Post #6

In Linda Polman’s book read for class, she discusses aid from NGOs, where that money comes from, where it goes to, and how people get that money. She also discusses how much money goes to leaders, and the shady things that go along with this. Reading this chapter, Aid as Weapon of War, really opened my eyes to what aid could potentially be doing to countries and how not all of it could be helpful. Some of the aid we send could actually be doing more harm than good which is something we do not normally think about when we think of aid. We like to sit in our safe houses in the west, and believe that we are doing good by sending money or some other form of aid to a war stricken country.

This may not be the reality, though. We never know fully where our money that we donate goes to, and it may very well be fueling the fire we actually want to try and put out. She even goes further to discuss how much the salaries are for local politicians and ministers in Sierra Leone. She discusses how these politicians try to get more aid out of NGOs and the mind games they play to talk to specific people and how to get around talking to others that they know they will not get money from.

Linda Polman compares aid organizations to “businesses dressed up like Mother Teresa” (177) because many times these aid organizations are only trying to get money out of people so the top dogs of the organization can earn money. She discusses that if insurance companies did the same things that these NGOs were doing, the journalists would go crazy and it would be major news. But because NGOs are doing it and they are seen as the “good guys” with good intentions, it is seen as okay to do these things. They are just as manipulative as other businesses, if not more, and they have similar intentions as they do too. Their business models would look completely different if they had different intentions. If they were in the “business” solely to help the needy and poor out, they would not be paying those politicians and ministers as much as they are. She discusses that the warlords are being helped just as much, if not more, by these aid organizations because they get part of the cut. They have business deals with the aid organization officials that allow them to get a portion of the share.

When discussing aid, and handling it in general, it is important to try to eliminate corruption as much as possible. The more money that can go directly to aid and where it needs to go the more beneficial it is, which should be an obvious statement, but some people do not see it as such. The people involved who are getting paychecks, only want bigger and bigger paychecks. This would potentially increase corruption involved in these organizations, and less money would actually be going to a good cause. Journalists should make more information readily available to the public and make it more eye opening as to what is really going on behind closed doors. Even if they cannot do that because of security issues, if they just made the public aware that this sort of thing was going on, the public may be more careful about where they donate their money. The public should do more research before they make donations to NGOs, and where their money is going to. The money they donate could potentially be aiding the “bad guys” instead, making whatever they are fighting against rage on stronger. Finally, governments have the power to regulate what is happening more strictly what is happening, and where money is going. Especially the governments of the countries that need aid can help to reduce corruption.