well meaning but please stop and think

May 5, 2007
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Far be it from me to try and deter anyone who wants to go to Haiti to help, I wanted to take our plane down but one of the other "Company" planes was already refused departure due to a ground stop in Atlanta.

Please please please think of Diarrhea, Measles, Cholera, Malaria Typhoid and God only knows what else that will be epidemic within the next couple days.

If you have not been inoculated think of the problems this may cause. There are not enough meds for the victims let alone the aid workers

Let the professionals who have been inoculated (Military, Red Cross etc) handle the initial relief, there will be months and years of assistance needed, don't compound the problems by going to Haiti and needing housing, food, medicine, clogging roads that heavy trucks and equipment need to pass on (The thought of some self anointed Rent a Cops riding herd on a convoy of broken down trucks conjures images of firefights and more death), there is a reason for the initial "slow" build up and it is logistics.

I realize we have heard nothing but horror stories of not enough "hands, " but by mid week their will be thousands of US troops , UN workers, Canadian Army, EU Soldiers ,Dominican troops and who knows what else (Self sustained) in the area with heavy equipment. (If I left out any country it was not intentional)

Getting in the way of these trained professionals and creating additional security concerns will only slow their work

Again, I applaud anyone who truly wants to go to Haiti and get their "Hands dirty," but your presence will likely cause more harm than good. I feel bad saying this but it is true

Give whatever money or goods you can and let the large trucks with professional workers transport it to where it is most needed
 
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cobraboy

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Jul 24, 2004
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Good deal.

Might also be a great move to produce a bunch of those clay pot water purification systems...about $US22 each...and ship them over.

FWIW-we got a call from a US missionary who wanted to rent a motorcycle to drive to Haiti to help. Well meaning but he'd never been on the island before.

I agree with ID: let the pros do the job; we can keep the home fires burning brightly.
 

SteveS

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Apr 15, 2008
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I have to agree with the OP on this. I tripped over to Jumbo on sunday just to grab a few pieces and saw lots of foreigners there trying to buy food/water/rice etc...

Now I don't know why they were here in the first place (maybe journalists?!) But some were what I would kindly term 'rich tree-huggers'. Middle aged greenpeace types. I hear them talking about their hotel suites and who else is 'on the way' and to book their hotel etc... And I was thinking...

Ok, these here plus a few others, say 5, 5xairfares from the US $1500, say 7 nights x 3 hotel rooms at $150/200 a night, plus buying food at a mid range supermarket (with plenty name brands in the piles of trollies).....

Don't we think that this money would have been better in the hands of the red cross or the UN??

Not to mention them getting under the feet of these agencies.

For me, stay home, meditate, hug trees, whatever it takes to make you feel better, and send a cheque instead, it will go a hell of a lot further......
 

bob saunders

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Jan 1, 2002
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Well I just watched a piece by the BBC and it seems that the problem with the big Aid organizations is that they have more than they need, yet can't seem to manage the logistics of getting this stuff out to the people in need. Perhaps smaller organizations can manage some aspects of this better.
 

Ricardo900

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Jul 12, 2004
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I agree with the above statements that the relief to Haiti should be left to the PROS. I saw a box in my lobby asking for canned foods, diapers and other related items, because they were going to Haiti. Why?? I was watching CNN and saw a civil rights leader and an actor at the Haitian airport complaining about the situation in Haiti and I am wondering, why are they there?? Are they in the medical field, search & rescue, construction, what??

Once again leave it to the PROS, because after the situation in Haiti settles down, there will be plenty of time to go in and do your part.
 

Acira

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Sep 20, 2009
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an additional comment

I agree with the TS but would like to add a comment.
It would be very helpfull if some of the organisations mentioned here and are asking for help would be very clear about the circumstances in Haiti.
Some of them have done already some trips over so know how things look out there for real but then asking through here or other channels for volunteers to join them without telling them what so ever what the risks are, how a volunteer should prepare himself before leaving...it would be nice to hear such things before, it would show their professionalisme then and gives them more trustworthness towards volunteers.

Having to hear, welcome, please join, come over but no directions where the group is coming together, no mentioning about what your specific task would be, not even telling where you are going frequently, no info about the situation in Haiti and where to take care of...my heart is on the right place but in such cases my common sense is bigger.
 

mountainannie

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Dec 11, 2003
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I have to agree with the OP on this. I tripped over to Jumbo on sunday just to grab a few pieces and saw lots of foreigners there trying to buy food/water/rice etc...

Now I don't know why they were here in the first place (maybe journalists?!) But some were what I would kindly term 'rich tree-huggers'. Middle aged greenpeace types. I hear them talking about their hotel suites and who else is 'on the way' and to book their hotel etc... And I was thinking...

Ok, these here plus a few others, say 5, 5xairfares from the US $1500, say 7 nights x 3 hotel rooms at $150/200 a night, plus buying food at a mid range supermarket (with plenty name brands in the piles of trollies).....

Don't we think that this money would have been better in the hands of the red cross or the UN??



For me, stay home, meditate, hug trees, whatever it takes to make you feel better, and send a cheque instead, it will go a hell of a lot further......


The material aid of food and water that has come in from the DR has been MOST USEFUL... in that it has been collected by agencies who know their way around.. distributed under the direction of the red cross and the military

so i cannot agree that the purchase of food to be sent from the DR ---would be better in a check to the UN

there are trucks full of food and water arriving into Haiti every day from the DR-- and the majority of this is from private donations... I am certain that this aid has saved hundreds of lives already
 

SteveS

Member
Apr 15, 2008
297
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The material aid of food and water that has come in from the DR has been MOST USEFUL... in that it has been collected by agencies who know their way around.. distributed under the direction of the red cross and the military

so i cannot agree that the purchase of food to be sent from the DR ---would be better in a check to the UN

there are trucks full of food and water arriving into Haiti every day from the DR-- and the majority of this is from private donations... I am certain that this aid has saved hundreds of lives already

I feel the point may have gotten a little lost somewhere, my gripe was the volume of money spent travelling here from abroad by groups of "Friends of the Earth" and their lack of knowledge. Its sad to see a desperate country not 300 miles west, and hundreds of thousands of dollars wasted by SOME people on flights/hotels/restaurants, all of which money could have been given to one of the great agencies out there.

The article in The Lancet hit the nail on the head, with too many people wanting self promotion and not enough going to aid.

We have donated money locally to several properly organised aid organisations ourselves and know that every penny we give bought supplies, and was mounted on trucks to go.

The rest taking a rented SUV with 10 gallons of water, and a banner on the side with their company logo, along with a photographer doesn't help.