Wyclef responds to NYPost Claims
November 30th, 2011 | By
Wyclef Jean is defending Yele Haiti after an article was published this week alleging that the charity mismanaged donations.
The New York Post piece claimed that YELE HAITI received $16 million in donations after the massive January earthquake devastated Haiti in 2010, but only “spent just $5.1 million for emergency relief efforts.”
The Post also claimed that Yele Haiti paid $1 million to a Florida food distributor, that they say, doesn’t exist.
Wyclef responded swiftly to the article in a statement via his website describing the NY Post piece as “misleading, deceptive and incomplete.”
Read Wyclef’s Response Below:
…The Post conveniently fails to acknowledge that the decisions that Yele made were a response to one of the world’s most catastrophic natural disasters in modern history and required an immediate humanitarian response. There were no roads, no clean water, no sanitation, no banks, no electricity, no infrastructure. Immediate decisions were made to save lives and alleviate suffering. We made decisions that enabled us to provide emergency assistance in the midst of chaos and we stand by those decisions. We did the best we could with the available resources. I am proud of the way that Yele handled the crisis on the ground in 2010. We were able to feed, clothe, provide medical assistance and shelter for more than 250 thousand people in need.
What the article doesn’t say is that the construction projects funded by Yele Haiti were responsible for rebuilding an orphanage, building a temporary assistance facility, and had constructed a system of out door toilet and shower facilities in Cite Soliel one of the largest slums in Port-au-Prince.
The Post never highlights that Amisphere Farm Labor was responsible for preparing and delivering close to 100,000 meals. The Samosa SA property referenced by the Post was located in the vicinity of the largest tent camps in Port-au-Prince. Yele chose that location because it was closest to the people it needed serve.
All of these facts as well as photos and testimonials were readily available to the Post for their story. Unfortunately, they chose not to include these facts and instead chose to imply that Yele “squandered” donors money. Nothing could be further from the truth…READ MORE HERE
