The Red Cross raised $488 million for Haiti and only built six homes.

In 2010, almost $1.4 billion in aid poured into earthquake-stricken Haiti. $32 million of that number came from the American Red Cross’ $10 text messages touted in aid campaigns and endorsed by celebrities. But according to a stunning joint Pro Publica and NPR investigation released today, the American Red Cross had a lot more difficulty spending your money than you had sending it.

The investigation focuses heavily on the Red Cross’ claims of providing homes to more than 130,000 Haitians with its 2013 development project. The report reveals that while the organization raised $488 million donations, it only built six permanent houses. The Red Cross reports, which are available to the public, group expenses into large categories. For example, shelter, which included the botched housing project, accounts for $170 million.

Tracking down the impact of overall efforts unearthed a number of issues in the organizations’ transparency efforts:

For example, while the Red Cross says it provided more than 130,000 people with homes, that includes thousands of people who were not actually given homes, but rather were “trained in proper construction techniques.” (That was first reported by the Haiti blog of the Center for Economic and Policy Research.)

The figure includes people who got short-term rental assistance or were housed in several thousand “transitional shelters,” which are temporary structures that can get eaten up by termites or tip over in storms. It also includes modest improvements on 5,000 temporary shelters.

The investigation goes on to detail the organization’s mistakes, such as reportedly discriminating against Haitian employees and ballooning costs of projects with outside contractors. It pinpoints the many internal crises of an organization that was also lambasted for its handling of 9/11 and Katrina and was barely solvent a year and half before the earthquake hit.

The Red Cross is not the only aid organization to have acted ineptly in the sometimes complex operating zone of post-quake Haiti. The cholera epidemic that hit Haiti after the earthquake raised criticism of the slow-moving nature of many sanitation projects. According to Pro Publica, the Red Cross’ own response to the epidemic was internally marked as “very behind schedule” months into the epidemic. A story by NBC News revealed that the United Nations has released only half of what they’ve earmarked for the crisis through 2020.

“Like many humanitarian organizations responding in Haiti, the American Red Cross met complications in relation to government coordination delays, disputes over land ownership, delays at Haitian customs, challenges finding qualified staff who were in short supply and high demand, and the cholera outbreak, among other challenges,” the charity said in a statement to Pro Publica. (by Tonya Riley).

http://fusion.net/story/144256/the-red-cross-raised-488-million-for-haiti-and-only-built-six-homes/?fb_comment_id=fbc_853365848070925_853651098042400_853651098042400 

7 Safety Rules When Using A Smartphone.

One of the major problems of smartphones is the attitude of users to them. Despite the fact that smartphones are almost full replacement of laptop or home computer, many people treat it as a normal phone, which is fraught with possible negative consequences. In this article we will focus on 7 foolish things that we do on a smartphone.

To better understand what stupid things you often do on your phone, try not to position it as your heaped up mobile and treat it as a smaller version of a laptop. Ask yourself this question before every action: would I do this on my laptop? Thus, the problem will become more apparent.
1. We don’t put a password on a smartphone:
For some reason all of us care about the safety of our laptops, but don’t pay enough attention to the smartphone. So why do we put passwords on a laptops? Just think, it’s much easier to get into the smart phone, because we often lay it on the table. Don’t forget about the attacker. A smartphone which is unprotected with password will cause greater temptation for a thief to steal, if he finds the lack of protection.
2. We don’t come out of the account in the important services:
Holy belief that our smartphone – it’s only our smartphone, and no one will ever be able to get to him creates such carelessness. It is unlikely that you leave your credit cards within reach of other people. You should understand that while you staying logged in financial and social services, you almost completely give all your finances and personal information to anyone who will take up your smartphone (especially in view of the first paragraph).
Don’t allow such services save your entries in the mobile browser or app. Of course, you don’t really want to enter each time data when entering, but it’s the price for financial security and privacy of data.
3. We allow our smartphone to connect automatically to any open Wi-Fi network:
Perhaps it is convenient, but how should we know who administers the network and what are his intentions? The attacker can gain access to your data if he has appropriate software, which is freely available.
4. We leave the turned on Bluetooth:
There are methods of hacking smartphone via Bluetooth. Despite the fact that this method requires the immediate vicinity of the attacker to the victim, crowded places (such as shopping malls, airports and so on) can be an excellent habitat for such individuals.
5. We keep very personal information on your phone:
You must understand: the pictures which is “not for everyone”, e-mail and documents, financial data and any other information which represents value shouldn’t be stored on the smartphone in an accessible form.
6. We don’t clean the history in the mobile browser:
If the attacker will have strong desire to gain access to your data, than the presence of history in the browser will help him greatly.
7. We don’t set on a smartphone application for remote formatting:
If you lose your smartphone, or it was stolen just in order to sell, then such application will deprive the new owner access to your information.

http://www.gistping.blogspot.fi/2015/07/7-safety-rules-when-using-smartphone.html?m=1