"it became clear that these people may not even have gotten out of their SUVs." [...]
Probably for the best, in some cases. At least they can't make things worse.
Most people in most professions (even those that seem important and/or noble!) are not especially competent. This fact makes me sad.
From the link --
We would all find it incredibly strange if, say, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs set up a food bank in South Chicago run by a bunch of people who had never been to the US, didn't speak English and hadn't asked any residents what they actually eat.
As long as these people were French-trained chefs this would actually be totally awesome and would result in a big improvement in U.S. eating habits. Furthermore, no proper French chef would start the process by learning English or interviewing Americans about their current eating habit.
I think Americans are as snobbish as French chefs about our mastery of how-to-organize-a-society. Unfortunately we're wrong.
Ha. My dad and stepmom have both spent quite a bit of time in the past 10 years working for USAID, some as direct hires and some as contractors. My observations from visits, and their stories, totally match up with this.
(at one point my dad said "The USAID bureaucracy makes [your school] look like it's run by efficiency expert geniuses", which is saying quite a bit if you have listened to me whine and moan about my school for 6 years)
I hope that's not some kind of discretion error. Eh. I think it's okay.
My uncle's ex-wife worked there for years after having worked for a Catholic relief organization. She had a masters in agronomy, and her children can definitely attest to the fact that she was no accountant. In fact, she was notorious for avoiding her DC rotation, because she did not like being in an office.
the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs set up a food bank in South Chicago run by a bunch of people who had never been to the US, didn't speak English and hadn't asked any residents what they actually eat
Heartwarming movie! Book tie-in has simple recipes at the end! Get the apron!
This is in line with things I have seen and heard. USAID does some really great work, but a lot of what they do is pissing away money that would have made a much greater difference simply as handouts. The third world is strewn with the relics of well intentioned projects that completely neglect local conditions.
A truly effective aid program would start with interviews of the people being helped and proceed from there. They know what they need and they aren't any dumber that the people handing out the aid.
It seems like the basic problem is that the AID/relief workers don't care, and they don't care because they're not Haitian. What Haiti needs is an elite, but more importantly an elite that cares about Haiti. Elites are created by, among other things, shared experiences, like going to the same school (Etonians, Normaliens, etc). Thus the best form of aid is to create a new Haitian elite from the ground up, through an exclusive Haitian national school. We've been attacking the wrong end of the problem.
Once again, an intractable problem effortlessly solved via blog comment.