# Doing a thousand dollars of good in the world - where should it go?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doing-a-thousand-dollars-of-good-in-the-world-where-should-it-go/378360
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [October 29, 2006, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doing-a-thousand-dollars-of-good-in-the-world-where-should-it-go/378360 "2006-10-29T21:20:16Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 4
### Author:  [@MrJackboots](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrJackboots)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2006, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doing-a-thousand-dollars-of-good-in-the-world-where-should-it-go/378360/61 "2006-11-04T20:05:25Z")
[QUOTE=democritus]
I was so impressed I made an account to suggest them. Maybe this is all a scheme to domesticate the lurkers…
We don’t house-train well.
[/QUOTE]
Hah! Delurking people here is a good thing for the world, and it happened for free! 😃
Partners in Health has a very nice website. I’m investigating it now. Poking around CharityNavigator turns up Physicians for Peace, too, which looks like it deserves a look as well.
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### Author:  [@Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamaika_a_jamaikaiake)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2006, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doing-a-thousand-dollars-of-good-in-the-world-where-should-it-go/378360/62 "2006-11-05T05:14:32Z")
I’ve been known to give to [Mercy Corps](http://www.mercycorps.org/) , who provide disaster relief across the globe. They help people whose village was just destroyed by earthquake or [Janjaweed](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janjaweed) or whatnot.
According to [CharityNavigator.org](http://CharityNavigator.org), they spend 88.9% on programs, 6.7% on admin, and 4.4% on fund-raising.
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### Author:  [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2006, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doing-a-thousand-dollars-of-good-in-the-world-where-should-it-go/378360/63 "2006-11-05T19:04:53Z")
[QUOTE=Richard Parker]
This is unfortunately a widespread sentiment. You’re confusing individual aid with government aid. While government aid has often been subverted by corrupt administrations in \*\*some \*\*African nations, targeted non-governmental charity work is not so easily subverted.
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Many aid agencies have personnel at clinics who administer drugs, for example, so there is no point at which "warlords" are in control of any medicine, much less money. The same is true of many kinds of charitable donations that individuals can give.
While political problems in many African nations contribute to poverty, this is hardly a reason not to help. If anything, it is another compelling reason to help.
```
[/QUOTE]
Well put, **Richard Parker**. I would add that, in fact, there are actually some quite good governments in Africa, running top-notch health programs. South Africa is a stable democracy, and my understanding is that Botswana’s government has been widely respected ever since independence. Also, Uganda’s not wholly democratic, but President Museveni is _not_ corrupt, so far as I know, and he’s earned a lot of praise for his government’s ABC program of AIDS prevention.
So, Africa is _not_ a continent of corruption - there’s a lot of it, but there are also honest governments that deserve anybody’s respect.
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