Help out or hold out?
May 15, 2010 12:31 PM Subscribe
My friend is trying to raise money so that his college group can go to Haiti to help earthquake victims with this Hands On Disaster Group. I am opposed to and skeptical of this concept. How do I reconcile my biases and support him? Should I?
The fundamental problem I have with charity missions like these is that, though they have big hearts, these college-age students have limited abilities to do much of anything that is needed there. They aren't doctors, nurses, engineers. They will be there to volunteer at hospitals and do what they can do to help. I feel that they are getting in the way of actual progress.
I feel that money toward these humanitarian projects from well-meaning students could be better spent with established organizations such as Red Cross and Disaster Relief, where professionals can provide better service to those in need. I have donated a few times to these groups, and am glad I did.
Secondly, I feel that these kinds of programs serve the purpose being "exotic" rather than practical experiences for them. It looks good on an application. But the fact is that many people in the States are in dire need of help, too, though they are often overlooked for these more attractive, and I feel, romanticized, humanitarian ideals.
At the same time, I would like to be more open-minded about such experiences, and whether they were worth your time and hard-earned money. Also, what should i tell him next time he hits me up for the money I have been holding out on? Thanks!
The fundamental problem I have with charity missions like these is that, though they have big hearts, these college-age students have limited abilities to do much of anything that is needed there. They aren't doctors, nurses, engineers. They will be there to volunteer at hospitals and do what they can do to help. I feel that they are getting in the way of actual progress.
I feel that money toward these humanitarian projects from well-meaning students could be better spent with established organizations such as Red Cross and Disaster Relief, where professionals can provide better service to those in need. I have donated a few times to these groups, and am glad I did.
Secondly, I feel that these kinds of programs serve the purpose being "exotic" rather than practical experiences for them. It looks good on an application. But the fact is that many people in the States are in dire need of help, too, though they are often overlooked for these more attractive, and I feel, romanticized, humanitarian ideals.
At the same time, I would like to be more open-minded about such experiences, and whether they were worth your time and hard-earned money. Also, what should i tell him next time he hits me up for the money I have been holding out on? Thanks!
FWIW, I agree with you that, in many cases (unless you're supporting a specialized volunteer practicing medicine, helping rebuild IT networks, or plumbing, or dig wells, etc.; or funding someone on a mission of 6 months or more) that you really are basically subsidizing an exotic (albeit feel-good) vacation.
Why don't you preemptively offer to donate supplies that will go directly to residents? (Toiletry kits, school supplies, etc.?) Use him as a courier for direct aid of your own, if you will.
posted by availablelight at 12:39 PM on May 15, 2010 [1 favorite]
Why don't you preemptively offer to donate supplies that will go directly to residents? (Toiletry kits, school supplies, etc.?) Use him as a courier for direct aid of your own, if you will.
posted by availablelight at 12:39 PM on May 15, 2010 [1 favorite]
P.S. it is absolutely OK to smile big and explain that your poverty/disaster relief efforts go to domestic causes, since we have so much need in our own backyard, but you wish him the best and can't wait to hear back from him on how it goes.
posted by availablelight at 12:40 PM on May 15, 2010
posted by availablelight at 12:40 PM on May 15, 2010
I don't know anything about that particular charity, but I tend to feel the same way you do. It would be helpful to try to think of what to say in any occasion that a friend or acquaintance of yours asks for money for a cause that you're not interested in donating to. As you get older, you'll find this happens more and more often, and it's good to have a generic thing to say to them if they directly ask you for donations. Whether it's that you can't afford it, or maybe that you've already made charitable contributions towards Haiti or some other cause you're passionate about.
