Ephrem Endale Contributer
As of recent times we witness quite a lot of humanitarian activities. These days the simplest thing to do is attaching some tag to activities. I mean there are reasons to doubt if all activities dubbed as humanitarian or philanthropic are really what they are supposed to be. Now that’s not to deny there are superb, well thought out humanitarian activities are being done here and there. Other than legally established groups, individuals come together to help the needy.
If you just skim around the social media you must have come across appeals for contributions to help communities who have fallen victims to natural or manmade disasters, and also individuals unable who couldn’t cover the cost of lifesaving medical treatments abroad. And much good has been achieved in that respect.
Many of the aid seekers being on the lower rungs of the social ladder there’s no way they could take themselves out of recurrent problems without the support of the community at large. Just look out the medical bills for medical care abroad which go into several millions of birr. So seeking the help of others is not about greed or any flaws on the part of the ailing innocents, but real last opportunity SOS calls.
Of course, when it comes to raising medical funds for individuals we have seen some evidences of targets being met and the sick eventually recovering. Now isn’t that what humanitarian deeds are all about, helping the needy and seeing the smiles on their faces again. We might not be familiar with the individuals with no idea they even exist. They don’t have to be relatives, friends or persons we know for one or other reasons. For all most of us care they’re strangers. Nothing is more fulfilling than helping complete strangers in need and seeing them bounce back to life.
On the other hand, not everything is problem-free when it comes to such fundraising activities at any and all levels where they say the knives are double edged. Other than individuals or groups in whose name appeals are made and funds raised, the claims are that there are well-planned behind the curtain goals of enriching other individuals or groups. Not a few times you hear of enough funds being collected for the medical treatment of some persons, the persons being flown to some foreign land and…that’s the end of the road! No updates no nothing! It’s like you start at chapter one and finish at chapter one without being aware of what the story is about; even if there was any story at all.
Now, that really dents the confidence of people who cooperate for the simple reason that their fellow human being was seeking their help. They might not say it publicly; But deep inside the question “Where the hell did my five grand contribution go; to the accounts of some foreign medical institute or the pockets of some local ‘fundraiser!” After all five grand isn’t the kind of money that falls into one’s alp out of nowhere.
After all, with medical treatments abroad usually costing millions of birr and the only way to get that much money is through the good deeds of Good Samaritans no wonder the needy seek the help of others. But with the absence of accountability the danger of more and more people are bound to keep their hands in their pockets rises.
One encouraging aspect in the whole scenario is people are willing to help as best as they could even complete strangers the existence of whom they never knew about. That’s classic humanitarian gesture. Even more interesting is that most of them don’t call attention to themselves for doing so. They actually tell no one because the purpose of their humanitarian action is not running up the celebrity hill to the peak. Now that, so this writer thinks, is one factor which separates the genuine ones from the ‘performers.’ Some individuals and institutions trumpet their humanitarian acts so loudly you wonder if the whole thing was about them and not about those in need.
In fact they include such activities in their CVs written or otherwise. “Our organization has been helping the needy over the last years…” It might not be fair to completely criticize such actions as long as they are harmless footnotes. But when they try to make it the most important part for other activities which have nothing to do with humanitarian records you ask if the humanitarian gestures were indeed what they were supposed to be… humanitarian. So while I respect and applaud what is being done to help the needy, I wouldn’t be so naïve as to deny there are instances where we smell fish.
No one believes you, let alone act accordingly. But it does really matter. You know truth is on your side, though so-called conventional wisdom isn’t. You go it alone or you don’t go at all.
In the old days when it comes to NGOs the conventional wisdom was that shortest, no-traffic-lights road to financial stardom. Do people have examples for claiming as such? Come on, no need to create other flash points while the whole world is reeling with hundreds of them. It wasn’t surprising to hear people advise you, “Look with the civil servant pay you get you’ll get nowhere.
Wake up from your sleep and better look for some job in an NGO.” That was one way, so you are advised, you’re guaranteed the seven-digit account book. All of a sudden you’d look like the proverbial kids born with silver spoons in their mouths. When your hips suddenly balloon sideways and your mid-section displaces much air the verdict is simple; “He must have joined an NGO.” No unending conspiracy theories, no Wall Street sort of economic jargons; it is as simple as, “He must have joined an NGO.”
All said while there are many aspects of fundraising activities that deserve the applause and encouragements there are those where the stories never progress beyond the first few chapters. It’s only logical to point out that Good Samaritans, however delicate their hearts might be, have to know what was being done with their contributions, or else staying ‘angels minus the wings’ isn’t a done deal!
The Ethiopian Herald April 23/2023