Where Does the Money Really Go in Disaster Relief Efforts?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the allocation of funds in disaster relief efforts, particularly focusing on the effectiveness and transparency of large organizations like the Red Cross and the UN. Participants share personal experiences, opinions on organizational practices, and the implications of donating to various entities involved in humanitarian aid.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Exploratory
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • One participant claims that their wife's foundation is creating a film to expose the inefficiency of the Red Cross and UN in disaster relief efforts, suggesting that their contributions are minimal and merely for appearances.
  • Another participant expresses skepticism about the ability to definitively know how funds are used unless one works within the organizations, highlighting the challenges of trusting ex-employees' accounts against established organizations.
  • Some participants note a shift in public perception from supporting large organizations to advocating for smaller ones, citing concerns about the effectiveness and capitalist tendencies of larger entities.
  • Concerns are raised about the disparity between the funds received by organizations like the Red Cross and the actual aid provided, illustrated by the distribution of inadequate materials for shelter.
  • One participant argues that there are no purely humanitarian organizations, suggesting that financial motivations exist within all entities, while another questions the fairness of blaming organizations for exploiting donor trust.
  • There is a discussion about the difficulty of discerning the integrity of organizations, with one participant reflecting on the potential for personal corruption when handling large sums of money.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a range of views, with some agreeing on the inefficiencies of large organizations while others defend them or suggest that the problem lies with donor behavior. There is no consensus on the effectiveness of these organizations or the best approach to disaster relief funding.

Contextual Notes

Participants reference specific financial documents and personal anecdotes, but there are unresolved questions about the accuracy of claims regarding organizational practices and the motivations behind donations.

drankin
Where does the money go?

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/04/08/haiti-ruins-relief-workers-live-large-love-boat/

My wife works for a private foundation that does disaster relief. She is in Haiti right now helping out (no, she is not stealing children, LOL). She has been to a few other countries helping in disaster areas.

Her foundation is creating a film that is going to completely expose the waste and inneffectiveness of the Red Cross and the UN in disaster areas where they say they are helping. Her foundation has been to been to all these places helping victims and filming the complete lack of contribution from the Red Cross, UN and other large agencies. If these organizations even show up, their contribution is merely token in order to give the appearance that they were there helping to justify the contributions.

I can't give details because I had to sign a NDA just so my wife could work for the foundation. But, when the film is released I'll be posting.
 
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drankin said:
Where does the money go?

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/04/08/haiti-ruins-relief-workers-live-large-love-boat/

My wife works for a private foundation that does disaster relief. She is in Haiti right now helping out (no, she is not stealing children, LOL). She has been to a few other countries helping in disaster areas.

Her foundation is creating a film that is going to completely expose the waste and inneffectiveness of the Red Cross and the UN in disaster areas where they say they are helping. Her foundation has been to been to all these places helping victims and filming the complete lack of contribution from the Red Cross, UN and other large agencies. If these organizations even show up, their contribution is merely token in order to give the appearance that they were there helping to justify the contributions.

I can't give details because I had to sign a NDA just so my wife could work for the foundation. But, when the film is released I'll be posting.

You know, I've always wondered this exact thing. It's impossible to definitively know through research though unless you work for the agency itself. Then when people do come out and talk about the inefficiency of these organizations and wastefull use of funds, they (the organizations) always come back. So it's 'their word over ours' scenario and I'd hate to go against an entire organization that claims to do very good things in the world based on what some 'ex-employees' are saying. So it's tough to understand what goes on exactly :-p

I'd definitely be interested in watching this film though. I one time went to Costa Rica as a volunteer, I had wanted to go to Ghana but I lacked the necessary experience to do the jobs required in Ghana. It was a pretty good overall experience, I love helping other people and I'd hate to find out that organizations have wastefull practices.

Much respect for your wife and her work though, I hope some day I get to go and help out some more :smile:
 
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It is disturbing to know that how different organizations try to defame each other. First there was a hype about donating to big organizations like UN to help poor world but now it is turning to that all big organizations are capitalists/ineffective, we should be donating to smaller organizations.
 
rootX said:
It is disturbing to know that how different organizations try to defame each other. First there was a hype about donating to big organizations like UN to help poor world but now it is turning to that all big organizations are capitalists/ineffective, we should be donating to smaller organizations.


When you see billions of dollars go to the Red Cross:

http://www.redcross.org/www-files/Documents/pdf/corppubs/ARC_990_2009.pdf"

and they pass out plastic bag material for victims to shelter their families, something is messed up.
 
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drankin said:
When you see billions of dollars go to the Red Cross:

http://www.redcross.org/www-files/Documents/pdf/corppubs/ARC_990_2009.pdf"

and they pass out plastic bag material for victims to shelter their families, something is messed up.

But I disagree that there is something like pure humanitarian organization. In the end everyone likes $$$.

I would blame people who donate blindly rather than organizations who take advantage of that.
 
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rootX said:
But I disagree that there is something like pure humanitarian organization. In the end everyone likes $$$.
Maybe not an entire organization. There certainly are people though. I like to think that I could travel and help people around the world in unfortunate situation and that I wouldn't take any money, if any, that was donated... Who knows though maybe once I had my hands on the millions-billions of $$$ these organizations had I would convince myself that for all my hardwork that Ferrari is a good treat.

I would blame people who donate blindly rather than organizations who take advantage of that.

I agree with this statement but I'm not sure if it's very fair. It's extremely difficult to know what type of organization you are donating to. You just assume that they are honest people doing honest work in the world. Like if I went door-to-door with a unicef box and collected say 1000$ but I kept it all, you would rather blame the people who donated to me?
 

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