[AliceFromHouston]

it would have been nice if someone had provided recomendations on where to donate.

As you know, there is already an active P.S. thread that was started a couple days earlier for exactly that purpose.

Presumably, you started this thread for another purpose.

[giftbestcom]

I wouldn't be too worry about the Haitian gov taking advantage of the situation. As others have stated this catastrophe has hit from the very top down. Just make sure you do your research and not give $ do shady orgs. Another thing that I wanted to mention is the DR has an immensely vested interest for Haiti to overcome this for the better as you may know Haitian have brought the same issues as what the Mexican illegal immigrants here represents. The DR fears that an exodus of Haitian will leave Haiti to the DR adding to the already tense relationship between the two countries.
Dominican Republic aid to Haiti eases historic tensions - CNN.com

do I like wall st bailouts? no. do I like the make work stimulus projects that don't address our long term needs? no. we just piss money away. what undue focus, it was a specific point that seems to have bothered some people...someone could simply have pointed out that they didn't think it was happening. I have no agenda to pedal, I'm not a politician, just a frustrated american. that's the problem, if you have an opinion on something, all of a sudden someone wants to make you a caricature or a stereotypical partisan. it's wrong on both sides. only now did I find we spent $700 million on aid and these people still had no food, yet there's no money to build a roosevelt blvd or second ave subway in America. in 2007? they made $30 million available to improve intercity rail. it would have been nice if someone had provided recomendations on where to donate.

[disappointment2]

I heard a thing on the BBC about masses of displaced people already streaming across the DR border, even though its far away from Port-au-Prince.

[giftbestcom]

DR has opened their borders for those injured thank god!
Dozens of injured Haitians cross Dominican border for medical attention - DominicanToday.com

I heard a thing on the BBC about masses of displaced people already streaming across the DR border, even though its far away from Port-au-Prince.

[M_Marked]

As you know, there is already an active P.S. thread that was started a couple days earlier for exactly that purpose.

Presumably, you started this thread for another purpose.

oh you mean like being concerned where the $100 million dollars was spent as I've said several times? geez. though I remain concerned where my direct donation goes, it's more concerning where out tax money donations go. seand has implied there doesn't seem to be a government to give to, which somewhat alleviates my concern. I stopped paying attention to that other thread because it got out of hand, which I assume is why it was closed when I went to post this article.
thanks evelyn, was nice to see DR help out given the the history between the two. in the long run there's probably going to be tensions. it's one thing for the government to say they'll help, and quite another for everyone to get along.
Some tensions still exist between citizens of both countries. Dominicans recall how they were under Haitian rule for a period in the mid-1800s, and how they repeatedly fought Haitian aggressions. Today, Haitians provide cheap labor in the Dominican Republic, a trend that has caused resentment on both sides, not unlike the illegal immigration debate in the United States. I can't imagine Haiti will ever get better without better relations with DR. I suppose DR may need some help as well.

[giftbestcom]

Exactly is for the best interest of both countries. DR has immensely grown economically. While Haiti has not but nor does the DR actually has taken a vested interest in helping Haiti unlike their other investments with other Latin American countries (brasil, venezuela etc) and Europe!!! Why!? I believe is bc their minds are still set in the 1800s!!

I can't imagine Haiti will ever get better without better relations with DR. I suppose DR may need some help as well[/B].

[M_Marked]

Exactly is for the best interest of both countries. DR has immensely grown economically. While Haiti has not but nor does the DR actually has taken a vested interest in helping Haiti unlike their other investments with other Latin American countries (brasil, venezuela etc) and Europe!!! Why!? I believe is bc their minds are still set in the 1800s!!

well, Haiti hasn't been a stable place to invest for quite some time. the US has given hundreds of millions and it doesn't seem to have bought much. that said, don't know if there are trade or travel rstrictions which would suck, the island isn't that big. my own personal opinion, FWIW, is that eventually when Cuba is free, there should be a carribean confederacy or something like ASEAN (Assoc. of SouthEast Asian Nations) involving DR, PR, Cuba, and Haiti and perhaps the Virgin Islands. Of course, when PR has the highest income in the carribean but is still unacceptably low, it will never be strong enough to take care of weakness in haiti. Stability in DR should help but Cuba is, of course, the elephant in the room.

