Has Red Cross Wasted $500 mn? It Promised Houses For 130,000 Haitians But Built Only 6

A probe reveals that the American Red Cross has wasted $500 million while trying to help Haiti, while it has underperformed in its programs, and then tried to cover it up. Even though it has shown success, there have been a number of failures within the NGO, according to rt.

In 2010, a huge earthquake struck the poorest country in the western hemisphere. The American Red Cross helped to rebuild it with its humanitarian efforts, launching its multi-million-dollar scheme.

The main program was LAMIKA, or Creole for 'A Better Life in My Neighborhood'. Red Cross was trying to build hundreds of permanent homes for 130,000 Haitians, who had been reduced to complete poverty after the earthquake.

This year, Campeche, the Port-au-Prince neighborhood is cluttered and broken, people living in sub-human conditions in shacks.

"Many residents live in shacks made of rusty sheet metal, without access to drinkable water, electricity or basic sanitation. When it rains, their homes flood and residents bail out mud and water," an introduction to a report says.

NPR and ProPublica conducted investigations that helped them to get access to "confidential memos, emails from worried top officers, and accounts of a dozen frustrated and disappointed insiders" which gave detailed accounts of how the NGO spent millions and wasted its funds.

The report showed some results that were not the same as those in CEO Gail McGovern's project plan for Haiti. It issued promises of "brand new communities" in order to make "donors proud" and "help the people in Haiti." She said that her experience had made her more "flexible during emergencies."

There were a series of untruths that were told in the reports. Although the Red Cross had a proposal that set up the houses to be built by January 2013 at 700, only six were built.

 "We asked the Red Cross to show us around its projects in Haiti so we could see the results of its work. It declined," the report reads.

However, many employees in the Red Cross "didn't have the know-how" and "they had no development experience," said a former employee.

There were instances in which the Red Cross would donate millions to various groups, but due to lack of supervision or oversight, the subcontractors pitched their bills high to manage the administrative and other costs. Due to Haiti's "dysfunctional" land title system, the work was not systematized or in order.

There were problems in many other groups, however, the data reveals that the Red Cross "ultimately built 9,000 homes compared to the Red Cross' six."

Although the Red Cross stated that over 90 percent of the people hired were Haitians, the fact was not reflected in the top runners, says the report.

The Red Cross is also said to have been "arrogant" and refused to communicate with the local population. "Going to meetings with the community when you don't speak the language is not productive," one Haitian who worked on the project in Campeche said, adding that meetings would be skipped altogether at times.

Some $140,000 was spent on housing, food, and a foreign project manager, who also enjoyed four annual paid leaves. It added upto more than $100,000 more than on local issues.

"A lot of money was spent on those people who were not Haitian, who had nothing to do with Haiti. The money was just going back to the United States," one Haitian who coordinated expat housing for the Red Cross confessed.

While a lot of money was spent on publicity, rather than homes, there were no details on the $500 million that was received, nor how projects were finalised. Some 4,000 homes and some temporary shelters had been built, while $44 million was invested in food and hospitals.

"The Red Cross' public reports offer only broad categories about where $488 million in donations has gone," according to the authors of the report.