Should I donate to Burma charity?

Puteq

I have a question - is it worth donating to a chairty for the Burma cyclone thing? Normally i would give a few quid when something big happens like when the tsunami happened a few years back, however when i hear that the Burmese govt wont allow personnel in, only supplies, i wonder if it is even worth giving anything to this charity? I know of course it would be better to give something to this rather than not give anything to this or any other charity, but the way i see it if i dont give to this cause i could give to another cause. And with a crappy govt like the one thats there i wonder if anything you give would even get to the people you are giving it to (I know ignorant people apply this argument wrongfully to charities in general, but i really do wonder if it is the case in this instance?)

I am just wondering what people think on this, could my donation be better spent elsewhere?

MooseJam

it'll end up on some General's dinner table

Miss Fluff

I gave to the Red Cross, my thinking on it was if they can't get it through they will distribute it elsewhere.

After the tsunami a few years back they had charity buckets in pubs, right beside the till. It was a brilliant idea. People would usually throw in whatever loose change they had in, not realising there could have been over a tenner.

January

I think you should give it to the Simon Community or Barnardos, a charity close to home maybe?

hopalong85

adrieanne__x wrote: »

I think you should give it to the Simon Community or Barnardos, a charity close to home maybe?

Both very good charities. Being unfortunate enough to live in a country such as Burma after this cyclone doesn't mean you should be neglected though? Maybe? People in need should be helped regardless of where they live.

Ekancone

The Red Cross are in Burma and are actively involved with providing relief. Donate to them.

JIZZLORD

I was thinking about this yesterday, the burmese people have suffered for decades and they need our help now more than ever, but the government is being a c*nt atm. and i couldnt give money to something that i knew wouldnt be properly put to use

Ekancone

JIZZLORD wrote: »

I was thinking about this yesterday, the burmese people have suffered for decades and they need our help now more than ever, but the government is being a c*nt atm. and i couldnt give money to something that i knew wouldnt be properly put to use

Stop making excuses, as I said the Red Cross are in there distributing aid as we speak, take a look at their website and see for yourself.

Redpunto

Give your money to a charity closer to home,,,,plenty of people need it here.

Sherifu

Hire John Rambo.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

Redpunto wrote: »

Give your money to a charity closer to home,,,,plenty of people need it here.

there are few people here who are in as dire a situation as the burmese.

Redpunto

Mordances with wolves wrote: »

there are few people here who are in as dire a situation as the burmese.

There are clubs/associations/playschools/support groups/sports clubs etc every year in Ireland trying to raise money every year just so they can continue to play a vital service to the community,theres childrens hospitals in need of equipment,,,,,,ploughing money into foreign aid which is mostly spent on adminsitration, and to bribe the foreign officials just so as you can try and get into the country seems less productive then giving straight to your own community and seeing the money put to good use here.

roberta c

Thats absolute bull, anyone born in this country are sorted for life, if your poor the government will pay you(not pay for you, PAY YOU) to get an education, and if you chose not too then they'l pay for you to stay at home and watch tv.. how do we need money more than a few million people under oppressive rule who are homeless with no prospects who have NOTHING.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

so because there are gaa clubs without the funds for proper balls, the people of burma shouldn't eat?

bitemybanger

Give your money to an Irish charity.

justsomebloke

donated €100 the one day and even if only a small proportion gets to the people on the ground in burma it will probably still do them more good then it will have done me

truecrippler

The question is: Would they donate to you?

But seriously... I don't really donate anything to charities. I usually just throw in a few Euro into those collection box's that are in shops etc.

Ya can't really trust where the money is going nowadays but I'm sure that some of it must go towards these people in need.

Havermeyer

The question is: Would they donate to you?

But seriously... I don't really donate anything to charities. I usually just throw in a few Euro into those collection box's that are in shops etc.

Ya can't really trust where the money is going nowadays but I'm sure that some of it must go towards these people in need.

If everybody thought like that I don't think anything would be done. Why would you ask yourself "would they donate to you?" before making/not making a donation. That's a very cynical view IMO. Luckily we are in the position where most of us will probably never know the answer to that question.

Give your money to an Irish charity.

If we ever had a national disaster and needed assistance in one form or another, this country would be fúcked if other nations decided to donate to their domestic charities instead of helping us out.

Sir Oxman

Charity at home first.
Then Red Cross.
Mentions of how much you donated to anything are completely wanky btw. (jsb, be ashamed)

Havermeyer

Charity at home first.
Then Red Cross.