If you like your friend and would be happy to donate for another cause that he may support, maybe look into what they'd actually be doing down there instead of just assuming they'll get in the way. Perhaps there are ways that they really can be helpful, especially now that much of the world has moved onto worrying about other things rather than the earthquake in Haiti. Most people have a short attention span for natural disasters that don't directly involve them.
posted by wondermouse at 12:42 PM on May 15, 2010
If you like your friend and would be happy to donate for another cause that he may support, maybe look into what they'd actually be doing down there instead of just assuming they'll get in the way. Perhaps there are ways that they really can be helpful, especially now that much of the world has moved onto worrying about other things rather than the earthquake in Haiti. Most people have a short attention span for natural disasters that don't directly involve them.
posted by wondermouse at 12:42 PM on May 15, 2010
Do you know what a hospital volunteer even does?
I was a hospital volunteer as a teenager. I spent two yeas in the ER where I did everything from checking with nurses if a patient who was begging for water could have some (the nurses would sometimes be too busy to do this) to comforting a mother whose son had a terrible allergic reaction to a medicine while they were on vacation (kid ended up going to the ICU after he was stabilized, which took about three hours). Sometimes nurses and doctors are too busy to do the little things and volunteers can fill those gaps. In little everyday ways, volunteers can advocate for patients by providing a very normal support.
Of course, this was at a hospital in the US, but it was the largest hospital in my homestate. I can only imagine that hospital volunteers in Haiti right now are an invaluable asset in all the ways that I assisted in the ER in my home state and then some. And the practical experience? It teaches people how to handle themselves in real world emergency situations, how to stay collected and cool with little information, and to sometimes be the person who can sustain someone's failing hope.
My experience in the ER at 16 and 17 shaped a lot of my abilities to handle crisis situations --- everything from calling 911 when a woman faints on the subway, calling up to the conductor repeatedly that there is a medical emergency, and helping her to get off the train and staying with her until the EMTs arrive to calming down a student who is upset and angry about a grade in a course to being reasonably calm when my kid falls and is bleeding everywhere from the mouth and I can't tell from exactly where. Not to mention the very practical things they will be doing in the hospital ---- from fetching a glass of water for a patient to perhaps comforting a mother who thinks she might be losing a child.
If you can't in good conscience support him, then don't. And make a donation to an organization you find more fitting for your beliefs. Tell him you're doing so or have done so. Wish him luck. And then talk to him when he gets back about what he did in the hospital and see if your bias is the same.
posted by zizzle at 12:46 PM on May 15, 2010 [5 favorites]
I was a hospital volunteer as a teenager. I spent two yeas in the ER where I did everything from checking with nurses if a patient who was begging for water could have some (the nurses would sometimes be too busy to do this) to comforting a mother whose son had a terrible allergic reaction to a medicine while they were on vacation (kid ended up going to the ICU after he was stabilized, which took about three hours). Sometimes nurses and doctors are too busy to do the little things and volunteers can fill those gaps. In little everyday ways, volunteers can advocate for patients by providing a very normal support.
Of course, this was at a hospital in the US, but it was the largest hospital in my homestate. I can only imagine that hospital volunteers in Haiti right now are an invaluable asset in all the ways that I assisted in the ER in my home state and then some. And the practical experience? It teaches people how to handle themselves in real world emergency situations, how to stay collected and cool with little information, and to sometimes be the person who can sustain someone's failing hope.
My experience in the ER at 16 and 17 shaped a lot of my abilities to handle crisis situations --- everything from calling 911 when a woman faints on the subway, calling up to the conductor repeatedly that there is a medical emergency, and helping her to get off the train and staying with her until the EMTs arrive to calming down a student who is upset and angry about a grade in a course to being reasonably calm when my kid falls and is bleeding everywhere from the mouth and I can't tell from exactly where. Not to mention the very practical things they will be doing in the hospital ---- from fetching a glass of water for a patient to perhaps comforting a mother who thinks she might be losing a child.
If you can't in good conscience support him, then don't. And make a donation to an organization you find more fitting for your beliefs. Tell him you're doing so or have done so. Wish him luck. And then talk to him when he gets back about what he did in the hospital and see if your bias is the same.
posted by zizzle at 12:46 PM on May 15, 2010 [5 favorites]
If it was group like Habitat for Humanity that's built for volun-tourism, I'd say you are being overly critical.
But based on their website, their mission appears to be just as much about the volunteers as the people they are supposedly helping.
