… have they not a shred of decency?

The people of Haiti, right now, need food, fresh water, medical supplies with doctors and nurses, and engineers and builders with equipment to demolish unsafe structures and rebuild roads, bridges, hospitals, houses and schools.

But what do some people think, right now, is a more important use of space in a plane going there?

• A Christian evangelical group is sending 600 solar-powered talking Bibles (because Haitians must not have their own religious systems in place to comfort them during this crisis)
• John Travolta is going to fly in a load of e-meters and Scientology ‘ministers’ (because what starving and grieving people need is to have their galvanic skin responses misinterpreted and ‘location assists’ reminding them where exactly they are)
• Homeopaths Without Borders is seeking donations for their Haiti relief efforts (because small vials of double-distilled water (sorry, “remedy”) are obviously more use than large barrels of actual drinking water)

I bet that’s only the tip of the inappropriate iceberg.

Back the fuck off, vultures.

(Relief organisations which have experience and credibility in providing essential disaster recovery assistance are discussed in this previous post.)
NB. The $5 donation via texting in the UN Food Program badge to the right only works in the USA.

Categories: crisis, ethics & philosophy

Tags: disasters, earthquake, exploitation