In general I'd agree with you, but in some extenuating circumstances such as this cyclone with a possible 100,000 people believed dead/missing I think exceptions should be made. It's not the citizen's fault the government are prícks.

Dudess

Advising people to put charities here before the people enduring such unimaginable suffering in Burma is pathetic. So we have to be patriotic in our charity-giving habits?

kowloon

Mordances with wolves wrote: »

so because there are gaa clubs without the funds for proper balls, the people of burma shouldn't eat?

+1


I would only donate to charities that provide material aid and don't have political or religious bias. I don't trust aid distributed by governments or the church.
Anyone remember how the US government (Hurricane Katrina) said they didn't want tents, rescue equipment, medicine etc. That people should just send money?

itchyend

Dudess wrote: »

Advising people to put charities here before the people enduring such unimaginable suffering in Burma is pathetic. So we have to be patriotic in our charity-giving habits?

Say that to the kids here suffering from cancer who have to travel to dublin for treatment, to the 6 homless people who died in dublin over the weekend, to the people and families who look after people with serious illness in ireland with no break or no support not even a thank you.

How in the name of alls thats mystical can ya hope to sort out the medical conditions in these countries when we cant even sort them out this close to home.

The money you donate to burmah is not going to the people of burmah its goin to business people.


Cop on

kowloon

itchyend wrote: »

Say that to the kids here suffering from cancer who have to travel to dublin for treatment, to the 6 homless people who died in dublin over the weekend, to the people and families who look after people with serious illness in ireland with no break or no support not even a thank you.

How in the name of alls thats mystical can ya hope to sort out the medical conditions in these countries when we cant even sort them out this close to home.

The money you donate to burmah is not going to the people of burmah its goin to business people.


Cop on

I don't think Dudess is saying that all Irish people don't deserve it, but do take it in context ffs! Some of the "registered charities" in this country shouldn't be allowed the status.
Fixing the roof for the local sports club can't be compared with proper charity efforts be they at home or abroad. A bit of balance is in order.

truecrippler

nummnutts wrote: »

If everybody thought like that I don't think anything would be done. Why would you ask yourself "would they donate to you?" before making/not making a donation. That's a very cynical view IMO. Luckily we are in the position where most of us will probably never know the answer to that question.


It wasn't to be taken seriously... :cool:

Donald-Duck

itchyend wrote: »

Say that to the kids here suffering from cancer who have to travel to dublin for treatment, to the 6 homless people who died in dublin over the weekend, to the people and families who look after people with serious illness in ireland with no break or no support not even a thank you.

How in the name of alls thats mystical can ya hope to sort out the medical conditions in these countries when we cant even sort them out this close to home.

The money you donate to burmah is not going to the people of burmah its goin to business people.


Cop on

So 6 homeless people, are worth more than up to 100,000 in others?

Ross_Mahon

Where the hell is Burma?

Redpunto

Dudess wrote: »

Advising people to put charities here before the people enduring such unimaginable suffering in Burma is pathetic. So we have to be patriotic in our charity-giving habits?

Do you not think that we should be patriotic in our charity giving habits? I would assume that is a given

Havermeyer

It wasn't to be taken seriously...

I wouldn't be surprised to be honest, with some of the comments on here. And going by the rest of the post I was referring to, you came across as quite the skeptic in this case. Forgive me if I am wrong.;)

Dudess

Redpunto wrote: »

Do you not think that we should be patriotic in our charity giving habits?

No I don't when it comes to suffering on a massive scale in another country whose population cannot fend for itself.

kowloon

Do you think some people are worth more because they are citizens of a particular nation? What is patriotism? Is patriotism actually a virtue? Is allegiance to a state the natural order asserting itself?

truecrippler

Ditch the first comment that I made then.

But yes, I am very skeptical about this.

Dudess

itchyend wrote: »

Say that to the kids here suffering from cancer who have to travel to dublin for treatment, to the 6 homless people who died in dublin over the weekend, to the people and families who look after people with serious illness in ireland with no break or no support not even a thank you.

How in the name of alls thats mystical can ya hope to sort out the medical conditions in these countries when we cant even sort them out this close to home.

What I'm saying is: Burma shouldn't be considered ineligible for our charity just because it isn't Ireland. That's what some people here are saying. I'm not saying Irish charities should be ignored in favour of Burma.

The money you donate to burmah is not going to the people of burmah its goin to business people.

We're talking about Burma the country, not Burmah the oil company. And as has already been said, the money is going to the Red Cross which has the wherewithal to get it, or most of it, to the people. Better than nothing.

Cop on

Right back at ya, troll. I've seen the other sh1t you've posted...

