The Red Cross has failed massively in its promise to Haiti.
In case you missed it... After the devastating 2010 earthquake plans were made by the Red Cross to help build hundreds of thousands of homes.
But the plans fell through and the pitiful number of homes that have been built since then is just six.
The Red Cross announced plans to build no less than 130,000 homes for survivors of the earthquake, many of whom were left with absolutely nothing.
There was a generous influx of relief from people all across the world, totaling half a billion dollars, but a series of bungling errors has led to the halted plans, while many doubt if the houses will ever be built.
To this day many of the areas hit by the earthquake have not been rebuilt, many living in shacks cobbled together from debris and little, if any access to clean water.
Leaked memos from the company show how many of the errors that have hindered the building process come from within the company, and could have been avoided with better planning and management.
Some former employees revealed how staff were hired who could not read French or Creole, leaving them unable to work properly in the environment.
Judith St. Fort who was the director at the time wrote in a 2011 memo how the managers responsible for overseeing the operation made “very disturbing” remarks about Haitian employees.
Racist remarks were brought to light with managers stating “the ones that we have hired are not strong so we probably should not pay close attention to Haitian CVs.”
Despite this failing on the part of the Red Cross, they are still the leading charity who are turned to after humanitarian crises such as this.
The company released a statement explaining the errors, saying:
“Like many humanitarian organizations responding in Haiti, the American Red Cross met complications in relation to government coordination delays, disputes over land ownership, delays at Haitian customs, challenges finding qualified staff who were in short supply and high demand, and the cholera outbreak, among other challenges,”.
Sources
HuffPost
Propublica
TheIndependent
Featured Image – Wikimedia
