Im going to tour the poor nations of South East Asia, & donate $10-15K worth of supplies. What do they need?

Question

I want to visit these countries and experience the various cultures in South East Asia (Burma, Thailand, Cambodia), but if I go, I would like to also donate something that would help the people there the most.

I don't feel good donating money, because as I've done it before, I doubt that it ever gets spent the right way.

At first, I thought about buying $15,000 worth of Nike's for the children, but then I thought, the children will probably have their new shoes stolen as soon as I turned my back. Same thing with clothes or toys.
Maybe medicine, and medical supplies? But how do I arrange that? Do I need a prescription? A prescription for $15,000 worth of various medicines? And where do I dispense it when I get there?

What items do the people there desperately need, which I can help give them, without worrying that it ends up in the wrong hands?

Answer 1

Visit the country and see first hand how you can help them.
You can buy all that the poor need in the country itself.
The poor need food and medicine. You can buy them there and distribute it your self or go through the charity distribution organisations or churches or temples.Visit the orphanages and free hospitals. You will find more than enough avenues to help.
I suggest you go to Cambodia. Forget Myanmar as the military junta is very corrupt.

Answer 2

If you are indeed planning to make a donation as you say, what I can recommend is that you go there, find an organisation that you like, whether one for children, old folks, homeless and destitutes, etc and look up the head of that orgainisation. You can always entrust your donation with the organiser as he/she will know best how to dispense the money to help those there. What you buy may well be a white elephant, look good but useless to the residents instead.

Or else donate the money to set up a fund in your name to sponsor an event and you can leave instruction with the bank how to dispense the money to the organisation you had chosen.

And don't forget to let us Yahoo folks know what you had accomplished when you had done so.

Answer 3

You know, turning your money in to the government or the local Red Cross would be better than you bringing in all those goods that youwould purchase. You'll get frustrated from the bureaucratic mess you'd confront because of the imported items you're bringing in. I think the Red Cross can make an accounting of how they spent your donation if you ask them.

Answer 4

I just read a website of International Committee of the Red Cross

In Cambodia the authorities need to provide an estimated 60,000 disabled persons – including 36,000 victims of mines – with artificial limbs and support appliances....

http://www.icrc.org/Web/Eng/siteeng0.nsf/iwpList77/F433D8E3EF86E6D7C125718F0032BEA9


Will keep U update if I can find a trust charities organisation...

Answer 5

I suggest you go to Bangladesh, my country. In my country people need food, cloths.If possible I prefer you give food and cloths personally to the children and people because if give through any charities then they will eat up the money. Plus you will earn good deed thingy too.

Answer 6

Use to save some African lives instead, $15000 can dig a lot of wells and provide filtation systems in African villages and that in turn will save thousands of childrens lives who are currently unable to get access to clean, safe drinking water.

Answer 7

Go twice. Once to find out for yourself and the second time to distribute those things.For medecines contact your local Red Cross. They are the experts.