In the rush to engage on Haiti, a lot of well-meaning groups are jumping in to help. Some are brand new, and some have never worked on a disaster like this before. Most of these groups are going to be useless. Some will actually do harm to themselves or others. A tiny minority will have a positive impact. I wish those odds were better, but they’re not.
I’ve seen three bad ideas for helping in Haiti floating around recently. I don’t want to single anyone out for criticism – after all, everyone is trying to do good here. But in this case, the culture of nice may be letting bad programs hurt people. I need to say something.
Bad idea #1 – 50,000 Shoes The idea is to donate 50,000 shoes in 50 days for Haiti. They are asking for a $5 donation for each pair of shoes. The problem with this idea is that it’s based on an assumption – that lots and lots of shoes are what Haitians need right now. What if they need clothes? Or food? Or water purifiers? Should they sell their new shoes and use the money to buy those things? Has anyone done an assessment to find out if shoes are needed? To decide what kind of shoes are needed?
The shoes could end up wasted and useless, absorbing people’s donations without providing any benefit. They could clog supply lines that also bring in desperately needed medicines. They could keep the local shoe suppliers from rebounding after the earthquake, and if badly chosen for the Haitian climate they can give people disgusting fungus.
This is almost a good idea. The time-delimited fundraising with easy to remember numbers will drive people to donate, and they’ve got celebrity endorsements that are raising their profile.
How it could be a good idea – call it $500,000 in 50 days instead of 50,000 shoes. That would double their fundraising goal (since they are trying to provide $250,000 of shoes) but I think they could pull it off, considering their level of media attention. Then they could make a high profile donation, including a ceremony with one of those oversize checks on poster board to Partners in Health.
Bad idea #2 – Flight to Crisis Volunteer doctors and nurses are banding together to charter a flight to Haiti and help with medical care. It’s brave, it’s scrappy, and it shows amazing initiative. It’s also a horrible idea. The people don’t seem to have any plan from bringing in their own supplies and haven’t set up a place to stay in Haiti. They don’t have a hospital to work out of or any background in responding to this kind of disaster. This is exactly the kind of misguided effort I was afraid we’d see, because Haiti is close enough to the US to make it possible. For more information on why this is such a bad idea, read this account of another group of health care providers that chartered a plane.
[Edited to add: please see comments below for a response from Flight to Crisis. They are better organized than their Idealist.org page makes them look.]
How it could be a good idea – in about three months, when rebuilding gets serious and Haitians have time to think, this group could choose a Haitian hospital to partner with. They could fundraise to help it rebuild, and donate supplies and equipment. They could visit the hospital quarterly to train the providers there as needed, and make sure that the equipment is in good shape and well maintained.
Bad Idea #3 – The Global Volunteer Network Haiti Project This project, which volunteers pay to support, is seeking people to volunteer for the following projects: working with children, teaching, health/medical efforts, building and construction, counseling, and business development. They say that volunteer trips can run from one week long to six months. This list seems designed to please volunteers, not meet the needs of people in Haiti. You already know that I am not a supporter of trips where you pay to volunteer.
This, however, is even worse than usual. This isn’t just useless feel-goodery for rich people. This will hurt people in Haiti. Traumatized children should not be making emotional attachments to volunteers who will be gone in six months. Volunteer labor for building and construction will keep Haitians from getting paid jobs to do the work themselves. And no outsider volunteer has any business providing counseling; counseling needs a background in local culture and context that a visitor won’t have.
How it could be a good idea – It’s almost impossible to rescue this one, but short-term volunteers could offer brief, targeted English or French classes to Haitians who needed them. They could cover technical topics that local teachers might not be able to offer. Not in a week. There really isn’t anything useful you can do in a week. But two months might work. It really wouldn’t qualify as disaster response – or rebuilding – but it would at least be useful.
For more information on how to help in Haiti, take a look at my Aid Watch post.
