The harrowing News and Pictures of the Drought in the Horn of Africa are Heart Rendering. It is like seven years of plenty and seven years of famine. We all give as much as we can to World Aide, which unfortunately does not go to needy people.

The Dictators and the Military of these Countries take a large part of it. In fact steal from the poverty stricken people to live a life of luxury and obtain the best that money can buy, and deposit millions in Swiss bank Accounts. Why isn’t this aide accounted for? Of course if you are a citizen of these Countries you dare not speak out as you will disappear’ tout suite’, never to be seen alive again.

It is obvious they badly need Drilling Equipment to find Water, and help with building Wells. Education , Building Schools and Hospitals and insisting on Contraception.

What has happened to all the Philanthropists?

Even years ago the Satanic Mill Owners ‘Up North’ built whole Villages for their Workers Complete with Schools Churches, Parks, and Libraries and Terrace Houses, many of them still there.

Multi Millionaires should be made to give a percentage of their wealth back to the poor of Society as many of them made their fortune on the backs of ‘Slave Labour.

It seems obscene to pay £1000.00 or more for a Handbag, just because it has a stupid logo on it.

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There is nothing we can do except never give money to the countries anymore.

Its not as if the people who need it get it.

Maybe there is a way to get the services to the people direct...I have no idea.

Sadly it does seem the only why for the wrong ones to not benefit is to stop giving money to these countries. It sounds cruel but if it's not getting in those that need it won't be having it anyway. I agree, Cam. Also I imagine the only way to help those people is through volunteers who go out and assist. Maybe these people should be given charge of handling the monies and seeing it's put to the correct usage?

They already do that, Sherry. The aid agencies admit that large parts of what they bring in to those countries has to go to paying off war lords and corrupt administrators.

The tsunami money has been plundered horribly and some people are still living in tents. In Indonesia, for example, the government insisted that local contractors and builders be used to build the new homes that the aid agencies were paying for. When they were finished, they were nowhere near the specifications, total crap, unfit to be inhabited, and had to be demolished. They had just pocketed most of the money and thrown up a few cheap shacks.

In India, the British government paid for a road to be built, so that impoverished villages could get to town to sell their produce. The road was built as far as the estate of a very wealthy man, a few miles from the villages. It improved his financial situation vastly and left the villagers without a road, thereby preventing them from competing with him on the market.

I despair, I really do, and I don't give to large charities any more, who also overpay their directors.

It's a no win situation then, Rosema. Maybe they should send in the armed forces to protect the peoples whilst the alterations are taking place and so that the money goes to the right causes.

It's disgusting what's happening. Such a lot of people gave to the tsunmi funds. The people at the top who take this money for themselves can have no heart or thought for anyone but themselves. Unfortunately it's such people that get to rule and peddle their selfish ways.

No wonder there's such world wide unease and dispruption. The worms are turning!

We can't send in troops because this would be against international law. Diplomacy also encourages misuse of funds: there are governments that are arrogant enough to make demands and absurd conditions before they are willing to accept aid!

This happened some years ago between the Dutch and Indonesian governments. It is absurd anyway that Indonesia gets aid, since it it very rich in natural resources. The Indonesian government felt insulted by the Dutch, who had criticised its corruption and lack of human rights. They announced that they were punishing the Dutch by refusing to allow them to pay anymore aid money, LOL! Then the Dutch diplomats had to lick arse for a year, begging them to allow aid to be restored.

The only charities I'll contribute to now are so-called micro charities, which provide direct help to individuals, usually women, so they can buy sewing machines or tools with which to provide for their children. It has been proven that this works much better than large projects, or than giving the aid to the menfolk.

But you need to research your charities before handing over any money. I remember the Foster Parent Plan scandal here. The director was deducting a truly massive salary for himself, and people who had been paying for years discovered that their financial foster children in the 3rd world were getting next to nothing and living in dire poverty when they went to visit them. The whole business got a lot of publicity and the charity had to change its name.

Here's an article about a study on misuse of funds and how it's done:

http://sites.tufts.edu/jha/archives/131

BTW: did you know that the huge amount of aid sent to North Korea in their last great famine nearly all went to the military? There is a whole generation of kids there who, according to specialists, were permanently brain damaged during that famine due to prolonged starvation.

:angry: i dnt know what to say ? its not the childrens fault for being born if you know you cant look after children why the hell have them then !.havent they herd of contraception .this has been going on for 40 odd years now and its the same year in year out the country is over populated and its run by thugs murderers who take the profits or the donations its time to say no and the same goes for india to i know it seems harsh but so long as we keep giveig them money then the rich over their will stay rich :angry:

It's an awful situation which will take more than people donating to sort out - especially as the needy aren't getting it.

I'm not knowledgeable on this subject, Rosema - as you can see - though I have thought for many years that it's the rich taking from the poor before they've even had a chance to see it. Very sad and annoying, especially as some people who have given have gone short themselves to do it.

Sherry, the world is a terrible place and human nature has such a ghastly side. I've just finished a book on the 20th century history of Congo which was very depressing, and tonight I tried to watch the film Shooting Dogs, which got good reviews, but it was making me sick and I know I'll have nightmares tonight. It was about the Rwanda genocide and very graphic. All those 'ordinary men' with machetes, slicing up children and smashing in babie's heads. And why the hell do we have UN blue helmets, when they just stood by and watched the slaughter and then finally pulled out and left those they were supposed to be protecting in the compounds to the butchers?