Where did Haiti’s aid go?
By Clarence Page
Two years after a magnitude-7.0 earthquake struck Haiti killing hundreds of thousands, more than a half-million Haitians are still sleeping under tarps, often in camps without enough water or toilets. As another hurricane season approaches, many people are asking: What happened to the generous donations that Americans gave? Congress should make it easier to find out.
No one is charging corruption, at least not at the top of the aid organizations. But as aid agencies pumped out news releases touting their successes during the second anniversary of the quake, the charities also confronted a rising tide of skepticism.
For example, two-thirds of the displaced have left the camps, according to the American Red Cross, which says it has moved more than 100,000 people into transitional housing. It also says it has spent more than a quarter of a billion dollars in the past year. But it raised almost twice that much — $486 million — and has been criticized for not spending more of it. Read More
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