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

Post by MichaelGG » Fri, Jun 05, 2015, 6:56 PM UTC

scarmig wrote: post #146

noonespecial wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I were a "big bad charity" I'd much rather spend my millions hiring Blackwater to go bust a few corrupt heads than pay them off. If we're going down the conspiracy theory path, at least make it exciting!

Actually, a charity devoted to rooting out corruption in developing countries would probably end up being one of the most efficient and effective for raising living standards. Hire someone to offer the bribe. Target a well-known corrupt official, and gather lots of evidence to make it obvious that a bribe has happened. Publish the results, get a scalp. On top of punishing the individual corrupt official, if every off…

Post by tobinfricke » Fri, Jun 05, 2015, 7:03 PM UTC

jonstokes wrote: post #60

My wife and I worked in some Red Cross shelters in Lake Charles, LA in the immediate aftermath of Katrina. I wrote a bit about what I was doing here: http://arstechnica.com/security/2005/10/disaster-livecd/ My take-away from that is that I would never, ever donate a dime to that organization. The people in the local chapters who were the first to respond immediately after the disaster were fantastic. But when the nat…

Post by Matth3wMarshall » Fri, Jun 05, 2015, 7:07 PM UTC

bretthagler wrote: post #152

We could fund 83,000 homes in Haiti with $500,000,000. We're Newstorycharity.org - a current YC nonprofit working in Haiti to crowdfund homes - 100% of public donations go to home construction - donors see exactly who they give to before they donate and a video of the EXACT family they funded in their new home after We're launching a summer campaign "100 Homes in 100 Days" [newstorycharity.org/100] in Haiti, and woul…

Post by bretthagler » Fri, Jun 05, 2015, 7:08 PM UTC

fnordfnordfnord wrote: post #132

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?

You may be a bit too charitable to the ARC. This is not the first time that these kinds of questions have been raised about ARC disaster relief projects and gone unanswered. >>$170 million providing shelter >>the number of permanent homes the charity has built is six. I know their primary mission is not housing, but that is a large number for some tents and a vanishingly small number of houses. Where did the rest of…

Post by bretthagler » Fri, Jun 05, 2015, 7:12 PM UTC

mod wrote: post #5

This organization is doing good work in Haiti, check it out: http://mohhaiti.org/ They get a stellar rating; to my recollection, 96% of donated funds go to the cause (4% overhead). They're an overtly Christian organization, which may or may not be your thing. But they're doing good work. Disclaimer: A company I worked for did some work for them a couple of years ago. I'm no longer affiliated in any way.