Dignity

By Michael Tan
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Date First Posted 01:00:00 10/16/2009

I HAVE BEEN RECEIVING INQUIRIES FROM OVERSEAS Friends (Quakers, a

religious group) about the kind of assistance that might be appropriate for victims of ?
Ondoy? and ?Pepeng.? There?s a sense of wanting to send money right away for the
relief, and I?ve had to ask the potential donors not to rush.

I have two reasons for asking people not to be too hasty with their donations, and both
deal with dignity.

First, we need to acknowledge the efforts of Filipinos, especially those who were
themselves adversely affected, to help fellow Filipinos. Local donations and initiatives
have been unprecedented, with millions of pesos raised and truckloads of relief goods
collected and distributed. We need to project to the world that if we ask for external
assistance, it is only to complement what has already been done. We are not begging for
funds.

The second reason I have asked our foreign friends to go slow is that aid needs to be
appropriate. Precisely because the needs are so overwhelming, every centavo of financial
aid, every relief item, counts. Many things could go wrong here and you can?t just leave
things to chance.

The intensive correspondence among the Friends about relief has gotten to the point
where I thought I should write a column with questions that we should be asking, as
individuals or organizations, about relief work. You?ll find that it all boils down to
appropriate aid being assistance that respects and enhances human dignity.

First, what are we going to send? Television commentators have appealed to the public to
be more selective with what they donate, and have shown concrete examples of donated
items that offer more comic than material relief. Examples have been party gowns,
underwear without garters (one commentator showed a stained brief!), high heels. Such
inappropriate gift-giving will make recipients feel like they?re being given trash. ?
Binabastos? (being insulted) is the term that comes to mind.

Inappropriate donations come about even with the best of intentions. Donations of junk
food, soft drinks, even infant formula, can cause more harm by reinforcing unhealthy
dietary preferences, and might even promote certain brand names.

Donations of medicines also need to be more carefully planned. We are now seeing
flood-related diseases emerging, so consult with hospitals and health professionals about
what drugs might be most needed.
In the 1980s, the Christian Medical Commission developed ?Guidelines for Drug
Donations? to help Protestant churches with medical donations. It warned about
donations of expiring or expired drugs, drugs without labels and inessential medicines.
The document has since been adopted and revised by the World Health Organization and
includes suggestions of appropriate medicines for emergencies.

Second question: Are we conscious of particular needs of specific segments of the

population? It?s interesting that more women?s clothes have been donated than men?s
and has led to some funny incidents where the men ended up wearing dusters (which may
be fine at home but not exactly acceptable for work).

While we see an avalanche of women?s clothes, we might be forgetting women?s needs,

day to day (e.g., sanitary napkins) as well as those related to pregnancy and
breastfeeding. Moms for Moms, a small group whose name is self-explanatory, has been
distributing wisely selected relief packages for new mothers, including diapers for the
newborn.

The elderly are also often forgotten and the best organization in Metro Manila to go to
would be Coalition of Services for the Elderly (COSE), which works with urban poor
organizations.

Third, are we conscious of the need for psychosocial counseling? Both the UP and
Ateneo psychology departments are offering training to handle the many forms of post-
traumatic stress syndrome. Dr. Aurora Mendoza, chair of UP Diliman?s psychology
department, emphasized at one of our university meetings that the psychosocial support
isn?t just for the victims of the disasters but also for relief volunteers. Seeing the scale of
human deprivation day in and day out can have its adverse effects on these volunteers.

Fourth, are we thinking of long-term needs? Donor fatigue will eventually set in, and
money will run out even as the needs continue to grow.

Aid has to be developmental, meaning it should help communities to help themselves.

Micro-finance schemes?loans with low interest?are a possibility and are best
implemented through women?s community groups. Collective responsibility is important,
with members of a group pressuring each other to pay back the loan promptly, so others
can benefit as well.

Long-term visions can and should guide even the more immediate relief efforts. There?s
a lot of idle time in evacuation centers, an opportunity to hold ?classes? on nutrition,
health, even environmental conservation, disaster prevention and disaster management
itself.

Finally, and this is the most sensitive area, who is handling the relief, especially money?
Check if a group belongs to the Philippine Council for NGO Creditation (PCNC), which
means their organization?s accounting and general administrative procedures have been
reviewed and found to be sound. I have to say though there can be small groups that do
not have that accreditation but are doing fine work. A general guideline: It?s better to
give to organizations rather than individuals, and to community-based organizations
rather than some large office with high operating overhead.

As a donor, you have the right to ask for accountability and transparency, including
reports on how funds were used. If someone misspends your money, that?s a violation of
your dignity as well (in Tagalog, it sounds really blunt: ginagago ka?you?re being
fooled).

It?s not always corruption that causes misuse of relief resources. Some organizations may
not be prepared to handle large amounts of money or relief goods. The local health NGO
community is still reeling from the shock of one major international donor asking a
Filipino foundation to return $1 million in ?unauthorized expenditures.? The donor?s
press release was very cautious in stating that this was a matter of ?capacity issues . . . in
overall financial management.?

To summarize, giving appropriately, prioritizing those who are most vulnerable, assuring
transparency and accountability, thinking of long-term developmental projects -- all of
these build on the principle of human dignity and assure us that aid will bring out the best
in people.

Acknowledgement and Resources: I want to acknowledge two Friends, Tina Montiel and
Boni Quirog, who have been particularly insightful in the e-mail conversations. ?
Guidelines for Drug Donations? can be downloaded at:
http://whqlibdoc.who.int/hq/1999/who_edm_par_99.4.pdf. COSE?s is at Mariwasa
Building, 717 Aurora Boulevard, Quezon City, Tel. Nos. 725-6567, 722-0418. PCNC is
at www.pcnc.com.ph and the moms are at momsformoms.multiply.com.

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E-mail: mtan@inquirer.com.ph