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Juan Carlos - by spain01

Juan Carlos - October 2006

On aid to poorer countries doing more harm than good.

October 6th 2006 21:43

Down at the local supermarket is a stall manned by two smiling young, attractive, well dressed, fresh faced enthusiastic types. As I approach the stall they tell me that they are collecting money for overseas children. They have the documents to prove it and show me how much of my particular donation will go to its intended recipient. When asked to show me how the money will be distributed, they exhibit a pie chart and the collection admin slice does appear very thin but “other” is 15%. They don’t know which part of the slice they are paid from.

They are actually hosting what in the advertising trade is called an “event”. They are casuals, usually traveling and earning money from overseas and they are working for a company that has found a way to “milk” the overseas aid market. In another part of the supermarket are some other youth working for the same promo company but this time they are flogging American Express.

In fact there is not real way of knowing how much of what we donate is going to the little black people standing in the wet ditch holding begging bowls but we do know now that the amount that actually reaches them is the tiny slice of the pie chart and not the big slice. Much of what remains of what actually crosses the boarder of the recipient country is siphoned off by unscrupulous officials who are now so corrupted by foreign aid that they are incapable of administering their countries properly.

Are Bob Geldof and Bono feeling good but doing harm?

Brave African

Pictured is President Tandja of Niger who is brave enough to criticize NGOs (Non-government organizations) for exaggerating the food crisis for their own purposes.

Here are the facts.

More money flows from poor countries to rich than is ever given in foreign aid.
Aid has so damaged poor countries that they can no longer trade viably.
Rich countries encourage crops in poorer countries that damage their environments
Aid is always delivered as a political tool to manipulate the recipient country
The target to set aid at 0.7% of GNP is over 45 years old.

My own experience has shown me that

When the UN comes to poorer countries they bring AIDS
Water tanks and infrastructure are “dumped” in poorer countries are poorly maintained and become rubbish.
The aid delivered tends to be totally disparate to a country's needs, lots of drugs and antibiotics but no vaccines.

Lesson for the good Samaritans: Maybe it’s better not to give sometimes than to give.

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Posted By: spain01 - Category: Grostesqueries

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Comments

27 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by Damo

October 6th 2006 23:50

It is a common excuse given by people when they are pressed for help that they want to kn ow precisely where ever penny is going or they won't give. Though I do simpathize with people who are skeptical about aide programs that have been set up to make a corporate collection business rich it is no real excuse. The only excuse is if you arenot in a financial position to give anything to anyone, thus in need if aide yourself.
War, famine, natural disasters and corruption are by far the greatest causes of poverty in the world. By far corruption is the worst and can be from inside the nation or from outside. Where once we gave aide to help a nation develope we give loans that some could interpret as usery. Loans that the nation has no hope of ever repaying. Sometimes these loans are generations old and the nation is being crushed by the interest alone.
Corruption and greed follow desperate people like vultures waiting for a helpless animal to drop with exhausion. The poor cannot fight back against the rich and powerful and make easy target. (Just like the elderly so for muggers in Australia.)
There is a type of peson that would happily steal from the starving to make themslves fat. This became clearer to me 2 years when the Tsumani wiped out 250,000 lives. One organization I personally know sent 8 container loads of food, clothing, tents, medicine to Sri Lanka. Months later red tape still held up five of those containers as the goverment demanded a large fee to release them. Govenment aid was distributed to government cronies and very little getting through to the people in need.
However this was contrasted against people who really did their homework and ensured that help went directly where it was needed. This is depite the hurdles of red tape and coruption that were being placed in its way. One such organization raised over $20,000 to help orphans of the Tsunami only to find new laws prevented aide being direct to orphans this way. After a long negotiation the aide was used to educate many more underprivilaged children.
We take much for granted in the West and often consider our minor discomforts as being epic. In short they are not. If we need to check out a house before we buy one then we must also check out a charity before we give a donation. However saying that you cannot give to every charity does not justify giving to no charity.

Comment by Homer Joyce

October 6th 2006 23:52

Spain01,

Your posts are always a great thought-provoking reads.

At the end of the world, individuals like St John of God and St Vincent de Paul will laugh at the 'founders' of 20C and 21C 'charitable' organisations. "Charitable? With paid collectors?"

In heaven, I suspect we will be listening to tunes more akin to Panis Angelicus and Tantum Ergo, rather than one hit, knighthood wonders like 'I Don't Like Mondays' or U2 lyrics like 'I'd drink bread and wine if there was a church I could believe in.'