AMIIAM

There are many homeless people in cities and towns in Ireland. Does not charity begin at home?

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

no, it does not.

Puteq

An interesting conversation for sure.

bitemybanger wrote: »

Give your money to an Irish charity.

I would not agree with the idea of donating to an Irish charity first though - the way i see it, if you donate to some poorer country a euro will go a lot further than it will go at home. Not to mention the point that a few people have already made: there are a lot of worse cases abroad than in Ireland generally speaking.

But i completely agree with kowloon

kowloon wrote: »

+1
I would only donate to charities that provide material aid and don't have political or religious bias. I don't trust aid distributed by governments or the church.

I would usually advise Concern, they are not religious based, and 85% of all donations they get actually go towards their overseas charitable work (this is higher than any other charity in Ireland). Only 1% goes towards management and administration (this is lower than any other charity in Ireland). The remainder goes to miscellaneous costs such as advertising, marketing, etc. These figures highlight how worthwhile it is to give a few quid to Concern when you consider that, according to the ‘Standards for Charitable Accountability’ it would be acceptable for up to half a charity’s total income to go towards these other costs.

However I dont know how much access they have in Burma, by the sounds of things people seem to think the Red Cross is the way to go then for this?

AMIIAM

OK , Where does it start?

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

wherever people need help?

AMIIAM

so according to you, the homeless Irish do not deserve help?

Mad_Max

AMIIAM wrote: »

so according to you, the homeless Irish do not deserve help?

Some of the irish homeless are there due to themselves. I've often tried to help some homeless people in town by giving them some food, tea etc but they didnt want it, they wanted money and the truth is it was most likely for drugs or drink.

Im not saying dont help any of them because some are not there because of themselves but to say charity shouldnt leave our shore is a bit simple.

Those people in Burma didn't chose to be under a repressive regime or indeed have a cyclone swamp them.

AMIIAM

most homeless people did not choose to be. Please donate to Burma if you are sure your aid actually gets there

Mad_Max

Mad_Max wrote: »

some are not there because of themselves

I did qualify that.

Victor

Ross_Mahon wrote: »

Where the hell is Burma?

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=burma&ie=UTF8&z=4&msa=0&msid=116355068350205276966.00044c9c53b69771e3fca

mikemac

I see a lot of people advising to donate to the Red Cross.
An excellent organization but why are leasing such an expensive location as Merrion Square, Dublin.
I stand to be corrected if they own the building but if they are paying mega rent for a premium location then their credibility goes down imo

Donate to a local charity.
Irish guide dogs for the blind is one
Or even the RNLI. There are no braver men and women than the volunteers who man the lifeboats in the UK and Ireland imo.

The UK and Ireland can cover each others coastline (at least East Ireland can) so it's an excellent example of international cooperation

Mad_Max

A lot of charities deserve support but this thread is about whether or not this one is deserving. We all know them charities are deserving as are cancer, heart, children, etc etc.

Puteq

Mad_Max wrote: »

A lot of charities deserve support but this thread is about whether or not this one is deserving. We all know them charities are deserving as are cancer, heart, children, etc etc.

Agreed.

I still never agree with someone who chooses to support local charities in principle because they are local - not saying that they are not worthy, but if you place every charity side by side and compare how far your money goes and how much suffering your donation alleviates as primary factors in deciding that makes more sense to me than supporting local charities just because of geographical proximity.

But back to my original point yes you are right I was originally asking whether this one is worth giving to because of the approach the Burmese govt is taking. Still dont know TBH

Havermeyer

This thread is getting farcical at this stage.

Some people's views beggar belief.

But back to my original point yes you are right I was originally asking whether this one is worth giving to because of the approach the Burmese govt is taking.

I still don't see why you should let the fact that the government in question are pricks, and let it sway your decision to donate or not. If that's the case, why do we give asylum to citizens of war torn countries or people who are the victims of oppression enforced by their government. If that's your view, why help anyone with anything?

AMIIAM

It is an open forum??!!

Mad_Max

Puteq my view would be don't let their government affect your decision. If you strongly feel that these people deserve or need your help then find the best method to give it to them.

Puteq

Mad_Max wrote: »

Puteq my view would be don't let their government affect your decision. If you strongly feel that these people deserve or need your help then find the best method to give it to them.

well yeah my problem is that i dont want it to end up buying a general dinner as someone said earlier. these people definitely need all our help but the question is whether theres any point trying or would we be better off accepting that due to the crappy govt there we might as well focus on some other charity, maybe not as desperatley in need but at least reachable