I worked as a navigator on oil exploration ships for nearly five years. Two years of this was spent in various countries in West Africa.

When the ship’s engineer would order rags to be used in the engine room, we would receive boxes of clothing with CARE on the side.

The cities all had many of what we call flea markets scattered around town. The vendors that sold clothing were taking the clothing out of boxes that also had CARE printed on the sides. The governments were taking the clothing we were donating and selling it to the vendors to sell to the public.

While sitting in port in Accra, Ghana we were docked directly behind a ship loaded with corn from America. I was told by our ship’s agent that it was part of a food for the poor donation.
The shipyards were fenced off and had locals lined all along them waiting for day work. The management of the shipyard would bring in some of the locals to unload the ships by hand.

I sat and watched this ship being unloaded. The locals were paid in grain. They would take off the shirt or pants, tie off the sleeves or legs, and a supervisor would scoop grain into their clothing. At the end of the dock there were two armed Ghanaian army men standing there with a large tarp spread out on the ground. As each worker left he was required to “donate” a large amount of his grain to the military. One worker was beaten when he tried to by-pass the “donation” spot.

My point here is to know where your donations are going.

On Your letters Nov. 20, 2009

Posted on November 19, 2009 at 2:48 p.m. (Suggest removal)