Comment by spain01

October 7th 2006 01:04

October 8th 2006 16:27

Cenacle

You hit the bull's eye. i think we're having a Stalin redux here. What we're seeing are manufactured famines and genocides. Becuase of aid, NGOs and UN flourish and so will bureauecrats on the ground. The trap works for everybody. Only millions of people who'd have otherwise made something of themselves will die.

Comment by Cathy

October 8th 2006 17:49

Fakes Frauds Fools

My son was in the Peace Corp in Africa and the stories he told us of wasted resources was appalling. Maybe we should just let them go it alone for a while...

I like your blog! Please visit me when you have the time...thanks.

www.fakesfraudsfools.com

Comment by spain01

October 9th 2006 00:35

Juan Carlos
spain again
While your'e about it
Viva l'difference
Fire News Blog
Cities dying of thirst.

Alas Nagster I have only touched the surface. Your comments are perspicacious as usual. Clearly your interest in Ancient and Modern History stamps you as a potential scholar of the first water and I look forward to reading and commenting on more of your sites.

As for Cathy,
Your son will have seen first hand the damage that is being done. Of course it will be a privilege to visit your site and comment as often as I can

Comment by nagster

October 9th 2006 03:15

Cenacle

Gee thanks Spain01. I'm jsut an amatuer yet but I don't think i will walk on ground for a little while yet.

Comment by Damo

October 9th 2006 04:40

Personally I think if you use the worst programs to be the example you'll always find bad. The question of aide is as difficult as anything. Yet I do believe that with effort good sometimes happens.

Comment by spain01

October 9th 2006 08:11

Juan Carlos
spain again
While your'e about it
Viva l'difference
Fire News Blog
Cities dying of thirst.

Yes, while this is true, the people who have the capacity to do good are being overwhelmed by those
who want to profit.

Comment by Damo

October 9th 2006 11:05

Whilst I agree that some NGO's are businesses and career factories I would disagree as the the degree of damage they do. There are people doing great things and changing the world for the better because they focus upon what can be done rather than focusing upon 'fatal pessimism'.
The secret to these successes has been following a principle of 'disinterested charity' rather than 'interested charity' or charity that expects something in return.
The bottom line the best things I have seen don't get publicity.

Comment by spain01

October 9th 2006 12:28

Juan Carlos
spain again
While your'e about it
Viva l'difference
Fire News Blog
Cities dying of thirst.

While I accept this, I note with qualification that we have recently seen the extraordinary spectacle of billionaires giving away most of their wealth to charity. I will say this about these Americans who are doing this and I would include the less publicized George Sorros among them, they seem to be trying to focus what they are giving so that it is reaching the right sources and doing less harm. They seem to be doing a better job than the pop concert fund raisers.

Comment by Gareth

October 9th 2006 13:11

I agree with cathy that many of these countries would be better off if we let them "go it alone for a while" instead of reinforcing the idea that these people cant survive without our charity. As Credo Mutwa, one of the last Sanusi (highest ranking shaman) and official historian/storyteller of the Zulu nation, points out, the idea that Africa cannot sustain itself is a ridiculous one. It is a country with huge diversity in plant and animal life that if managed properly would be more than adequate to provide for its people.

Give a man a fish and all that.

Comment by Damo

October 9th 2006 13:13

At least we have some common ground of agreement between us.
What we are in disagreement is the degree of good verses damage.

Comment by spain01

October 9th 2006 19:58

Juan Carlos
spain again
While your'e about it
Viva l'difference
Fire News Blog
Cities dying of thirst.

Yes Gareth, but more than go it alone for a while, go it alone period and also stop dumping stuff into their markets and start buying their goods. We can change all this. Blogging can change the World as America has proven. We have to keep hammering these important issues in our blog sites and not just the entertaining things.

Comment by Gareth

October 9th 2006 20:06

I agree with you totally. The great thing about blogging is that we dont really answer to anyone, no one edits our posts and we can say pretty much whatever we like. We should use it as much as we can, we may not have the freedom for much longer.

Comment by spain01

October 9th 2006 20:08

Juan Carlos
spain again
While your'e about it
Viva l'difference
Fire News Blog
Cities dying of thirst.

Lose the Freedom to Blog!!!!? What's happening?

[ Previous - Ways to feel good about killing Indians ]

[ Next - Queensland’s Engine of Death. Amoral or just good business? ]

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