Haiti Doesn't Need Your Yoga Mat

Foreign Policy ^ | OCTOBER 11, 2011

[nickcarraway]

A visual history of the West's misguided attempts to send its hand-me-downs to the developing world.

Most of us don't have billions of dollars to give away like Warren Buffett and Bill Gates. But the charitable impulse is still strong: combined, Americans gave away almost $300 billion in 2010. Sometimes, though, good intentions have questionable results. In the rush to help after a crisis, public and private donors from around the world sometimes give without quite realizing what the needs on the ground are. Do Haitians really need your used yoga mat? Do the Balkans lack for clowns?

Above, a young man eats a Pop-Tart in Kabul, Afghanistan, in October, 2006. Everyone likes a breakfast pastry, but in 2002, the U.S. was sharply criticized for airlifting millions of Pop-Tarts into Afghanistan, much of which ended up on the black market. In many cases, writes Foreign Policy's Charles Kenny in "Haiti Doesn't Need Your Old T-Shirt," this kind of aid ends up undermining the local economy rather than helping it.

It may sound curmudgeonly and cynical to question these good intentions, but there's a reason some humanitarians are concerned about giving away "Stuff We Don't Need." Join us on a tour.

[sockmonkey]

Which war was that?

BTW:what is BiH?

Balkan War in Bosnia-Hercegovina (BiH)

[Neidermeyer]

Garage sale yoga mats make for a good gun bench pad.
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Or in Haitis case excellent for placing under your sleeping bag.

[POWERSBOOTHEFAN]

Thanks. I had no idea what those letters stood for!

[BunnySlippers]

,,, which makes me wonder if they are highly desired.

[hinckley buzzard]

I once talked with a guy who volunteered at a "food bank." He said you wouldn't believe the rotten spoiled crap that liberal do gooders tried to pawn off on charity for a tax write off. Shades of Bill Clinton's used underwear.

[Cronos]

This is a good article. It points out how we have to be careful with how we give aid — even things like clothes can ruin the long-term prospects for the country to bring itself out of poverty on its own.