How is money spent in Haiti?

Some NBA guy expressed ambivalence about donating to the Haiti relief efforts and was punished for it by being fired. True he’s not educated enough to phrase himself in such a way as to get his point across effectively, but the questions he asks are important.

So I decided to see how exactly international contributions were being spent and found this article boasting that the Haitian governtment is only getting a PENNY of every dollar the US contributes. So if the US has pledged to contribute $379 million (the current figure), that’s $379,000 that is being transferred directly into government coffers. But I’m not going to discuss the vices of the government because I don’t know enough and I cannot find reputable sources on Haiti’s government and corruption to confirm the allegations made by the media. However, something about how the money is being spent irks me…

“Each American dollar roughly breaks down like this: 42 cents for disaster assistance, 33 cents for U.S. military aid, nine cents for food, nine cents to transport the food, five cents for paying Haitian survivors for recovery efforts, just less than one cent to the Haitian government, and about half a cent to the Dominican Republic.”

I wish I had resources to calculate how much disaster assistance and military should cost, but 75% seems excessive. Since these are sectors in which foreigners are greatly involved (and compensated) I have the feeling that the pay scale has been adjusted out of proportion to compensate them “extra well,” which depending on your p.o.v. is a good or a bad thing. On one side, it may encourage more human resources to contribute to Haiti, on the other all it may be doing is wasting resources by overpaying!

“Of each U.S. taxpayer dollar, 42 cents funds US AID’s disaster assistance — everything from $5,000 generators to $35 hygiene kits with soap, toothbrushes and toothpaste for a family of five.”

They must be buying soap at Whole Foods because you can go to the 99 cents store and buy all those things for under $5, or if one’s buying wholesale probably for under $3.

Also considering that nearly 50% of Haiti’s population lived in extreme poverty before the earthquake and had to resort to eating mud to keep themselves from starving, I doubt they bothered about the state of their teeth. Shouldn’t the focus be on providing essential services – like clean water, running water, removing debris, rebuilding roads, encouraging community organizations and schools that would uplift people’s morale? Whoever thought that a hygiene kit is what Haitians need in such a situation probably lives a very very sheltered existence.

I donated to MSF because they provide medical care around the world to people in need. The money I gave may not go to Haiti per say, but it will be spent throughout the year on some similarly dire medical circumstances… and I think that alleviating preventable suffering is very important in the grand scale. To date though, MSF has been doing some good work in Haiti.