This past Saturday morning (August 14th), a magnitude 7.2 earthquake hit southern Haiti. To make matters worse, a tropical storm is headed that way which will complicate search and rescue. If you are moved to donate money in the face of these tragedies, I’d like to recommend a reliable non-profit called “Live Beyond.”
The one time I visited Haiti, it was clear that a lot of the money donated by good-hearted Americans never makes it to the people who need it. I will refrain from providing the details, but if you want to understand how philanthropy goes wrong, read, When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor . . . and Yourself.
It’s fair to say that philanthropy goes wrong so often in Haiti, it’s easy to think the situation there is totally hopeless. However, if you want to know how “helping” can be done right, read the book Live Beyond, written by my long-time friend, Dr. David Vanderpool.
He and his amazing wife, my childhood friend, Laurie, have lived and worked in Haiti for many years. I can attest to the fact that any money donated to Live Beyond will go directly to the people who need it, including providing free medical care at the hospital they built, food distribution, clean water, nutrition for pregnant and nursing women, job training and many other things that can transform a community, at the core of which is transforming hearts.
Find out more:
About | LiveBeyond | Transforming Communities through Faith
–Caroline
Dr. Fife is a world renowned wound care physician dedicated to improving patient outcomes through quality driven care. Please visit my blog at CarolineFifeMD.com and my Youtube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/carolinefifemd/videos
I do appreciate the gesture on your part to help the people of Haiti. I remember my first visit to Haiti in 1978, the country was much more secured and organized, the people had much better healthcare and access to life basics needs. Since then I have visited 3 more times while leaving in the Dominican Republic and while I travel to my wound clinic in Santiago.
The reality is that Haiti and Haitian people have been abused and have lost everything because of two main reasons, Politics and Greed.
Haitian politicians have raped the country and the 6 or 7 families that control most the economy don’t care at all about the population, most of them leave in France or Canada.
So yes , I do agree in helping thru foundations and NGOs, Haitians need to take control of their future and elect not by who will throw some food at them but by what they will deliver in reality to the population.
I can tell you that in the 50s Haiti was more developed than the DR, now is the other way around.
Lots of Haitians go to the DR to study medicine among other careers, most of them never return to Haiti because of the horrendous conditions in that part of the Island.
So it’s going to take wealthy and educated Haitians to make Haiti a country that supports their citizens.
Best regards