I was going to mention that at the end of my 2nd visit, I only had British money left, so gave Vic's maid, who had looked after me incredibly well, a £20 note. She immediately burst into tears. I told her that I hoped she was not upset, and that I intended for her to be able to buy something nice for her little girl. She explained that her tears were because she had never held so much money in her hand at one time. This shocked me to my core! I knew she only earned about £12 a month (and that was a very high pay for domestic staff, but was because she only worked 3 days a week for Vic).
The next time I went to Botswana, I got chatting to Nostar (easy to remember her name, by thinking of Welsh for Goodnight!). I asked her if she had found something nice for her daughter. 'No,no, no!' she exclaimed. 'I used the money to start a shop!'. She had been out and bought a load of tomatoes, and a few other bits and pieces, and by the time I returned 4 months later, she had a thriving business. This time I taught her how to make Scotch Pancakes, as at her home she only has a wood fire, so it was no use giving her ideas that needed ovens and gas hobs etc. I bought a sack of flour and a tray of eggs and litres of milk, and she now has a very thriving business making something that gets sold to all and sundry. It just goes to show that give someone a gift as insignificant to us as £20, teach them how to make something with ingredients that are easy to source, and with the enthusiasm to escape poverty, they will work really hard to achieve wonders.
I get very angry about the so called Charities. The workers on the ground are one thing, but the ones who 'go out to check things are happening' are appalling on the whole. They travel first class or at the very least business class, and then want only the very best accommodation in the most expensive lodges and hotels. When we give money to charity we expect virtually every penny we give to go to the poor we are trying to help. Well, it doesn't. It goes in Admin and paying 'fundraisers' obscene salaries. I decided that never again will I give a penny to a charity that is saying it is helping poor people overseas. My donations are reserved purely for the RNLI and RBL.
I went out about 9 months after the Tsunami, and by chance was sitting next to the International Manager for a very large bank on an internal flight. (No 1st class seats on those flights!) We got chatting and when he told me he lives in Chenai, I asked about the effect of the Tsunami and had they received help from the enormous amounts of money given. He told me that they had actually not seen any of it, and that some of the American money was 'matched funding'. Disgusting eh? When communities have lost everything, how on earth can any donor expect them to raise money in order to be given money from the Tsunami Fund. I know this is now nearly 7 years ago, but it sticks in my mind and disgusts me still.
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