Helping people in a disaster area is not all it is cracked up to be. This is an interesting article from New York Times posted on Michigan Chapter of the Red Cross website.
Another widely circulated blog post, “No One Needs Your Old Shoes: How Not to Help in Haiti,” was written shortly after the earthquake by Alanna Shaikh, an international relief and development expert working in Tajikistan. It suggested giving money, not goods; going to volunteer only if you have medical expertise and are vetted by a reputable organization; and supporting the far less immediate task of rebuilding Haiti.
via Teaching Americans What Haiti Needs: Money « Semtourofduty’s Blog.