Oxfam has abused our trust terribly
WHEN I was little I used to think that all priests were full of godliness, humility, self-sacrifice and just plain goodness. Now of course the scales have dropped from all our eyes and we’re all too aware of the scale of sexual abuse in both the CofE and the Catholic Church.
Until this week I was just as naive about charities as I was about religion. I guess most of us were. When I watched international aid workers talk sombrely on TV about the immense suffering they were alleviating in Haiti, Africa, Indonesia, I thought they were saints. I gladly donated to every disaster appeal.
Now I feel sick. The Oxfam scandal reveals that many of those “saints” were in fact leading depraved lives, sexually exploiting young women at “Caligulastyle” orgies because – well, because they could, being powerful and very rich compared to the girls they were abusing.
Former aid workers say the Oxfam orgies in Haiti were the tip of the iceberg; that the entire aid industry is riddled with sexual abuse and paedophilia. And yet political sophisticates such as William Hague remain staunch in their commitment to the massive aid budget Britain grants to organisations such as Oxfam.
They say it will help avoid massive immigration crises in future (no luck on that so far, then) but they profoundly misunderstand the nature of giving, and of charity. Most people are not sophisticated. We donate to TV disaster appeal funds and shows such as Red Nose Day and Children In Need out of pity and a desperate desire to help. We’re not really interested in the politics, regime intervention, manipulation, or fighting climate change.
We want to make the lives of children, mothers and fathers, better and more like our own. We want them to be warm, well-fed, healthy and happy.
Years ago Richard and I fronted the North-west’s contribution to ITV’s short-lived Telethon, an import from the US. We quickly learned that the biggest donations came in response to truly heartbreaking films of suffering and deprivation. When their pity is stimulated, people (especially us British) are astoundingly generous. Their reaction to suffering is not only to weep but to give money.
Politicians and big charities forget that the money they distribute according to their own priorities comes from ordinary people.
If we give, it’s to help victims, not to finance the depraved pleasure of those who go out and distribute our cash.
I won’t be donating to any NGOs (non-government organisations – how’s that for an arrogant and self-aggrandising title?) until I know for sure that my money is being spent to help those who suffer.
Oxfam et al have a bigger problem than they know. They are not only abusing young foreign girls. They are abusing us too.