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Tsunami Relief fund Could land in wrong hands - Assume only 25% of the money reaching affected??

Posted on 01/01/2005 6:51:58 AM PST by sheila_agarwal

This is about the devastation happened by tsunami and about the funds pouring in for the relief. I know there is a lot of money coming from everywhere in the world for the relief efforts. Infact I did a little bit of math interms of indian currecny though the situation might be differnt for different countries. Even if we assume that the total relief money is about $2 billion, it would amount to almost 20,000Rs in indian currency for each person who was affected by tsunami. This is assuming that 5 million people were moved by tsunami. And if we assume that there are 4 people per family, it would amount to 80,000 Rs per family. I would not say it is a great amount. But this would atleast be good enough for them to take care of themselves for another 6 months. But the real question is would this money really reach all the affected people. I am coming from Tamil Nadu, India, which is the worst affected place in India. I exactly know how bad the government there in comparision to government here in USA. There is corruption at every level of government. Infact the current chief minister of TamilNadu became almost $ 200-300 million (speculated amount) richer after becoming a chief minister of that state, which is a huge amount in india. All these money were earned through corruption. I know about the government in TamilNadu, India. I dont know about how it is in Srilanka, Indonesia or Thailand. If this relief amount is to be given to the government of TamilNadu for instance, I would assume that only 10-20% of the total money would even reach the affected people. So my question is, is there someone making sure that the moeny does not land in wrong hands and make the corrupted people even richer than what they are now, instead of helping the affected people. As I told you I am coming from TamilNadu and I would like to send money.But I have been thinking about the correct channel to direct the money as I dont want it to land in wrong hands.. If that is the fear of the person who is coming from the native land, how are different countries going to make sure that the money really reaches the affected people?


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Government; Your Opinion/Questions
KEYWORDS: humanitarianrelief; sumatraquake; tsunami; tsunamirelief
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1 posted on 01/01/2005 6:51:58 AM PST by sheila_agarwal
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To: sheila_agarwal

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1213319/posts
FR Welcome Thread for Newbies and Lurkers.
Here ^ | 9/11/04 | Rebelbase

This does not belong in breaking news.


2 posted on 01/01/2005 6:55:04 AM PST by MEG33 (...GOD BLESS OUR ARMED FORCES)
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To: sheila_agarwal

There are several good private organizations who can use the money better than any government agency. Research them and send your money there


3 posted on 01/01/2005 6:57:07 AM PST by blastdad51 (Proud father of an Enduring Freedom vet, and friend of a soldier lost in Afghanistan)
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To: sheila_agarwal

You ask an excellent question. Private donations are usually made to specific organizations like the Red Cross etc. Several times this week I heard Colin Powell speak to this question. He repeated the necessity of being sure the money goes to places it will actually do good for those affected.

After the oil-for-food debacle at the UN I think there will be eyes focused on how this money is spent.


4 posted on 01/01/2005 7:00:55 AM PST by SE Mom (God Bless our troops.)
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To: sheila_agarwal

If it were handed over to the UN it could be assured that it would fall into fall into the wrong hands.


5 posted on 01/01/2005 7:01:29 AM PST by Piquaboy (22 year veteran of the Army, Air Force and Navy, Pray for all our military .)
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To: blastdad51
WHERE IS THE EXPENSE REPORT?
6 posted on 01/01/2005 7:02:02 AM PST by B4Ranch (((The lack of alcohol in my coffee forces me to see reality!)))
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To: sheila_agarwal

Would this have anything to do with Bush bypassing the UN relief agency, and forming a group of four nations who give directly to the effected areas?


8 posted on 01/01/2005 7:03:22 AM PST by Noachian (A Democrat, by definition, is a Socialist.)
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To: sheila_agarwal

If the UN were to distribute the relief, would it still be 25%?


9 posted on 01/01/2005 7:03:33 AM PST by Tai_Chung
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To: sheila_agarwal

Punctuation, spelling and try to use paragraphs....

Donate through a private organization. Much of this money isnt going to be written to the families in check form or something of that nature but instead will be used to pay for blankets, food, water and shelters....

Some may also be used as start up capital via government loans, which may not need to be paid back if backed up by money from the foriegn aid...

We dont know how the money will be spent yet. Thankfully we arent just giving them a blank check and are instead slowly ramping up the amounts as the devastation becomes more fully known....


