The last time I was home, a friend of my sister asked me something really interesting. He asked what he should collect for Haiti. “Clothing?” he asked, “Or maybe canned food”? The canned food was a good suggestion, but in general I told him that giving “stuff” isn’t a very good idea.
While the impulse to give to those who have less than we do is great, the idea that those living in developing countries would want the junk that we don’t is incorrect. Not only are these items unwanted, but can actually be harmful. Foreign Policy Magazine put more simply, and eloquently, than I ever could: Haiti Doesn’t Need your used Yoga Mat.
But this begs the question, what does Haiti need? The answer is complex, and no single NGO or government agency has the answer. Adults need gainful employment, children need education, and everyone needs decent health care. You can't solve these complex problems with a donation of teddy bears.
The problem with presenting these problems as they really are is that they seem overwhelming – even disheartening. They are big problems which do not have easy answers, and that sometimes “turns off” individual donors.
But the fact that what is needed in investments – not hand-outs – doesn’t mean that you have to invest in everyone. I’m not sure where the quote “if you can’t save everyone, you should just save one” comes from, but it couldn’t be more correct. And when you work for a charity as small as ours, you live by it.
Our scholarship programme includes 50 children at the moment, and we hope to soon include another 50, bringing our total to 100. That means that we’ll be supporting 100 children out of the tens of thousands who cannot afford to attend school. On difficult days, it feels like a very small drop in a very large bucket. But our programme means that 50 children are in school who would otherwise not be able to get an education. It is a small change, but a change none the less, and we hope to include many more in the years to come.
Donating $50 will never be as satisfying as donating a box full of stuff that you can see piling up. But $50 is enough to keep one child in school for a quarter of a year if applied to our scholarship programme. Donated to our English programme, it leaves us only $25 short of paying a Haitian English teacher’s salary for a month.
It's more difficult and less satisfying for donors, but by insisting that stuff be recycled where it does good rather than harm, and making a small and much needed investment in Haiti, donors are able to give something much more meaningful than an old teeshirt.
This Holiday Season, we’re asking our supporters to Give the Gift of Education by investing even the smallest amount in a Haitian student. Some have offered to give a friend or family member one less gift at home and donate the difference, others are bagging their lunches for a week and donating what they would usually spend at the neighborhood delis. We’re honoured that, after just one mail out, supporters are already reacting.
As I get ready to leave Haiti, it’s very hopeful to know that people who have never been to Haiti are willing to make these small sacrifices and invest what they can. It reminds me that just because our volunteers are leaving, our beneficiaries won’t be left alone.
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