Friday 1 February 2008

Who do I contact to get aid to refugees?

I am amazed. In Britain and the United States, there are organisations which raise money in order to do good work in the World, especially in the alleviation of suffering and poverty.

My charity/NGO has the same aims and although we can raise small amounts of money, raising the sort of funds we need to really make a difference is impossible.

So we have approached the big boys, the foundations set up by such people as Pres. Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, etc.

We don't even get replies from these people. OK, I hear people say. They get hundreds of requests every day for money and they can't deal with everyone. Really? That is what they were set up for. If they can't deal (and I mean, reply to correspondence) with requests, where is their administration. These foundations are not run by volunteers, but salaried people - usually specialists in their field.

Other organisations try to remain "anonymous". They don't even tell you where you can apply for grants. They raise millions of pounds every year, but, in come cases, there is no means of applying for aid, there is not even any way of finding out what is happening to this money!

Yes, I am ranting. But I am frustrated. I have people on the ground in Kenya, trying to help 3,000+ refugees with no help. The major aid agencies in Kenya are missing a lot of people, because they are off the main roads - naturally. We know where they are. We have told the agencies, but will they listen? NO!

If you work for one of these agencies, please, please contact me. We are struggling to feed thousands of people with no resources and no help.

Rant over - for the time being.

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