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In Search of the Red Cross' $500M in Haiti Relief

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Re: In Search of the Red Cross' $500M in Haiti Relief

#81

Post by nate_meurer »

bargl wrote: post #56
nate_meurer wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can tell you have rich experience and strong opinions, but your writing is so unclear I can't understand what you're saying. I have a vague idea which of your experiences (Haiti or Bolivia) was positive and which was negative, but the reasons are unclear. Would you be able to clarify a bit?

Thank you, I'm going to re-write this. I was angry when I wrote the first draft and just posted it. I've decided to post the original here just so that people can read what was originally there, even though it wasn't very good. Original Below OH man this infuriates me. I spent about three months on the ground in Haiti about 6 months after the earthquake. Ii was both in Port Au Prince and Cap Hatien. I am no expert on…

Thanks! I'm struck by the time commitment made by organization you worked for in Bolivia. Decades of work indicates a depth of relationship that seems to evade most NGO work done in Haiti, and your experience reinforces that for me.

Did you come away from your Haiti experience with a favorable impression of any other organizations there?

Re: In Search of the Red Cross' $500M in Haiti Relief

#82

Post by justinpropub »

vasilipupkin wrote: post #79
justinpropub wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hi -- I'm Justin Elliott, one of the reporters on the piece, with Laura Sullivan of NPR. FWIW you should take a look at the ProPublica version of the story -- we get more into the numbers, and link to various documents: https://www.propublica.org/article/how-the-red-cross-raised-... To answer your question specifically about the neighborhood of Campeche: Zero houses have been built there by the Red Cross.

The NPR story I heard yesteday went out of its way to emphasize that Red Cross did do some good things in Haiti. So, in your view, is the failure mainly due to difficulty in operating in Haiti and their lack of local expertise? Or is Red Cross just hopeless and we should stop donating to it ?

There's no question Haiti is a difficult place to operate, especially after the earthquake. For a broader take, check out this excellent take: http://www.amazon.com/The-Big-Truck-That-Went/dp/1137278978

That said, according to our sources -- about a dozen current and former Red Cross employees -- and a bunch of internal documents, many of these problems were of the Red Cross' own making. Sometimes it was basic issues like leaving key jobs unfilled for months. Or prioritizing public relations concerns over aid. But a lot of it flowed from the fact that the Am Red Cross doesn't do international development and no roots in Haiti. The more successful groups tended to be the ones that had roots there, had Haitians in high positions, etc. As for the next big disaster: I think it's case by case. Look for groups in the country in question -- whether actual local groups or foreign groups who have been there for a long time and have deep ties.

Re: In Search of the Red Cross' $500M in Haiti Relief

#83

Post by bargl »

jacquesm wrote: post #3

I stopped giving to 'big charities' twenty years ago and since then have only helped people locally where I can see what happens to the money. That's a real pity because of course on a relative scale those are probably much less in need than the people in Haiti (and Nepal and other areas devastated by natural disasters). But the red cross - once a paragon of virtue - and a number of other big time charities that were…

I have found similar hardships in finding a large group that I can trust. I've found that with Partners in Health, but I also think small amounts to people to build local communities is one of the best ways to make changes.

I think this is a great tool for doing that in places that might need it more then my local community here in the US.

http://www.kiva.org/

Re: In Search of the Red Cross' $500M in Haiti Relief

#84

Post by scarmig »

onion2k wrote: post #63
sopooneo wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could it be that actually getting things done in horrible environments requires interacting with, and paying off, some shady people? This is of course a charitable guess, but could it be that the Red Cross has made a decision to make morally questionable choices in the short term in support of the greater good, and they know they can't publish such truths and continue to exist?

If the only way they can exist is by doing things so morally reprehensible that they have to keep everyone ignorant of their actions then they shouldn't exist.

"Morally reprehensible," in this situation, could be something like "bribe a corrupt official." If it takes bribing a corrupt official to save lives, I don't think most donors would have a real issue with that.

However, admitting that publically would embarrass the official (if named), remove the efficacy of all future bribes (which are by nature secret), and could even open the organization up to legal action.

I don't, FWIW, think that's what's going on here, but it's a plausible enough line. Certainly better than "I already told you everything you need to know!"

Re: In Search of the Red Cross' $500M in Haiti Relief

#85

Post by jimrandomh »

KingMob wrote: post #78
sopooneo wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could it be that actually getting things done in horrible environments requires interacting with, and paying off, some shady people? This is of course a charitable guess, but could it be that the Red Cross has made a decision to make morally questionable choices in the short term in support of the greater good, and they know they can't publish such truths and continue to exist?

