Canadian Red Cross assures Hurricane Matthew donors after Twitter backlash

The Canadian Red Cross is trying to assure potential donors their money will go to help Haitians in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew, distancing itself from online vitriol for the American Red Cross.

• Local Haitian Canadians wait and worry over fate of loved ones

Some people on social media are urging potential donors to rethink givingmoney to the organization after the American branch failed to deliver on itspromises after theearthquake in 2010.

A7.0-magnitude earthquake killed more than 200,000people in the country and did billions of dollars in damage.TheAmerican Red Cross raised nearly half a billion dollars with thepromiseto provide aid and help rebuild communities. But, according to a special report byProPublica andNPR,onlysix permanent homes were built.

The report highlighted various issues that contributed to the organization's ineffectiveness on the ground including mismanagementand theover-reliance on foreigners who could not speak the language.

"Money given to the Canadian Red Cross will be managed by theCanadian Red Cross," saidStephaneMichaudwho runs the emergency response operations for the Canadian Red Cross in Ottawa.

He said theorganization is notconnected to its American counterpart and money donatedby Canadians for Haitiwill go directly to thecountry. TheCanadian Red Cross is hoping to raise $7 million for Hurricane Matthewrelief efforts in Haiti.

"Wewill respect what we calldonor intent. For example, a dollar given to Haiti will never be used for another disaster or a conflict somewhere else," he said.

The Canadian Red Cross has been responding to tweets about the American controversy with a link to its donor report detailingits response to the earthquake in Haiti.

TheAmerican Red Cross admits tobuilding onlysix homes, but the organization saidthelow number isbecause the houses werepart of a pilot project and there was areassessment of their long-term shelter plans. The organizationsaid it provided over6,000transitional homes for nearly31,000peopleand more than5,400householdsreceived rental subsidies to help them move out of camps.

But it appearsthe damage to the organization's reputation is already done.

Links to ProPublicaandNPR's 2015 report are recirculating on Facebook and Twitter, causing many to question whether the organization can be trusted to help Haitiansafter Hurricane Matthew. On one southwesternpeninsula alone,officials sayat least 30,000 homes were destroyed and anoutbreak of cholera is adding to the number of fatalities.

"Cholera has been present in Haiti since 2011 [and] was starting to spike before this hurricane and spikes everytime there's rain so you canimagine what a metre of rain is doing," said Michaud.

Haitian-Canadianslooking to help

Michaud saidthe Canadian Red Crosshas a strongrecordofprovidingimmediatesupport in Haiti.

• Haiti earthquake relief funds well-spent, Canadian Red Cross says

"The data speaksfor itself. Two thousand patients were seen and treated for cholera in the first weeks of the cholera outbreak," he said.

"Hundreds of thousands were assisted by the Canadian Red Cross,with life-saving needs,after the earthquake and we have built 7,500 hurricane resistant shelters all around the affected areas in Haiti. There's been no report of any of these houses being damaged by the recent hurricane."

Meanwhile, many Haitian-Canadians are not letting the controversy surrounding the AmericanRed Cross stifle their attempts to raise money to help those back home.

"There are multiple means to donate. Not only through theRed Cross" said Mae-Lyna Beaubrun-Fleury, whose family is fromPetit-Gove.

"As a Haitian people...we're very generous and caring of those who are in Haiti.We're constantly giving. Either sending money, sending either food or material goods. I am 100 per cent sure that people are going to continue to do that...and they'll make even more sacrifices to give."