[Forex Autopilot]

Five tips to avoid Haiti relief scams / The Christian Science Monitor - CSMonitor.com

[Fiipolera]

not meant to be athread where people express their for blacks, but I was roundly ridiculed for being concerned where the money actually went. turns out, there's reason for that

.

A charity only has to spend 10% of the donations on the needy. Legally they can keep 90% for themeseves.

[disappointment2]

Up until a few days ago Haiti was a mandmade disaster about to happen. A 7.0 earthquake under a major population center would a humanitarian disaster if it happened in Tokyo or Los Angeles. Under a city like Port-au-Prince its a natural disaster of immense proportions.

FWIW groups like the Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, WorldVision were already active in Haiti before the quake, which is all the more reason to support them after it.

[AliceFromHouston]

Partners in Health and Oxfam both had long-term projects in Haiti and a significant number of staff already on the ground there before the quake struck.

For those concerned about their relief donations going to direct program work rather than administration or fund-raising, Partners in Health in particular spends nearly their entire budget on direct aid. Their executive director, who oversees a $48 million program budget makes just $74k/year.

Charity Navigator Rating - Partners In Health

[pavlik]

Baby doc (Duvallier) still has 7million chf (approx 7,182 million usd) blocked on the bank accounts at UBS.

I ask the Swiss governement (Media Release) to finally unblock this money and use it for the much needed help in Haiti !!

[Cogebrego]

The US occupied Haiti for almost 20 years during that last century. I would not be at all surprised if that were to happen again.

(as if Barack isn't busy enough as it is with the 2 wars, the economy, the healthcare and everything else)

[babopeddy]

The US occupied Haiti for almost 20 years during that last century. I would not be at all surprised if that were to happen again.

(as if Barack isn't busy enough as it is with the 2 wars, the economy, the healthcare and everything else)

I doubt he's too worried; he'll just leave the mess for whomever takes over from him in 2012.

[preachadaq]

The US occupied Haiti for almost 20 years during that last century. I would not be at all surprised if that were to happen again.

(as if Barack isn't busy enough as it is with the 2 wars, the economy, the healthcare and everything else)

More than that... Wilson sent troops in around 1915 and pretty much ran the place until we gave it over to Papa Doc. Killed thousands, siphoned billions. Papa and his son pretty much trashed the place for two decades with tacit US support while running up a insurmountable tab that Haiti is still paying off to this day. They also swung the front doors wide open and allowed the US to dump all its subsidized rice and sugar onto the fledgling Haitian market flatlining the indigenous economy. Of course then we topped it all of by overthrowing the democratically elected president, not once, but twice! Once in 1991, and again in 2004 when he dared to raise the minimum wage threatening the bottom line of U.S. corporations like Disney who have profited mightily off Haitian sweatshop labor.

The hypocrisy is breathtaking and watching the media coverage completely divorce this crisis from the events in Haiti over the past 50-60 years is as criminal as the events themselves.

[halfstreet]

I ask the Swiss governement (Media Release) to finally unblock this money and use it for the much needed help in Haiti !!

The Swiss are currently giggling at you.

[Ndptbudd]

whats up with them eyebrows?

YouTube - Michelle Obama: 'We Can All Do Something'

[soprofaxel]

Somebody was worried about money going to the gov....seems there should be no worries. Now the aid effort..well that is another matter...

Less than a penny of each dollar the U.S. is spending on earthquake relief in Haiti is going in the form of cash to the Haitian government, according to an Associated Press review of relief efforts.

Two weeks after President Obama announced an initial $100 million for Haiti earthquake relief, U.S. government spending on the disaster has nearly quadrupled to $379 million, the U.S. Agency for International Development announced Wednesday. That's about $1.25 each from everyone in the United States.

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.

AP ENTERPRISE: Less than 1 cent of US quake aid dollar goes in cash to Haitian government - Courant.com

[emexiagog]

Does anyone know how much money/aid has been going to Haiti on an annual basis before the earthquake?

I heard a number once on the news but it was in the background and I do not remember.

[M_Marked]

thanks Doom.