Thursday, June 6, 2013

#61: 0.15 Cents To a Dollar

It's crazy to think that something so many people rely on could be wrong...or a complete lie. Sometimes nonprofit organizations don't do any good or do more harm than good. Check into your nonprofits before you give them money. In most cases, only a percentage of the money you give them actually goes toward the cause, usually a small percentage, like 0.15 cents of your dollar. In these cases, the bulk of your money goes toward advertising and the salary of representatives. A lot of nonprofits spend a lot of money that never goes anywhere. In lots of cases, nonprofits do things by force, without the approval of the people they're "helping." Lots of people don't want to be "helped." Also, lots of projects cost a lot of money but don't get finished. In a lot of cases, they build houses "for the poor," but government officials end up occupying them. A lot of nonprofit efforts are actually scandals, and the nonprofits are actually doing what they're doing for their own personal gain under the guise of being "helpers." You don't always hear about these scandals, because the nonprofits use propaganda to tell other people (like people in their home countries) that their efforts are a success, and that they're helping.

There is a particular case I want to bring to light, though. I watched a documentary called "Good Fortune" about a nonprofit organization that sought to relocate the people of the slums in Kibera, Kenya, but these people had nowhere to go after the slums were destroyed. The efforts of the nonprofit were to destroy the slums and have these people live in a richer area, but these people couldn't afford anything above the slums, so they were left homeless. The nonprofit wanted to flood the area of the slums to create rice fields to create more food and jobs. However, these people were forcibly moved from their homes, despite the fact they voiced that they didn't want to leave, and that they loved their home. Not only did they lose their homes, but they lost their jobs. In this case, many efforts had previously been made to house these people. A nonprofit had previously built plenty of homes for the people, but they ended up selling the property to the rich, and only government officials occupied the homes. Now the homes are unoccupied and privately owned by some rich guy, so the people of the slums are unable to occupy them. Many of the previous efforts to alleviate them of their lives in the slums have been to no avail, as the projects have gone unfinished. It turned out that the nonprofit that was trying to "help" these people were actually doing the project for their own personal gain, while telling people in their own countries (using propaganda) that everything was going great, and that they were helping the people of the slums. In the end, the project went unfinished, and tons of people were left without homes or jobs.

Make sure you know what nonprofit you're supporting, and make sure know where your money is going. Lots of nonprofits do some good things. I've worked with some nonprofits that I fully support and know are doing good things. I would love to work for a nonprofit or have my own one day. And I have all kinds of programs and nonprofits I want to donate to once I actually start making some money, and I support these groups and their efforts. However, do your homework. Because just because they call themselves a nonprofit organization doesn't mean they are doing what they say they're doing. Find some good nonprofits, and support them! By the way, you should check out the documentary I was talking about above. It's called "Good Fortune," and you can find it on Netflix.

According to this, the nonprofits aren't doing the best job, but most of them are doing at least a fair job. However, too many are doing more damage than good, many are scandals, and many are wasting money.

The Kibera, Kenya slums  before the nonprofit group came in and destroyed it.

This is just the beginning of the destruction the nonprofit did to the slums in Kibera, Kenya.

No comments:

Post a Comment