When the earthquake of January 12, 2010 occurred in Haiti,
the tiny and impoverished island nation automatically became the focus of the
rapacious media. Some people took it as a natural catastrophe. Many considered
it a punishment for the cursed land of voodoo, zombies, and demons. No matter
what, the most astonishing sentiment was the outpouring of grief and support:
(1) People from everywhere, from all denominations of life sprung forth to
collect aid for the population in difficulty; and (2) so many God-loving
individuals willing and ready to offer the necessary assistance to booster the
Haitian people back to normal existence.
It did not take long for the benevolence, sentiment of
helping and giving to recede, however. Haiti and its misery; its hundreds of thousands
of people under tents; its down-ridden mountain tops; its piles of garbage; its
young men and young women in the infernos of the slums; all the dreams of repairing
Haiti; and its incompetent, ignorant, and corrupted leaders under the strong
arms of imperialism; they all reentered the shadows. There was one new sphere
to the phenomenon yet. It was the news about how much the poorest nation of the
Americas was being abused and exploited by the so-called good Samaritans. And,
one of these major villains was the Red Cross. Recently, the headlines about
this organization’s squandering money destined to help victims of the
earthquake were plentiful. One of them read, “How the Red Cross Raised Half a
Billion Dollars for Haiti and Built Six Homes,” by Justin Elliott, ProPublica,
and Laura Sullivan, NPR. Above the title, they showed a couple of minuscule
shacks on dirt ground with two kids and their bikes and a woman.
The recent news should not be surprising.
Back a couple of years earlier, the bell had already rung.
The controversy was about a plan of the Red Cross to construct a luxury hotel
and conference hall with money that was donated to help poor and displaced
Haitians. Therefore, as everything else in Haiti, the aid organizations arrived
and maintained the same irreconcilable mentality of chaos and fiasco of Haiti.
According to the above article, “The Red Cross received an outpouring
of donations after the quake, nearly half a billion dollars.” And for an
institution with a reputation of successful philanthropy in the American
society, the Red Cross has failed badly in Haiti. In fact, it is mentioned that
the Red Cross used the Haitian crisis as a mere opportunity for fundraising;
and, the organization has claimed success publicly. But, on the ground in Haiti,
and according to verifiable records, it has shown that “the charity has broken
promises, squandered donations, and made dubious claims of success.” For instance, (1) they said that they have
given homes to some 130,000 individuals. Investigative reports could account only
for 6 newly built homes. (2) They offered an ambitious plan to “develop
brand-new communities.” None was built.
Why the organization failed so badly?
The investigators pointed out some common issues. (1) A
dependence on outsiders who did not even speak the Haitian language. (2)
Discrimination against Haitian workers and job applicants. (3) Organizational
lacking of developmental project expertise. (4) Too much overhead costs. The
Red Cross itself has admitted that the event in Haiti was a trying moment for
them. One project manager stated that the reason why a certain project failed
was that they “didn’t have the know how.” Another blamed micro management from Washington
D. C. that caused everything to take “four times as long.” Another major issue
the organization raised for the failure of completing projects was the
difficulty of clearing land titles in Haiti. The investigation has revealed
however that the Red Cross has simply done a very bad job.
They wrote. “Instead of making concrete improvements to
living conditions, the Red Cross has launched hand-washing education campaigns…,”
these were “not effective when people had no access to water and no soap.” And,
when the cholera epidemic broke out a few months after the quake, “the biggest
part of the Red Cross’ response – a plan to distribute soap and oral
re-hydration salts – was crippled by “internal issues that go unaddressed,”…”
The Red Cross’ fiasco in Haiti goes the Haitian way.
I remember in college how they instructed us that American
business people and officials would
break the law once they were out of the United States territories. They would
act according to the norms and vices of their host countries. The moment of the
earthquake in Haiti proved such an American tendency. When the disaster had
just struck, the world came in mass, painting a picture as if Haiti was going
to be rescued forever. After a little while, however, it was the big question.
What happened to all the money that had been collected? The answer was muddied. Haiti remained in its misery; a mass of
people had not exited the tents; and those who had found the badly constructed
shacks were rejoined the same life of misery in the slums and ghettos.
Many nations, particularly the big so-called friends of
Haiti had promised much money. That likewise has remained controversial. The
donors have claimed they have already given out much. Haitians officials and
critics have not agreed to the claim. No matter what, the philanthropists, the
organizations, the mercenaries, all have come and gone. Many players, Haitians
and foreigners, have cashed out majorly. It is the Haitian way. There is no
law, no rule; everything goes the corrupted way. In fact, the reporters pointed
out that it has remained a norm for the organizations to botch “delivery of aid
after disasters…” Therefore, in Haiti it should not be surprising. It has gone
as always – the Haitian way.
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E.C. Granmoun is the Author of: "Big Bully Country: A Novel" ebook, on amazon.com
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