francoispierrelouis

Thank you for asking that question. First, I don't all NGOs working in Haiti are corrupt. There are many that do tremendous work in all sectors of the country. Having said that I think what donors can do is to work with local organizations that are connected with the population. Too often these groups are not even recognized. This can be done in several ways, one of which is to help these groups build capacity to manage funds and keep proper records.

Governments have their own rules regarding NGOs that they fund. EU countries have different set of rules as comapred to the US or UK for example. What's going on in Haiti is that due to a weak government and outdated laws, many NGOs take advantage of these conditions and lobby against changing them. Several Haitian governments in the past have tried to amend these laws that govern foreing NGOs and there have been strong resistance from the Mega international NGOs to the point in which they contribute to overthrow these governments.

Citizens who support these NGOs should encourage their government to hold them accountable and push to have a board, like FIFA for example, that can set certain criteria. However, this might be very difficult given that foreign aid is an extension of a country's foreign policy.

Pumpkin soup or "soup Joumou" is Haiti's most famous soup and there is a long history behind it. Dessert is "pain patate" which is a pudding made of sweet potato. As for sandwich, I dont know of anything special.

There are several local NGOs that do good work. I know that the Inter American Foundation (IAF), Kellogg and Soros foundations support these NGOs. I work with the local NGOs in Haiti. I will refrain from naming any of them here.