Precisely the Problem...

In an article dated October 12, 2006, we read that "US and Haiti sign agreement to support Haiti's economic and social development." Who exactly signed the agreement? Well, it was USAID/Haiti Mission Director Paul Tuebner, United States Ambassador Janet Sanderson, Prime Minister Jacques Edouard Alexis, and Minister of Planning and External Cooperation Jean-Max Bellerive. Guess how much Haiti gets?

$53 million of fiscal year 2006 funds for USAID assistance programs
in Haiti, these funds are part of an overall Country Strategy Grant Agreement
(CSGA) covering the next three years (FY 2007 to FY 2009). The total
contribution under the terms of the agreement is estimated to be up to $492
million for all USAID activities that support the Haitian people during this
period.

That's a heck of a lot of money - but then, the U.S. has given a lot of money to Haiti before. According to the article "The United States is Haiti's largest single-country donor and trade partner..." And well, with that amount of money and the U.S. being "committed to work with Haitian citizens and their government over the long term" one would think that a population roughly the size of NYC would benefit greatly.

Where's the hitch? Some how when we read,

USAID will partner with the Government of Haiti to help meet the
basic needs of the Haitian population, focusing on job creation, community
revitalization and empowerment, local government partnerships, expansion of
financial services, watershed development, agribusiness and marketing, public
health care, AIDS prevention and treatment, education services, civil society
and media improvement, judicial and parliamentary systems reform and improved
governance and fiscal policy.

it's hard to believe that it'll come to fruition. Some how, not all the money makes it to the projects for which it's intended. Of course, given the level of destitution there, if even a little of that money trickled down to the outrageously poor we could see a difference.

Unless those who bestowed the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize on Bangledeshi Muhammad Yunus were completely out to lunch, perhaps the U.S., her wealthy and her large non-profit organizations should look closer at this different model for giving. Using the concept of microfinance, Yunus and the Grameen Bank he founded hope to "lift millions out of poverty." If, for example, Madonna, Angelina Jolie and others looked around our Hemisphere for a moment, they might see how some of their pocket change could work miracles on many many children (not just the ones they decide to walk away with). If the money went straight into the hands of the needy...