*********
Photo credit: simminch
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by alanna_shaikh: New Blood and Milk post – 3 bad ideas for helping Haiti http://bloodandmilk.org/?p=1467…
Good points, Alanna. I respect your experience but I do have some concerns about how you frame this. What are the good ideas? Can you offer more guidance and less judgment?
http://www.shardasekaran.com/?p=786
How Not to Help in Haiti: Don’t Try to Steal Their Children…
2010-02-02 17:31…
[…] she should have added another tip to her list of don’ts: Don’t try to steal their […]
Hi Alanna,
Whilst you are right just now that 50,000 shoes, unorganized medical teams or voluntourists aren’t what Haitians may need as a high priority just now it does help keep it on the map of peoples understanding and awareness.
Mismanaged aid is still better than no aid and the long term effects of aid will filter down to grassroots given enough time and reflection.
The trouble with community development is that it is always based on a judgement call. All the Freirian ideology and transformational practice in the world won’t make a blind bit of difference when faced with a tough decision to make with no prior notice.
Sure we’ve all got plenty to learn about ineffective distribution systems after the Tsunami of Thailand but we’ve also got to remember that we’ve got the internet now which means more avenues to money for aid and relief.
I’m sure we’ll get there in the end, but we’ve got to make the mistakes in order to learn from them.
Dalyn,
I disagree. Mismanaged aid can often be worse than no aid. For example, it is better to send nothing than to send items that will clog the airport or require Haitian efforts to discard.
For other ways that mismanaged aid can do damage, see this post and the comments on it: http://bloodandmilk.org/?p=1238
Excellent post, and a good set of projects to think on for anyone who doesn’t usually move past the feel-good, do-good idealism.
Dayln — Yes, we have plenty to learn, but why not take those lessons from dealing with past disaster situations and apply them to Haiti and others to come? It would be disappointing to look back and see the same mistakes reiterated, where they could have been easily avoided.
Dalyn, mismanaged or misguided aid can be very damaging to the region / people it is intended for. For instance, you may have heard about clothing donations to Africa really hurting the local economy? If you have the time, watch this documentary. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeCIlgUeYlM
It sums up the issue very well, and illustrates as Alana suggests in the post above that not all aid is healthy for a country. Good intentions aren’t enough. That sounds harsh, but sometimes we have to think about what is good for a country vs. what makes us feel good. I think Voluntourism is a prime example of this. There is way more in it for the “giver” than the “receiver”….
Some groups in Haiti have already been on the ground for years, I.e. Oxfam, Doctors Without Borders etc. I agree that those who have good intentions in sending clothing etc. would be better off donating cash to one of the existing groups. Haitians need medical attention urgently and Doctors Without Borders has the equipment and expertise to help with this quickly and efficiently.
I recently was asked to help Flight to Crisis in their efforts to organize support and supplies to aid relief projects underway in Haiti. I am only going to respond to the points that were raised here because, while they might have been valid when Flight to Crisis was an idea on Craig’s List, they are no longer true.
Flight to Crisis aims to fill gaps, to ease the strain on groups that have a continual presence in Jacmel, and to bring what is needed, when it is needed. Flight to Crisis is working with established organizations on the ground in Jacmel to provide expertise and supplies that match current needs. One of these organizations, the Community Coalition for Haiti, is assisting Flight to Crisis with donations and in establishing itself as a 501(c)3.
Both the supplies and the volunteers will be flown in by chartered plane; additional supplies are being routed through partnering organizations and arriving via the Dominican Republic. We have made arrangements for a base camp and other critical needs such as security, transportation, communications and supplies. We have made every effort to make sure that the volunteers’ skills can be utilized and that the volunteers are safe and have the opportunity to make a positive impact (as opposed to making things worse, being in the way, etc.) Rather than the entire group working in a single location, the volunteers will be paired up, or put into small teams, and dispersed to the organizations that feel they could benefit from their expertise (these decisions are made in Haiti by the partner organizations) .