Give at the office.
posted by gjc at 12:48 PM on May 15, 2010 [1 favorite]
But based on their website, their mission appears to be just as much about the volunteers as the people they are supposedly helping.
Give at the office.
posted by gjc at 12:48 PM on May 15, 2010 [1 favorite]
Do you know what a hospital volunteer even does?
With the Haitian economy in the state it's in, one can easily argue that actual Haitians should be employed--or even just used as volunteers, in the interests of sustainability--in the kind of tasks you can get an unskilled US student who doesn't speak Creole to assist with.
posted by availablelight at 12:50 PM on May 15, 2010 [10 favorites]
With the Haitian economy in the state it's in, one can easily argue that actual Haitians should be employed--or even just used as volunteers, in the interests of sustainability--in the kind of tasks you can get an unskilled US student who doesn't speak Creole to assist with.
posted by availablelight at 12:50 PM on May 15, 2010 [10 favorites]
Does he speak Creole? Because I imagine it might be difficult to help patients and nurses and doctors if he doesn't.
posted by rtha at 12:50 PM on May 15, 2010
posted by rtha at 12:50 PM on May 15, 2010
...and in case you ask how these Haitians would be paid to act as hospital assistants, when Americans would do it for "free"....with the money spent on travel and accomodations, and overhead for foreigners to pick up the slack.
posted by availablelight at 12:52 PM on May 15, 2010 [5 favorites]
posted by availablelight at 12:52 PM on May 15, 2010 [5 favorites]
The phrase "money I have been holding out on" is a bit ambiguous - have you said you would give, or just that you're thinking about it? I'm usually of the "do what you say you're going to do" school of things, barring outrageous circumstance.
If not, tell him you gave at the office (as you did) and that times are hard all over, and best of luck. Leave it at that. He'll be getting a lot of that, and had better get used to it.
(Is this these guys? I've seen and been hit up for far more openly let's sing kumbaya sorts of exotic vacations than this. That said, my own money tends to be red cross.)
posted by IndigoJones at 12:58 PM on May 15, 2010
If not, tell him you gave at the office (as you did) and that times are hard all over, and best of luck. Leave it at that. He'll be getting a lot of that, and had better get used to it.
(Is this these guys? I've seen and been hit up for far more openly let's sing kumbaya sorts of exotic vacations than this. That said, my own money tends to be red cross.)
posted by IndigoJones at 12:58 PM on May 15, 2010
Here's a collection of links which might help you to come up with some solid arguments to present to your friend:
http://informationincontext.typepad.com/good_intentions_are_not_e/2010/01/dont-go-to-haiti.html
http://informationincontext.typepad.com/good_intentions_are_not_e/2010/02/sometimes-you-need-to-do-something.html
http://informationincontext.typepad.com/good_intentions_are_not_e/2009/07/guideline-2-for-volunteering-overseas.html
Happy reading!
posted by coffee_monster at 1:05 PM on May 15, 2010 [1 favorite]
http://informationincontext.typepad.com/good_intentions_are_not_e/2010/01/dont-go-to-haiti.html
http://informationincontext.typepad.com/good_intentions_are_not_e/2010/02/sometimes-you-need-to-do-something.html
http://informationincontext.typepad.com/good_intentions_are_not_e/2009/07/guideline-2-for-volunteering-overseas.html
Happy reading!
posted by coffee_monster at 1:05 PM on May 15, 2010 [1 favorite]
You seem to have a pretty coherent and well developed argument against giving him money, so tell him your argument next time he asks you for something.
