Paul, Pam and Lab make a valid point. The job of the Red Cross is to swoop in immediately after a disaster and secure the urgent needs of the people, but once things have calmed down and no one is on the brink of starvation or medical crisis, RC backs away and lets other organizations take over.
To be clear, I wasn't criticizing the American Red Cross. I was conveying a possible explanation as to why the Canadian Red Cross had been discouraging foreign donations.
As for the young men taking the supplies... Is anyone sure what they're doing with them? Are they actually hoarding them, or were they appointed to do the heavy lifting and help with the distribution?
Well, whatever the case with them, the whole operation does seem like it's being handled very poorly. There's got to be a better way to do it all. More to the point, there's got to be something more we, the ones who are sitting high and dry, can do to help, other than sending money and letting other people clean up the mess for us.
Paul