The first flight leaves February 11th and will bring approximately 30 volunteers to Jacmel for two weeks. Subsequent flights are already being scheduled. I welcome your critical insight and ongoing feedback. Another woman has been monitoring our progress and her post can be read here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anne-dilenschneider/flight-to-crisis-needs-vo_b_450573.html
Thanks, Amber. It’s clear that flight to crisis is better organized than I thought they were.
I thought of this post when I saw this photo today: http://jamesfallows.theatlantic.com/archives/2010/02/there_will_always_be_a_san_fra.php (via boing boing)
Flight to Crisis is going to Haiti under the umbrella of Community Coalition for Haiti, a 501(c)3 organization in Jacmel. CCH works closely with groups such as Rotary International and has been in Haiti for decades. The Flight to Crisis team has been making its plans in consultation with USAID, FEMA, and the UN Health Cluster. For more information contact relief@flighttocrisis.org
Also, currently the Red Cross and USAID are directing medical professionals to contact Flight to Crisis if they want to go to Haiti. That is a real vote of confidence!
Having recently returned from Haiti where my company is providing demolition and reconstruction services, I would agree with the assessment that there is no shortage of volunteers and supplies, which is admirable. The problem is, the support that is being provided will be of little use in the coming months. What is badly needed are civil engineers experienced in water purification systems, waste disposal, hydrology and the like, as well contractors, like ourselves, with experience in infra-structure installation and temporary, emergency shelters. Tents for displaced homeless victims of the earthquake, unfortunately, do not carry a wind load sufficient to withstand gale force winds, the exception being air inflated structures with steel cable netting. They come in 20,000 square foot sizes and will house as many as 2000 people. These are the only form of temporary shelter, other than monolithic domes that will suffice. Without them, there will be many more casualties during the monsoon season. This requires money, and this is where the volunteer effort is badly needed. Fund raising is crucial and the money must go to NGO’s and organizations that specialize in disaster relief. I will submit future comments with names of those organizations who can really make a difference in this area. My e-mail address for anyone who is interested in more information is: jmsneller@aol.com
Then, given all that I have read – what is the best response? I am not encouraged by just sending money, but prefer to come directly and help out for a couple of weeks. Willing to do anything – signed up for the Global Volunteer Network but am not encouraged by what I read. Times are tough in the united states the way it is and we have always helped out both internationally and locally – but am not an advocate of sending money these days. I’ll pay the money, travel, build bridges and roads and go home and feel like we helped the world out, the best we could in desperate times. We live simply and are willing to give, but need to have guidance and assistance in a foreign country. sucks, but that’s it in a nutshell.
Joy and Bryan,
Right now, Haiti needs financial donations to support rebuilding the country. It doesn’t need volunteers. I’m sorry if that doesn’t square with what you want, but it’s the truth. Unskilled volunteers will simply displace Haitians who would be paid for that work, and people need jobs in Haiti right now.
I am interested in why you are willing to pay for your travel expenses, but are unwilling to donate the same sum of money to Haiti rebuilding. What is your logic there?
Joy and Bryan, reading your post, I get the impression that volunteering in Haiti is more about fulfilling your own personal needs than those of Haitians.
[…] Shoes” and its derivatives were horrible, horrible ideas. And they got roundly slammed. A […]
[…] Three bad ideas for helping Haiti – Blood and Milk […]
[…] from From Three bad ideas for Helping Haiti in the blog Blood and Milk written by Alanna […]
[…] Three bad ideas for helping Haiti – Blood and Milk […]
[…] Three bad ideas for helping Haiti – Blood and Milk […]
[…] money. —– Related articles: Amid Spotty Aid, Groups Try Hiring Haitians for Cash – NPR Three bad ideas for helping Haiti – Blood and […]
[…] Three bad ideas for helping Haiti – Blood and Milk […]
[…] same statement has been brought up in countless arguments about aid (two great sources are here and here). What good do our intentions really do when they leave a country in a worse position than when it […]
[…] from From Three bad ideas for Helping Haiti in the blog Blood and Milk written by Alanna […]