That's separate to the issue of whether he should do it, though. It's difficult to say whether another person should do or shouldn't do pretty much anything. He might want to go just for the sake of going, and if he can do some good over there while he's there, then that's a benefit. He might not be able to do things like doctor or nurse, but he might just be required to know which end of a hammer to hold. There are probably all kinds of jobs that need doing, not just the immediacy of saving people's lives.
posted by Solomon at 1:11 PM on May 15, 2010
That's separate to the issue of whether he should do it, though. It's difficult to say whether another person should do or shouldn't do pretty much anything. He might want to go just for the sake of going, and if he can do some good over there while he's there, then that's a benefit. He might not be able to do things like doctor or nurse, but he might just be required to know which end of a hammer to hold. There are probably all kinds of jobs that need doing, not just the immediacy of saving people's lives.
posted by Solomon at 1:11 PM on May 15, 2010
I understand exactly where you are coming from, but there is also this: I see value in Americans experiencing just what it is like to be in a place like Haiti-or any other third world nation, for that matter. I truly believe it makes you a better person in the long run.
I can't speak to whether or not this particular group will be of actual help there. Maybe they will be a lot of help, maybe not so much. But yet I am still a big fan of whatever can change a world view for a lifetime-and hopefully, having that view impacted, would translate into action for the rest OF that lifetime.
I'm not saying you should give money to this particular trip, particularly if it is money you would indeed give to an organization you feel is more helpful to your cause, but I am saying that if you did give him money it wouldn't necessarily be a waste.
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 1:22 PM on May 15, 2010 [4 favorites]
I can't speak to whether or not this particular group will be of actual help there. Maybe they will be a lot of help, maybe not so much. But yet I am still a big fan of whatever can change a world view for a lifetime-and hopefully, having that view impacted, would translate into action for the rest OF that lifetime.
I'm not saying you should give money to this particular trip, particularly if it is money you would indeed give to an organization you feel is more helpful to your cause, but I am saying that if you did give him money it wouldn't necessarily be a waste.
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 1:22 PM on May 15, 2010 [4 favorites]
Yeah, I tend to think these feel-good holidays paid for by others are just ridiculous, too. I mean, does your friend really think Haiti needs unskilled manpower more than they need the money being spent to send him over there?
But if you tell him that, then you're a jerk in his eyes. I suppose you could ask him if he'd thought of just sending them the money he'd raised so that they could pay for medical supplies or to pay for a Haitian hospital assistant, perhaps phrasing it as being easier on him than having to go over there doing the work himself? But if you don't feel comfortable doing that just say you've already donated to Oxfam or the Red Cross or your charity of choice. After you've donated to them, of course.
posted by hazyjane at 1:24 PM on May 15, 2010
But if you tell him that, then you're a jerk in his eyes. I suppose you could ask him if he'd thought of just sending them the money he'd raised so that they could pay for medical supplies or to pay for a Haitian hospital assistant, perhaps phrasing it as being easier on him than having to go over there doing the work himself? But if you don't feel comfortable doing that just say you've already donated to Oxfam or the Red Cross or your charity of choice. After you've donated to them, of course.
posted by hazyjane at 1:24 PM on May 15, 2010
Funny timing, because I was just reading an interview with an author named Andrew Potter who has touched upon this subject in articles and in his new book called The Authenticity Hoax, which is excellent (as was his previous book, also somewhat related to this subject, called The Rebel Sell.) He did an interview in which he was asked about voluntourism and he had this to say:
I have a friend who went on a voluntourism trip to Nepal. She was going to hike three days into the mountains and work for three weeks at a medical clinic. And she’s someone who had absolutely no training in medicine. And it’s one of these things where when she got there it was kind of a disaster because she really didn’t know what she was doing and it ended up really not working out very well.
What I would encourage people in those circumstances, if you really want to help a medical clinic in Nepal there’s a very simple thing Westerners can do, which is to give money. Because we have a lot of it relative to those people. And so if you’ve got three weeks to spare, one thing you might want to do is work for a week, give the proceeds of that week to the medical clinic, and then take a two week vacation. When the problem solves itself in an ideal way, you get a vacation and the clinic gets what it actually needs, which is cash as opposed to your labor, which is ineffectual.
