?
A civil engineering school does not have to be a degree of higher education. As we have seen, Haiti was built on concrete blocks and re-bar. We do not have to teach everyone how to build a huge earthquake proof suspension bridge. Much of the basic education could be just for building basic houses that can withstand the tremors of the future. It could incorporate basic math to understand measurements and even business classes so the students could apply their skills as trade.
Donate money. Build a school. Hire teachers and management. Purchase books, educational materials, building materials, etc. Open the school.
Simple, right? I wish. But, it is the direction we need to head. Where do we start?
No related posts.
The third world’s “exploitation / corruption / oppression” excuse has run it’s course for me personally. I’ve seen third world poverty first hand, and the main culprit is population growth rate related. No one wants to address the “real issue” with countries like Haiti, Ethiopia, Somalia, Congo, Nigeria, Mexico, India, they’d rather create a charity racket to solve the problem instead. Hence, year after year, decade after decade, you get zero improvements on the ground. These same poor nations keep coming back to the table for more endless charity, and refuse to address any of the root causes of their misery.
Until the UN, Madonna, Bono, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, and all the other fools out there start promoting population decline in the third world, I refuse to donate one red cent to any of their career building / salary generating / free publicity based charity schemes.
And one other question before I exit. How much help or even moral support did Sub-Saharan Africa or Haiti offer the United States during Hurricane Katrina, or 9/11? There is a definite racial component to which nations on this earth “always” help out, and which nations never help [adopt orphans, send food and blankets, etc]. Again, no one wants to admit that, even to themselves probably. Looking at the truth takes courage.
Every body should participate for Donating money. Build a school. Hire teachers and management. Purchase books, educational materials, building materials, etc. Open the school. for Fixing Haiti Over the Long Term
The people in need will not get the money – the individuals that handle the money will take the most of it (local and international politicians and others will take most of it).
40% out of all donations ($$ amount) is wasted (lost / stolen / unaccounted for).
I wish there were proof to that stat. Sounds accurate. Would love to see some research done.