The Difference
Donating to Make a Difference: For Your Re-consideration
John D. Rockefeller once said, “Charity is injurious unless it helps the recipient to become independent of it.” I’ve been struggling to articulate this concept — the best way to help Haiti is to help Haitians free themselves from the foreign aid economy they have become dependent upon for survival. One small way to start the process is to change the way we give. While it is certainly a display of generosity to donate bags of clothes, food or items around the house that are no longer needed, it is often not the optimal way to support those in need.
On a recent trip to Haiti, I was visiting a community outside of Port-au-Prince and noticed boxes and boxes overflowing with old clothes. These items were donated last year and had been filling up the majority of a room in one of the only buildings left standing in this particularly hard-hit area. I was puzzled. One of the first things I learned about Haitian people is they do not waste anything. I also learned that Haitian people are a proud and honorable people who take great care in what little they do have. It seems that many of these items I discovered were old, stained, torn, tattered and just not clothes that most people I know would wear. I agree that when you have no shirt, even an ugly one is better than nothing, but the community has had long-term relationships with several aid groups and clothing was one item they seemed to get the most of. When they would receive a shipment from the U.S it would not be unusual for 75-90% of the supplies would be donated clothing. Considering how much it costs to ship items into Haiti is was confusing to both myself and the Haitian leaders I spoke with. It is not like clothes are not available in Haiti. In fact, most items being unpacked from a shipping container that arrived while I was visiting contained items that I could easily and affordably purchase, locally.
This experience prompted further research and inquiry. Having recently read Travesty in Haiti by Timothy Schwartz, I was looking for validation of the theories posited in this interesting account of foreign aid and its impact on Haiti. What I was witnessing seemed to be symptomatic of a far bigger problem. Nobody in Haiti wants to say “no” to anyone willing to help. Nobody running a relief organization wishes to alienate a donor and most organizations struggle with change and adaptation. This is a problem. Some might argue that salaries paid to executives at many larger aid organizations, and even some of the smaller ones, are an even bigger problem. One could even go so far as to say overhead and administration at most aid organizations trumps all other problems combined. That being said, the problems in Haiti is monumental and scope and there is no simple fix, but we have to start somewhere.
The first thing I tell potential donors to do is follow their heart and then tell them to validate their heart with their brain. In other words, do your homework. How much of your money does to supporting the cause directly and how much to administration, marketing, salaries, and overall overhead. Then ask yourself if you are okay with that. I understand that larger organizations and even some smaller ones need to pay salaries in order to achieve their mandates. Follow Me to Haiti does not use donor money to pay any administration or overhead costs and nobody associated with our organization receives any compensation. In the case of many large organizations the amount passed through to those in need can be, literally, pennies on the dollar. The volume of people assisted by the large organizations can, perhaps, justify the fact that only a few cents of each dollar you donate is actual aid.
What I can tell you is that after talking to the Haitian people and community leaders along with many organizations similar in size and scope to Follow Me to Haiti, we have decided to work differently. From day one, we had decided that nobody associated with FMTH would receive a salary and administrative expenses and general overhead would be absorbed personally by our group leadership. This may be limiting in some ways but it assures our donors that all of their money goes to help those most in need, which leads to another critical mandate of FMTH; we adapt to the changing needs of the people we are trying to help. We do not set our agenda in stone and remain fluid and flexible. For example, after the earthquake food and medicine were critical items and, therefore, collecting, purchasing and then transporting to Haiti was our only objective. It was not long after that food, water and standard medicine became easily available so we shifted to prescription medication and power options (solar units, generators) along with more permanent structures for housing, schools and clinics and long-term water treatment. Now we are focusing on education in hopes that the next generation can facilitate needed change, but still reviewing needs each week for additional priorities. It is a challenging process, but one that is required of us in order to maximize every penny donated.
What needs to change? I have seen, literally hundreds of thousands of dollars wasted by organizations shipping items to Haiti that are available to purchase in Haiti and for a fraction of what it costs to send over the donated items. I realize that many people want to help and that is amazing and wonderful, but there are better ways. Rather than dropping off a pile of clothes to be sorted, packed, shipped, unpacked, stored, or distributed, may I suggest selling those same clothes at a consignment shop, yard sale or eBay and then donating the money? Keeping the money in the Haitian economy is a big step in reversing the economies dependence on foreign aid. In addition, many people seem uncomfortable donating a few dollars, which is a mistake because a few dollars wisely spent in Haiti can make a huge difference. It can buy food or medicine for a starving family or a sick child.
What else needs to change? Small groups with inflexible agendas that refuse to work together with other organizations or refuse to adapt to changing needs of the people they support. There are some amazing groups and some very small ones that are having monumental impact on Haiti (in a good way), but many are proceeding with blinders on. FMTH is very proud of the cooperation that we have tried to build among small aid organizations in Haiti. I only wish all of the small groups could work better together because I believe that is where the real and lasting change will occur.
The problem of poverty has an impact on us all, regardless of where on earth it exists. Organizations like Follow Me to Haiti attempt to make an impact on a small scale, but with every penny of the donations going to fight the problem, it is the small organizations that are making the biggest difference in the lives of the suffering people of Haiti and around the world. Education fosters independence. Infusing Haiti’s economy, even a little at a time is far better, long-term, than crippling it by taking away jobs and sales. The vendor on the street corner will sell far less food when people can get it free at a local camp. The unemployed construction worker cannot feed his family when teams from around the world come in to build. For the price of an airline ticket, a salary for a worker can be paid and that worker will spend his money in Haiti and feed his family and go to bad with satisfaction and pride. She can send her child to school or care for his elderly family member.
What we do as a society by offering aid and sending mission teams in to build is a wonderfully kind and loving act, but it is, perhaps, more kind, to take that same money and use it help solve a problem that is generations in the making. I do not have all the answers, but I know that the problem is not going to go away unless we can offer the Haitian people a level of independence that have lost through embargoes, dictatorships and natural disasters.