I would tend to agree with you. Telling your friend exactly how you feel might not be the best move, but donating to MSF or the Red Cross, or some other organization with an established network already on the ground in Haiti would probably be much more useful to actual Haitians.
posted by fso at 2:11 PM on May 15, 2010 [8 favorites]
I have a friend who went on a voluntourism trip to Nepal. She was going to hike three days into the mountains and work for three weeks at a medical clinic. And she’s someone who had absolutely no training in medicine. And it’s one of these things where when she got there it was kind of a disaster because she really didn’t know what she was doing and it ended up really not working out very well.
What I would encourage people in those circumstances, if you really want to help a medical clinic in Nepal there’s a very simple thing Westerners can do, which is to give money. Because we have a lot of it relative to those people. And so if you’ve got three weeks to spare, one thing you might want to do is work for a week, give the proceeds of that week to the medical clinic, and then take a two week vacation. When the problem solves itself in an ideal way, you get a vacation and the clinic gets what it actually needs, which is cash as opposed to your labor, which is ineffectual.
I would tend to agree with you. Telling your friend exactly how you feel might not be the best move, but donating to MSF or the Red Cross, or some other organization with an established network already on the ground in Haiti would probably be much more useful to actual Haitians.
posted by fso at 2:11 PM on May 15, 2010 [8 favorites]
I agree with you. Inexperienced people have no business over there draining much-needed resources. I urge you to read this earlier AskMe thread. Don't miss the comments by Nothing... and like it and Dee Xtrovert.
posted by futureisunwritten at 5:37 PM on May 15, 2010
posted by futureisunwritten at 5:37 PM on May 15, 2010
after katrina, i met many wonderful people from all over the country. it was truly, sincerely, touching that so many people wanted to help. for better or worse, though, many of the people who 'helped' me weren't helpful at all. like the group of young christians who came through one day when i was mucking out the tenant's half, sweating my ass off, cursing my bad luck. they chatted with me about hardships after the storm, asked if they could pray for me (they did), gave me a pack of cookies, and moved on. w. t. f?
and with all due respect, st alia, i completely agree that there is tremendous 'value in Americans experiencing just what it is like to be in a place like Haiti-or any other third world nation.' i also think that one of the wonderful things about living in america is that you can come & go, pretty much as you please. using a horrendous disaster as an excuse to broaden one's cultural horizons is beyond the pale in my book, though.
from my perspective, it's reaffirming that so many people want to help when something like this happens. however ... it also seems to me that volunteering is more about making the volunteer feel good than anything else. you don't have to trek to haiti to help earthquake victims; there are tons of people in your own back yard whose lives have been rocked off center. find one of those & lend a hand.
posted by msconduct at 6:29 PM on May 15, 2010 [8 favorites]
and with all due respect, st alia, i completely agree that there is tremendous 'value in Americans experiencing just what it is like to be in a place like Haiti-or any other third world nation.' i also think that one of the wonderful things about living in america is that you can come & go, pretty much as you please. using a horrendous disaster as an excuse to broaden one's cultural horizons is beyond the pale in my book, though.
from my perspective, it's reaffirming that so many people want to help when something like this happens. however ... it also seems to me that volunteering is more about making the volunteer feel good than anything else. you don't have to trek to haiti to help earthquake victims; there are tons of people in your own back yard whose lives have been rocked off center. find one of those & lend a hand.
posted by msconduct at 6:29 PM on May 15, 2010 [8 favorites]
To Hell With Good Intentions by Ivan Illich is pertinent.
posted by ReWayne at 6:51 PM on May 15, 2010
posted by ReWayne at 6:51 PM on May 15, 2010
My answer was crafted to actually answer the OP. I personally feel that during a time of disaster it really is best to let the folks who know what they are doing do the on-ground stuff -but I feel that too many Americans have no freaking clue, really about how blessed we are and how as a consequence we have a moral obligation to help people both here and abroad who need it. If someone can go to Haiti and get a revelation, that's not a bad thing-but this may indeed not be the right time for that.
