Haiti: Where Did the Money Go?

I am currently watching an impromptu telethon to help those victims recover from the super storm in the north east united states.www.nbc.com...

Now,I remember the one for Haiti after the quake that devastated they're country.
I bought into it,loved the show and contributed.

n Haiti, there were still 350,000 people living in tent camps set up after the 2010 earthquake. They were evacuated before Sandy but the storm destroyed much of the fragile housing in those camps, the official added.

www.theglobeandmail.com...

That was a couple of years ago.
Still,living in makeshift tents.

Where did my money go??????

Filmmaker Michele Mitchell presented her documentary, “Haiti: Where Did the Money Go?” at a congressional briefing sponsored by Rep. Yvette Clarke, Rep. Barbara Lee, and Rep. Donald M. Payne (CEPR Co-Director Mark Weisbrot spoke at the briefing, and CEPR helped to publicize the event.) Through visits to Haiti in 2010 and 2011 in which she conducted interviews with IDP camp residents, NGO spokespersons, aid workers, and others, and through other background research, Mitchell examines why so many people (currently half-a-million) remain stuck in tent camps with few services, despite the billions of dollars pledged for relief following the earthquake. The film is currently airing on dozens of PBS stations around the U.S. One NGO that Mitchell focuses on, in interviews, and in on-the-ground examination of the situation in IDP camps, is the Red Cross. Mitchell notes that the Red Cross is the biggest NGO operating in Haiti, and American Red Cross (ARC) Senior Vice President International Services David Meltzer is provided with a significant portion of screen time to explain the Red Cross’ activities in Haiti, and why some services – such as shelter and sanitation – appear to be so sorely lacking. As the Huffington Post’s Laura Bassett describes: A senior Red Cross official for international aid is interviewed extensively throughout the film, and Mitchell said she repeatedly asked ARC to answer questions and corroborate facts during the production process. Despite the prominent role that Meltzer has in the film, and Mitchell’s apparent reaching out to the organization, staff from the American Red Cross attended the briefing yesterday, handing out copies of a document titled “Correcting Film@11’s Errors and Distortions on the Haiti Response” (which we have posted here in PDF format). The several ARC staffers from the Washington office also interrupted a panelist (see video here, at 50:40) by complaining that the film was imbalanced and that Meltzer was not given sufficient notice ahead of the event (he was invited six days earlier, according to organizers).

www.globalresearch.ca...

I think New York will fare better.

Now,I'm not saying to not send help,but choose your sources wisely.

reply to post by kdog1982


The Red Cross is an internationally respected organization. Can't get more legit that the RC. I have always suspected Red Cross=CIA. That goes for many of the international NGOs

Yes, I've heard that before too, about the Red Cross, especially in war situations, 'humanitarian corridors' etc. I've heard the same thing about several charities as well, like World Christian Children Fund and Save the Children. Nothing documented that I'm aware of though.

Yes, I've also heard about the Haitians being barely better off than before.

And to cap it off, the Clinton's who claim they are doing it For The Haitians have just celebrated opening a business park that will employ people for about $5.00 a day, so, basically sweat shops. Apparently this is the minimum wage, but cooooome on. They should be ashamed of themselves.
I read somewhere else, not in this article I don't think, that they kicked farmers off the land to build there. If that's true, that's reprehensible. There must've been land elsewhere they could've used.

www.canadahaitiaction.ca...

well here's one article that says that, about the land, don't know how truthful though:
www.haiti-liberte.com...

With help like that...

Originally posted by curiouscanadian777
Yes, I've heard that before too, especially in war situations, 'humanitarian corridors' etc.

Yes, I've also heard about the Haitians being barely better off than before.

And to cap it off, the Clinton's who claim they are doing it For The Haitians have just celebrated opening a business park that will employ people for about $5.00 a day, so, basically sweat shops. Apparently this is the minimum wage, but cooooome on. They should be ashamed of themselves.
I read somewhere else, not in this article I don't think, that they kicked farmers off the land to build there. If that's true, that's reprehensible. There must've been land elsewhere they could've used.

www.canadahaitiaction.ca...

With help like that...

edit on 2-11-2012 by curiouscanadian777 because: (no reason given)

Who needs friends,right?

I can not understand why we need the Red Cross. They sell the blood that is donated to them. So why don't hospitals have donor centers and eliminate the middle man and bureaucracy?

I don't know why people donate to the red cross. Only a small fraction actually gets to the victims.
Remember 911 when the citizens of the us donated a half billion in the first few days and the red cross announced that they were going to take half of it and use it for their expenses?
Research your charities before you donate.
Even better give directly to someone who needs it.

reply to post by kdog1982
Maybe money was deflected for the big tornado event we had down south.

Take a look and decide.

I am only questioning these "telethons"

www.charitynavigator.org...

reply to post by kdog1982


I don't think celebrities can do the job as they seemed to appear on the Haiti
disaster scene for some reason. Who told them to go there.

Do you know what works, local entrepreneurs.
I saw big container truck and it was getting filled up with construction equipment.
Not super big stuff but enough to be seen on most jobs.
The owner was shipping to Jamaica for his business.
Did any Haiti owner operators go anywhere to buy equipment or did funds just gather
funds and forgot what to do.

Were does the money go? Did you know that Haiti has one of the most corrupt governments in the world? I wish I could remember were I saw it but, there was a report that warned people not to send money to Haiti because it wasn't going to the people, only the pockets of the elite.

reply to post by kdog1982


What I want to know, is why do we always hear bad things about Haiti, but never their neighbor DR? Are they both terrible places to live, or is one side of the island doing something the other is not?