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By John Longhurst
MY first thought, upon hearing about the terrible earthquake January 12, was
this: “Oh God, no – not Haiti! That’s the last thing this desperately poor country needs.”
My thoughts also turned to Haitian friends, people I learned to know when I was
involved in international development efforts in that country. I wondered where
they were, and if they were alive.
My second thought was about what I could do. Over supper the next evening, our
family agreed together on what we could all give to help.
My thoughts then drifted back four years to the 2004 Asian tsunami, and to a
series of articles I wrote for my local newspaper about the response to that
disaster.
A review indicated that what was said back then about the best ways to help
people in need, and how best to understand the relief process, was still
applicable today.
First: if you want to help, send cash. That is the best and most useful gift
that relief agencies can receive. There may come a time when blankets, clothing
and other material aid is needed, but not now. They won’t know exactly what they will need – or the best way for them to help – until they’ve had some time to do a proper assessment. Plus, cash can get there
immediately; clothing will take weeks or months to arrive.
Second, be careful who you give to. Unfortunately, disasters not only bring out
the best in people – they also bring out the worst in some charitable organizations. Disasters can
attract aid groups like moths to a flame; they want to be where the money is
going. Groups that have never been in Haiti will suddenly launch appeals, even
though they have no experience in the country. Worse, new groups with no
international relief experience at all will spring up, asking for your money.
If you want to be sure your donation achieves maximum benefit, give to an
established aid group that was working in Haiti before the earthquake.
Third, don’t even think of getting on a plane to Haiti. It doesn’t matter if you swing a mean hammer, or know a thing or two about plumbing. The
last thing a country with millions of homeless people needs is more homeless
people – particularly homeless people who don’t speak the language, and who don’t know where to begin to help. The time may come when volunteers are needed, but
not now.
Fourth, be patient. The response will seem painfully slow, even though the needs
are so plain to see. Why aren’t relief groups moving quicker? Relief work, when done well and done right,
requires careful planning.
There’s no point in two groups ending up in the same town or neighbourhood, while
other areas of the country or city go without – or in providing the wrong kind of assistance. Complicating everything is the
massive damage in Haiti. Doing good relief work is challenging in the best of
circumstances, and this is the worst possible situation.
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Fifth, be prepared for things to go wrong. All aid groups know that things won’t turn out exactly as planned. Some aid will go missing. Some will be stolen.
Some will end up for sale in the local market. It’s normal, and they expect it.
The other thing they expect are media reports about lost, stolen or missing aid;
as sure as night follows day, reports about misappropriated donations will make
the news some days or weeks down the road.
When that happens, remember that for every story about missing aid, there are
thousands of unreported stories of aid that ended up exactly where needed most,
at exactly the right time. If anything, it’s a miracle that things go as well as they do, considering how difficult and
challenging things are in that country.
Finally, don’t let this be your first and last donation for international relief and
development this year.
Long after the media is gone, the needs in Haiti will remain; relief groups will
need your donations in summer, and fall, and even longer.
And not just for Haiti, but also for the dozens of other disasters around the
world that have received little, or no, media attention. Relief Web, an
organization that keeps tabs on needs around the world, indicates that there
are at least 13 other disasters in the world today. Relief groups need your
gifts to help those people, too.
But it all starts with a gift; make your donation today.
John Longhurst is director of marketing for Mennonite Publishing Network. He has
20 years of experience with relief work.
February 2010
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