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 7:17 PM on May 15, 2010
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 7:17 PM on May 15, 2010
I agree with you, and my perspective is this: this is a place with severely comprised resources of all kinds - not just medical supplies but food, water, shelter, etc. Sending more people in just means spreading already thin resources even thinner - surely the genuinely helpful thing to do is support the teams that are already there. Keep the external footprint small, help those that are already installed to go farther with their contribution without increasing the load on the infrastructure.
posted by L'Estrange Fruit at 8:36 PM on May 15, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by L'Estrange Fruit at 8:36 PM on May 15, 2010 [1 favorite]
To some extent, I agree with you. I've volunteered with Habitat for Humanity Global Village twice and I'm not someone who wields a hammer very well at all. I think that I definitely got more out of those experiences than I gave. At the same time, I think that there was some value to the people we spent time with seeing us there.
For example, Habitat asks the homeowners if they would mind if volunteers come over to help. One particular homeowner agreed to have volunteers but then when they got to the house, the homeowner's wife didn't let them in because she didn't want Christians working on her house [I don't know if they were actually Christians or if that was just shorthand for white people or Americans fwiw]. But the husband came over and let the group work on the house and afterward she was grateful.
Another woman who volunteered with Global Village several times said that when her group was leaving a country in South America, she was knocked over by a homeowner who gave her an enormous hug and said in Spanish that she didn't know what she would do without the volunteers. My friend didn't know Spanish and this woman didn't know English but they would sit together and talk regardless. It was meaningful for both of them just to be with each other.
So, no, on a practical, pragmatic level, your friend probably isn't going to be literally saving lives or solving the incredible problems that Haiti has. But I do think there is some tangible benefit to your friend going. A few more people will likely donate to help out in Haiti than would have donated otherwise. Even beyond that, I think that his going will help people in Haiti realize that we haven't forgotten them and we won't forget them and that is extremely powerful.
posted by kat518 at 10:37 PM on May 15, 2010
For example, Habitat asks the homeowners if they would mind if volunteers come over to help. One particular homeowner agreed to have volunteers but then when they got to the house, the homeowner's wife didn't let them in because she didn't want Christians working on her house [I don't know if they were actually Christians or if that was just shorthand for white people or Americans fwiw]. But the husband came over and let the group work on the house and afterward she was grateful.
Another woman who volunteered with Global Village several times said that when her group was leaving a country in South America, she was knocked over by a homeowner who gave her an enormous hug and said in Spanish that she didn't know what she would do without the volunteers. My friend didn't know Spanish and this woman didn't know English but they would sit together and talk regardless. It was meaningful for both of them just to be with each other.
So, no, on a practical, pragmatic level, your friend probably isn't going to be literally saving lives or solving the incredible problems that Haiti has. But I do think there is some tangible benefit to your friend going. A few more people will likely donate to help out in Haiti than would have donated otherwise. Even beyond that, I think that his going will help people in Haiti realize that we haven't forgotten them and we won't forget them and that is extremely powerful.
posted by kat518 at 10:37 PM on May 15, 2010
Isn't there something a little morbid about celebrating natural disasters because they bring out the best in humanity? Instead we should wish that Haitians can enjoy the same safe, comfortable conditions that let us behave like petty jerks and steal each others' parking spaces.
posted by AlsoMike at 10:43 PM on May 15, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by AlsoMike at 10:43 PM on May 15, 2010 [2 favorites]
I understand your sentiments (and agree with them, in part), but your friend probably doesn't want to hear about your philosophical objections to his Haiti trip, and it does seem like his heart is in the right place. And who knows, maybe the trip will end up being beneficial in some way, by reminding people that Haiti still needs help and resources or by the money participants will spend on hotels, food, and the like when they're in country. You could also suggest he takes an extra suitcase filled with donated clothes or other goods. I'd just give him $10 or something and say you have already donated to Red Cross. When my friends hit me up for various fundraising walks I always donate at a small amount because I know it's something they're passionate about and I want to support them as a friend, even if I don't care much about the cause. I save more substantial donations for organizations like the Red Cross and Oxfam.
posted by emd3737 at 4:52 AM on May 16, 2010
posted by emd3737 at 4:52 AM on May 16, 2010
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posted by Think_Long at 12:35 PM on May 15, 2010 [3 favorites]