Perhaps, but I have a friend who worked in water quality in Haiti after the earthquake, and it's possible to get things done even with corruption and graft present. More likely, the Red Cross is one of many charitable organizations with low direct payout (combined with inexperience on the ground). This is a notorious problem, and was enabled by an earlier era of no-questions-asked donations. But in recent years, big…

No, don't go to Charity Navigator, go to Givewell (http://www.givewell.com). The quality of their research is much better, and they focus on the question that really matters: what effect your donation will have on the margin.

Re: In Search of the Red Cross' $500M in Haiti Relief

#86

Post by lmm »

mckoss wrote: post #51
tptacek wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Habitat, which has built several hundred houses in Haiti, estimates $4000-$6000 per "core house"; core houses are expandable, seismically sound permanent housing structures. Habitat also estimates 105,000 "totally destroyed" pre-quake houses. Obviously, all of these numbers are better than the six houses the Red Cross built. The larger problem in Haiti is legal, though: getting the rights to land to build on is compl…

Thanks! Seems like there is a market for durable "portable" structures that can be built on disputed land, and then moved if needed.

So you're suggesting a trailer park?

Re: In Search of the Red Cross' $500M in Haiti Relief

#87

Post by sehugg »

Wow .. could their PR be any more defensive?

NPR and ProPublica were "creating ill will in the community, which may give rise to a security incident," the email says. "We will hold you and your news organizations fully responsible."

No security incident happened — but residents did ask if they could keep the brochure.

Re: In Search of the Red Cross' $500M in Haiti Relief

#88

Post by orbitingpluto »

My antecdote about corruption in Haiti.

Went to a friend's wedding in 2007. One of the guests worked at CIDA (Canadian International Development Agency). I asked the guest as many questions as I could. There was a preliminary research trip before a Canadian official made her visit to Haiti. The purpose? To geolocate and photograph the facilities. And when I say facilities, think toilets. Making sure the white Canadian could poo-poo comfortably counted as aid.

Sure Haiti is incredibly corrupt, I remember that one of the ex-president's (Not Aristide) was head of the local kidnapping ring in Port Au Prince. But that's just small stuff. America and Canada use Haiti like it's their own toilet and want it to remain that way, in spite of the intentions of a select few and the limited posturing to the contrary.

One of the most disturbing things for me is to look at Hispaniola on Google Maps. The Dominican Replublic is lush and green. Haiti is a greyed out ####-hole.

I could go on and on, but reading up on an actual humanitarian in the region, Dr Paul Farmer, and his publications is a good start: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Farmer

Re: In Search of the Red Cross' $500M in Haiti Relief

#89

Post by duaneb »

RobertoG wrote: post #58
jacquesm wrote: post #3

I stopped giving to 'big charities' twenty years ago and since then have only helped people locally where I can see what happens to the money. That's a real pity because of course on a relative scale those are probably much less in need than the people in Haiti (and Nepal and other areas devastated by natural disasters). But the red cross - once a paragon of virtue - and a number of other big time charities that were…

Maybe is time for them to modernize of close. I think that Internet make possible new models of charities. A donation can be, at the same time, not local and very personalized. I would like to recommend watsi: https://watsi.org/ You can donate to concrete people and, they give you an accurate report, after the fact, of what happened. I think we need more charities like them. Maybe something with education? Disclaimer…

I don't think that would scale to disaster relief. You need to organize people on the ground and deal with problems.

Re: In Search of the Red Cross' $500M in Haiti Relief

#90

Post by bargl »

nate_meurer wrote: post #81
bargl wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you, I'm going to re-write this. I was angry when I wrote the first draft and just posted it. I've decided to post the original here just so that people can read what was originally there, even though it wasn't very good. Original Below OH man this infuriates me. I spent about three months on the ground in Haiti about 6 months after the earthquake. Ii was both in Port Au Prince and Cap Hatien. I am no expert on…

Thanks! I'm struck by the time commitment made by organization you worked for in Bolivia. Decades of work indicates a depth of relationship that seems to evade most NGO work done in Haiti, and your experience reinforces that for me. Did you come away from your Haiti experience with a favorable impression of any other organizations there?

I love the group Partners in Health. Mostly because of their founder Paul Farmer, I don't know how they've made the transition to being a bigger organization but when they were smaller they rocked Haiti in a good way.

I personally met the founder of 1000 jobs. He goes down there a LOT and has personally spend his time and money on Haiti to a degree most people would find staggering. https://www.1000jobshaiti.org/jh/mission.asp

After Haiti I found this group. I like them a lot so far but I don't have hands on experience with them. https://www.coloradohaitiproject.org/experiencing-haiti/

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