Monday, March 1, 2010

Responding To Ignorance



I received the following email today, it is regarding my work and investigative report of Mother Teresa's international charity which is fraught with medical negligence and financial fraud. I usually don't get a lot of these, but I was not going to just ignore this one. Take a look at the message sent to me and my response to this individual:
 
-----Original Message-----
From: xxxxxxxxx@xxxxx
To: xxxxxx@xxxxxx
Sent: Tue, Jan 11, 2011 3:34 am
Subject: New Contact Message
 
I am outraged. You do not have any say in how the Missionaries of Charity operate, especially when some of your photographs of India's "poorest of the poor" are being SOLD to fund your own personal life as an "independent artist". Disgusting. Have you ever even cleaned and bandaged a wound with maggots crawling in it? Have you ever changed a woman who is on her period and blood is all over her clothing? Have you ever been defecated on?? Think of it. And then think of Indian life. You just don't get it do you. Try a little humility and empathy before you LASH OUT and try to make a buck. OH, also try taking care of the poor for more than 2 months.
 
----------------------------------------------------------------
 
xxxxx,
 
Try READING more about me before lashing out ignorantly.
 
I currently live in Kolkata, I work in the slums everyday with the poorest of the poor, I make seriously little money through my photos, I've managed to save some money by working hard for a while back at home before returning to India to positively change the lives of people in serious need. Here's the link to my own charity: http://www.facebook.com/responsiblecharity
 
I've cleaned blood, mucus, I've been defecated on by the destitute of India, picked live maggots out of wounds for hours and cremated more than a dozen men and women while working with the incredibly archaic and often inefficient Missionaries of Charity. Damn right I have a right to question how these monsters operate and shame on you for blindly adoring these nuns and  thinking you are actually doing something good by keeping your mouth shut.
 
I usually don't answer stupid mail such as yours, don't get a lot if anyway, but you actually epitomize a big part of the problem, the volunteer who continues to glorify this fraudulent and outdated organization, while actually hurting those they claim to help by keeping them in these museums of poverty.
 
If you want to truly make a difference, start by demanding that the Missionaries of Charity report every single dollar they have received in donations until today and how all the funds have really been applied, if they do so, the world will discover they've been quite busy propagating their religious dogma while "patching" some of the issues of poverty instead of looking for viable solutions to END poverty with the millions and millions of dollars received from their unsuspecting donors.
 
Again, READ. You will discover hundreds of links from reporters, volunteers, journalists, some doctors, nurses and even nuns who themselves have left what is essentially a cult.
 
The monumental negligence of this organization is in fact impossible to ignore.
 
Hemley Gonzalez
STOP The Missionaries of Charity