Tag Archive for ‘Relief’

Letter from a Young Aid Worker

I received this email last month from a Peace Corps Volunteer recently returned from Senegal: Michael, Thank you for sending along your email address. I read your Might interview a few months ago and shortly afterward picked up The Road to Hell. I left for PC Senegal in Sept. of 2008 and lasted about a […]

In Darfur, the Relief Effort Kills

A largely overlooked article in yesterday’s New York Times points to a study that shows that 80 percent of the deaths surrounding the the crisis in Darfur came not from the conflict and the actions of the janjaweed but from the very fact that refugees were gathered in huge unsanitary camps.  They died from disease, […]

The Role of Aid in the Enslavement of Haiti

I’m not an expert on Haiti. I’ve never been there, and I don’t believe that my expertise in Africa qualifies me to make statements about the destructive role that “aid” has played in the epic tragedy that is the history of Haiti.  So I’ll let others, who know better, make the argument for me. This […]

To Help Haiti, End Foreign Aid

From the Wall Street Journal: A better approach recognizes the real humanity of Haitians by treating them—once the immediate and essential tasks of rescue are over—as people capable of making responsible choices.

How not to help in Haiti

A friend came to me yesterday and told me that her son-in-law was about to get on a plane to Haiti to help out earthquake victims. She wanted to know what I thought about that. (Truth be told, she wanted ammunition to help talk him out of it.)  I asked her if her son-in-law, who […]

From an Expert: Haiti Donation Advice

I contributed this to the Travel + Leisure Blog, Carry-On Aid and relief agencies are rushing to assist the people of Haiti after yesterday’s devastating earthquake. But they can’t do it without you or, more accurately, without your money. Although it’s really easy to donate your dollars, it is unimaginably difficult to actually help people. […]