One of the things that struck me the most in the documentary Poverty Inc, is the discussion about the way donations during natural disasters end up crashing the local market in the recipient countries, like those affected by the Tsunami and the earthquake in Haiti. They discussed how rice subsidiaries in Haiti saturated the market and put local farmers out of business, while donations of Solar panels from western companies ran a Hatian energy startup out of business. I say all this because it is particularly timely with the Ebola crisis. Set aside your good intentions and be mindful of the ways in which you want to help. Make the effort to listen to the people you want to help and critically assess the impact of your donations in a post ebola economy. Would it be better to donate money so supplies can be purchased from local businesses, rather than collecting good here and shipping them back? I myself am not quite sure what the answer is, but the first step is being hyper critical of the impact of your actions. In order to do good, you must first aim to do no harm.
Posted on: Tue, 28 Oct 2014 03:40:17 +0000
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