Gaia
3rd June 2015, 17:02
In late 2011, the Red Cross launched a multimillion-dollar project to transform the desperately poor area, which was hit hard by the earthquake that struck Haiti the year before. The main focus of the project — called LAMIKA, an acronym in Creole for “A Better Life in My Neighborhood” — was building hundreds of permanent homes.
Today, not one home has been built in Campeche. Many residents live in shacks made of rusty sheet metal, without access to drinkable water, electricity or basic sanitation. When it rains, their homes flood and residents bail out mud and water.
The Red Cross received an outpouring of donations after the quake, nearly half a billion dollars. The group has publicly celebrated its work. But in fact, the Red Cross has repeatedly failed on the ground in Haiti. Confidential memos, emails from worried top officers, and accounts of a dozen frustrated and disappointed insiders show the charity has broken promises, squandered donations, and made dubious claims of success.
The Red Cross says it has provided homes to more than 130,000 people. But the actual number of permanent homes the group has built in all of Haiti: six.
After the earthquake, Red Cross CEO Gail McGovern unveiled ambitious plans to “develop brand-new communities.” None has ever been built.
Aid organizations from around the world have struggled after the earthquake in Haiti, the Western Hemisphere’s poorest country. But ProPublica and NPR’s investigation shows that many of the Red Cross’s failings in Haiti are of its own making. They are also part of a larger pattern in which the organization has botched delivery of aid after disasters such as Superstorm Sandy. Despite its difficulties, the Red Cross remains the charity of choice for ordinary Americans and corporations alike after natural disasters.
One issue that has hindered the Red Cross’ work in Haiti is an overreliance on foreigners who could not speak French or Creole, current and former employees say.
In a blistering 2011 memo, the then-director of the Haiti program, Judith St. Fort, wrote that the group was failing in Haiti and that senior managers had made “very disturbing” remarks disparaging Haitian employees. St. Fort, who is Haitian American, wrote that the comments included, “he is the only hard working one among them” and “the ones that we have hired are not strong so we probably should not pay close attention to Haitian CVs.”
The Red Cross won’t disclose details of how it has spent the hundreds of millions of dollars donated for Haiti. But our reporting shows that less money reached those in need than the Red Cross has said.
Lacking the expertise to mount its own projects, the Red Cross ended up giving much of the money to other groups to do the work. Those groups took out a piece of every dollar to cover overhead and management. Even on the projects done by others, the Red Cross had its own significant expenses – in one case, adding up to a third of the project’s budget.
More:
https://www.propublica.org/article/how-the-red-cross-raised-half-a-billion-dollars-for-haiti-and-built-6-homes
https://www.propublica.org/documents/item/2081560-red-cross-haiti-program-director-judith-st-fort.html
https://www.propublica.org/documents/item/2081190-gail-mcgovern-and-david-meltzer-emails-on.html
The more I think about it, the more I wonder ...Every change in the World is an opportunity to make money, right?
Every big change is a new frontier, disaster capitalism, etc.
Now obviously, no one seeks to rise in the ranks of a disaster relief charity thinking "aha, I will get rich off the various disasters that are sure to happen with global warming and rising global inequality... For one thing, you don't get that rich. (But rich enough and respected) And of course, the people who are getting really rich off disasters are regular old capitalists, not non profits staffs.
But despite the unconsciousness of the process, this is what's happening we're getting more disasters and more need for large scale disaster relief, and what that means is enhanced professional opportunities for the upper middle classes. And that means that at least part of the logic of all these disaster relief projects will be to provide a bunch of attractive, well remunerated jobs staff, particularly staff who do the marketing and speak at conferences. The actual on the ground staff will be decimated and see their conditions worsen just like other working class people.
My point being that in order to understand these entities, we need to understand them as part of capitalism in its standard disaster mode rather than outside it due to their nonprofit status.
Interesting link to Henry Makow:
http://henrymakow.com/2013/10/The-Red-Cross-Scam%20.html
Gaia
Today, not one home has been built in Campeche. Many residents live in shacks made of rusty sheet metal, without access to drinkable water, electricity or basic sanitation. When it rains, their homes flood and residents bail out mud and water.
The Red Cross received an outpouring of donations after the quake, nearly half a billion dollars. The group has publicly celebrated its work. But in fact, the Red Cross has repeatedly failed on the ground in Haiti. Confidential memos, emails from worried top officers, and accounts of a dozen frustrated and disappointed insiders show the charity has broken promises, squandered donations, and made dubious claims of success.
The Red Cross says it has provided homes to more than 130,000 people. But the actual number of permanent homes the group has built in all of Haiti: six.
After the earthquake, Red Cross CEO Gail McGovern unveiled ambitious plans to “develop brand-new communities.” None has ever been built.
Aid organizations from around the world have struggled after the earthquake in Haiti, the Western Hemisphere’s poorest country. But ProPublica and NPR’s investigation shows that many of the Red Cross’s failings in Haiti are of its own making. They are also part of a larger pattern in which the organization has botched delivery of aid after disasters such as Superstorm Sandy. Despite its difficulties, the Red Cross remains the charity of choice for ordinary Americans and corporations alike after natural disasters.
One issue that has hindered the Red Cross’ work in Haiti is an overreliance on foreigners who could not speak French or Creole, current and former employees say.
In a blistering 2011 memo, the then-director of the Haiti program, Judith St. Fort, wrote that the group was failing in Haiti and that senior managers had made “very disturbing” remarks disparaging Haitian employees. St. Fort, who is Haitian American, wrote that the comments included, “he is the only hard working one among them” and “the ones that we have hired are not strong so we probably should not pay close attention to Haitian CVs.”
The Red Cross won’t disclose details of how it has spent the hundreds of millions of dollars donated for Haiti. But our reporting shows that less money reached those in need than the Red Cross has said.
Lacking the expertise to mount its own projects, the Red Cross ended up giving much of the money to other groups to do the work. Those groups took out a piece of every dollar to cover overhead and management. Even on the projects done by others, the Red Cross had its own significant expenses – in one case, adding up to a third of the project’s budget.
More:
https://www.propublica.org/article/how-the-red-cross-raised-half-a-billion-dollars-for-haiti-and-built-6-homes
https://www.propublica.org/documents/item/2081560-red-cross-haiti-program-director-judith-st-fort.html
https://www.propublica.org/documents/item/2081190-gail-mcgovern-and-david-meltzer-emails-on.html
The more I think about it, the more I wonder ...Every change in the World is an opportunity to make money, right?
Every big change is a new frontier, disaster capitalism, etc.
Now obviously, no one seeks to rise in the ranks of a disaster relief charity thinking "aha, I will get rich off the various disasters that are sure to happen with global warming and rising global inequality... For one thing, you don't get that rich. (But rich enough and respected) And of course, the people who are getting really rich off disasters are regular old capitalists, not non profits staffs.
But despite the unconsciousness of the process, this is what's happening we're getting more disasters and more need for large scale disaster relief, and what that means is enhanced professional opportunities for the upper middle classes. And that means that at least part of the logic of all these disaster relief projects will be to provide a bunch of attractive, well remunerated jobs staff, particularly staff who do the marketing and speak at conferences. The actual on the ground staff will be decimated and see their conditions worsen just like other working class people.
My point being that in order to understand these entities, we need to understand them as part of capitalism in its standard disaster mode rather than outside it due to their nonprofit status.
Interesting link to Henry Makow:
http://henrymakow.com/2013/10/The-Red-Cross-Scam%20.html
Gaia