Reddit mentions of Travesty in Haiti: A true account of Christian missions, orphanages, fraud, food aid and drug trafficking

Yup, I am doing anthropological research in Haiti for my PhD and I've become so incredibly cynical about the vast majority of non-profit work done in Haiti and other places. For those who are unaware, I highly recommend two books: Killing with Kindness and Travesty in Haiti both of which document how destructive these kinds of things are.

Also relevant: http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/03/the-white-savior-industrial-complex/254843/?single_page=true

Edit: I should add that I don't think all non-profits, NGOs, and charities are a shit show. There are some great ones that I would even recommend to people. But in places like Haiti (AKA The Land of NGOs) there are thousands and thousands of them most of which are highly ineffective and some which are downright harmful. I'm a charity snob now in the sense that I never just hand out my money without investigating the organization first. I've seen too many examples of how well meaning people go into a community and do more harm than good with those donations. And I never donate used clothing to foreign countries (a few exceptions being natural disasters) because it is always damaging to local economies. Fuck the NFL and other groups who do that and try to spin it as a positive PR move. When presented with the opportunity to help either with donations or manpower think a minute about how it will impact that local community, look up how they've spent their donations, and do some research on the issue & organization.

TL;DR: Don't give up on non-profits, aid, and charities altogether. Just donate smart.

One of my profs in grad school worked extensively in Haiti on tree-planting projects. One of them involved purchasing plots of land and hiring locals to plant tree saplings; it didn't work very well as far as getting trees to grow since the same locals would let their goats onto the plots at night to eat the saplings.

My profs innovation was to instead give the saplings away for the locals to plant on their own property and raise as essentially a cash crop; it also largely bypassed the permanent chain of corruption running from DC through the Haitian government. Since the project was very successful, resulting in millions of trees planted, it of course had the plug pulled on it after three years.

For anyone interested in Haiti, I heartily recommend these two books: Travesty in Haiti and The Great Haiti Humanitarian Aid Swindle.

Learn as much Creole as you can. Don't bring gifts you just give away. Also read the following books.

http://www.amazon.com/Travesty-Haiti-Christian-orphanages-trafficking/dp/1419698036

http://www.amazon.com/The-Big-Truck-That-Went/dp/023034187X

Expect poverty. People will surprise you with their friendliness and generosity.

Also where did you go?

Read this book and then loan it to your friend. If your friend thinks the Catholic Church isn't making a profit off it's "charity" (or any church for that matter) she must be informed. Also have her read Hitchens book on Mother Theresa. Disgusting.

https://www.amazon.com/Travesty-Haiti-Christian-orphanages-trafficking/dp/1419698036