i am putting this question in this thread because i feel individuals who frequent this forum, would be (in theory anyways) more knowledgeable regarding this issue, Insha’Allah.
There is a wonderful NGO that i came across, based in Pakistan, doing some work in an issue that i feel is very important. i wanted to donate some stuff to them from here; i’ve had an ongoing e-mail correspondence with one of their project coordinators. When i told him about the donation idea, he e-mailed back a rather frank, and i believe to be an honest, reply. He said that he was not in a position to guarantee that the money donated would actually be used for the purposes i had expressed in my e-mail, i.e., the money may not actually go towards benefitting the individuals i had wanted it to. Therefore he suggested, very very politely and diplomatically, that i may want to consider sending the money towards an account that is not based directly with the NGO because this NGO has had problems in the past of overheads, etc. As he put it, there would be three people responsible for the management/use of this account - himself, one other individual (who is NOT related to the NGO in any way but is a prison superintendent somewhere), and a third individual whom i could nominate.
i have yet to give my reply but i know what it is going to be. i know a third individual i could nominate, but i haven’t yet asked him whether he would be willing to do so. i am still debating whether or not to approach that guy, i think i eventually will not have the third individual and it will just be the project coordinator and the prison superintendent responsible for the use of the account.
hm i have my mind made up so i am not entirely certain why i am posting this thread; i guess what i wanted was some feedback from some of you. Is it alright what i am doing? i know what some of you may be thinking - she’s being taken for a ride. Well if i am - i am. No one knows the particulars of the correspondences, so assuming anything right off the bat might be extremely premature for anyone.
Have you guys had this happen with any NGO you personally know of? Initially i was sort of taken aback but i love the honesty he has expressed in his e-mail. It could not have been easy to admit that the NGO you work for, has had a problem in the past of misappropriating funds. This is not a “Pakistani problem”; i wish it was. Every single country possesses some number of charities/orgs. (it obviously varies from country to country, city to city) that suffer from this problem.
Ok enuf of my blabbing - any of you guys come across this issue and if so what did you do? i guess i just want some insight into this issue…first time i am dealing with it as lame as that may sound.
why is he sitting there in that office for and working with that NGO when he's telling ppl that its not wise to donate directly to it.
seems highly sketchy to me.
Nadia, u can send the money to me yaar, i'll go and give it to the Edhi office in karachi or do u want it to go to that specific org? which org is it? where is it?
yaar, u shud never ever trust strangers with money...theres huge scams going on in pak with regards to money...in hospitals, schools, offices, everywhere!
and yaar no dont have that attitude k IF i am being taken for a ride then i am...its ur hard earned haq halal kee kamai which u wana donate in Allah's cause...so go the whole way and make sure its landing in the hands of a mustahiq and not some fraud...
Nadia let me help you our here. You can thank me later.
IN a lot of countries pure DD is not done. I can give you the example for India, since I know the NGO scene there fairly well. A lot of NRI’s in the US had similar issues about accountability of disbursements. The answer I found was almost a S&P/Stock exchange type of agency that a few of us set up called www.giveindia.org. What the agency does is to do the due diigence on the thousands of NGO’s and post the audited financials, missions, and marketing materials on a searchable database to allow the donor to sift through the thousands of causes and find one that meets their motivations. The agency itself, requires the NGO’t to get access to the NRI comunity, if and only if, they meet our strict guidelines. WE also require them to provide outcome reporting. For ex..If I want to sponsor a child’seducation for two years in Bihar, then I expect to get a steady update on the outcomes. Each quate, in this instance, I will receive not onlyt he progress report for the kid but also how the oney was disbursed, in a line item account level.
Transparency is an issue. But it can be overcome.
You are young…someday you will get it.
Irem beta S.H.O.C.K.E.D. Any two bit monkey can point out a problem. The point is to do something about it. You simply can;t blame america here.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by irem: *
yaar, u shud never ever trust strangers with money...theres huge scams going on in pak with regards to money...in hospitals, schools, offices, everywhere!
and yaar no dont have that attitude k IF i am being taken for a ride then i am...its ur hard earned haq halal kee kamai which u wana donate in Allah's cause...so go the whole way and make sure its landing in the hands of a mustahiq and not some fraud...
[/QUOTE]
Irem, Actually you know what - after i read his last e-mail, the first person i thought of for verifying its accuracy, was you. i wanted to forward you his e-mail but i never got around to. Actually, yaar, he’s mentioned some stuff about his father in that e-mail and i am not entirely certain whether he would feel comfortable with me sharing that. i just feel weird forwarding his e-mail without having his permission because it does contain some rather sensitive stuff. But honestly, i thought of you when i read his e-mail… i wished you were there with me so i could have had some advice regarding what to do.
Haan yaar, there are “sketchy” aspects to it i don’t deny that. But wouldn’t he have known that this all sounded so sketchy - i mean he took a BIG risk by telling me didn’t he? Doesn’t that mean that he is being honest or at least he deserves a chance ? :~/ And yaar, what about the third person that i can nominate to be incharge of the account - hey what if i nominated you? Seriously… what if i asked you to be the third person ? i mean, that’s introducing an aspect of independence into this whole issue isn’t it… he wouldn’t have said that to me if his motivation is to rip me off. Hai na?
Regarding why is he sitting at this office working for an NGO that he himself has admitted is not entirely honest with its funds - well, maybe unn ki majboori ho gi i mean maybe he loves the work that he’s doing as part of the NGO but he can’t be entirely responsible for EVERY single other colleague’s actions, right ? He does sound really nice yaar. And according to Islam, we’re not supposed to cast shak on anyone right ? It’s a wonderful NGO, i’ll pm you the details, dun’t want to mention their name here and Khudanakhasta badmouth them unnecessarily.
Matsui, wow that’s very interesting. What are you suggesting precisely - i don’t think there is something equivalent for Pakistan, is there? And his offering to let me have a third individual oversee the account - doesn’t that add a level of transparency to it? Or do you think that aspect is not sufficient enough?
Nadia honey, this is what I meant about doing something. INstead of compalining on the internet. See if you can get a rating agency set up..I am sure any of the rich pakistani socialites wou dbe willing to fund it. Call it an islamic name so that people feel good about giving. Consider it your own Al Aqsa brigade. :k:
Also fom the letter you received from the project coordinator it migh thave to do with AML and Patriot law…maybe they don;t want to give out funds to terrorists anymore? Just a thought…