10 posted on 01/01/2005 7:03:51 AM PST by MikefromOhio (9 days until I can leave Iraq and stop selling hot dogs in Baghdad....and boycotting boycotts)
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To: sheila_agarwal
The 9/11 misappropriations of money for charitable relief was a fiasco. Red Cross and many others were proven to thoroughly misrepresent their intentions.

Throughout the years, the Salvation Army has proven reliable time and again with honesty, integrity, and presence in the blighted areas long after others have departed.

Go here: SalvationArmy.org

As usual, the SA is already mobilized.

11 posted on 01/01/2005 7:04:02 AM PST by xzins (Retired Army Chaplain and Proud of It!)
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To: Piquaboy

The Salvation Army is another good choice.


12 posted on 01/01/2005 7:04:28 AM PST by ClaireSolt (.)
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To: sheila_agarwal

This is why the leftist talking heads and the MSM whores are all demanding everyone send cash! It is untraceable and they can line their own filthy pockets.

Donate to the Boy Scouts of America and to the American Red Cross or directly to your own Church.

DO NOT send anything to United Way, the UN, red crescent, or any of the other communist and leftist organizations nor to any of the simply crooked "charities" (many TV preachers fall into this one!).


13 posted on 01/01/2005 7:07:23 AM PST by steplock (http://www.outoftimeradio.org)
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To: MEG33

This does not belong in breaking news.

Maybe not officially news but it IS important enough to be posted there! Especially if it keeps these criminals from stealing money like they have always done.

I believe it IS breaking news --- just call it "direct from the reporter's mouth"!


14 posted on 01/01/2005 7:09:50 AM PST by steplock (http://www.outoftimeradio.org)
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To: steplock

They don't literally mean cash. They mean don't donate things.


15 posted on 01/01/2005 7:10:39 AM PST by Snapple
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To: MEG33
Maybe it's not breaking news but I expressed the same worry when this whole thing happened. Unless you have spent time in the third world you really don't know how corrupt things are. In many areas there is a direct line for any asset be
it money, goods or anything of value that seldom is skirted.

Those in power almost always get a "taste" of what goes down. Corruption is not an occasional problem, in the third world it is more a way of life. So breaking news or not I respect what this person is saying.

It's hard to forget the oil for food debacle and the only reason we even heard about that is that it was so massive. Most third world corruption is covered up at some level.
16 posted on 01/01/2005 7:10:58 AM PST by rodguy911 (rodguy911:First let's get rid of the UN and then the ACLU, or vice versa..)
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To: sheila_agarwal

Sending cash to any organization in the middle of a crisis is just asking for your dollars to be pocketed by unscrupulous middle-(wo)men.

I'm waiting for a while for a needs assessment of some type to come out. I will then help with goods (food, clothing, medicines, everyday stuff like a cooking pot and a spoon, etc.) that will go directly to the people who need them.

And we had another discussion here yesterday about how that $350 million that the US has earmarked for this effort is made up of our tax dollars to begin with, so we Americans are already donating whether we want to or not.

(I don't know how to link to that, so if someone can, please do!)


17 posted on 01/01/2005 7:11:14 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin (Save The Earth. It's The Only Planet With Chocolate.)
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To: sheila_agarwal

You are correct that much of the aid money for tsunami relief will be stolen or wasted due to government corruption, extensive gangsterism and criminality, and predation by terrorist groups. For example, Bob Geldoff's fund-raising for Ethiopian famine relief ultimately redounded to the benefit of Haile Selassie's corrupt and brutal regime. Tottering before the aid arrived, the government was sufficiently enriched that it consolidated its position and launched a war against Somalia, plunging that entire region of Africa into a cycle of war, famine, and disorder that continues to this day.


18 posted on 01/01/2005 7:12:44 AM PST by Rockingham
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To: sheila_agarwal
I am a Christian and direct my efforts toward the SalvationArmy. They are an organiztion that has provided for poor and needy for decades, as a ministry.

The money they spend on themselves is meager, and will not increase due to donations. The vast bulk is spent on the needs... not lining pockets. they are laying up treasure elsewhere...

Matthew 6:19 - Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

Matthew 6:20 - But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

Matthew 6:21 - For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Matthew 19:21 - Jesus said to him, If thou wouldest be perfect, go, sell what thou hast and give to [the] poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.

19 posted on 01/01/2005 7:12:52 AM PST by pageonetoo (I could name them, but you'll spot their posts soon enough.)
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To: Incorrigible

Posting of Getty images is prohibited. Thanks.


20 posted on 01/01/2005 7:16:29 AM PST by Admin Moderator
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