to have reservations about sending secondhand clothes to refugees abroad

[LarrytheCucumber]

A friend of mine has co-ordinated a collection of clothes for refugees in Iraq.
The people the clothes are going to are in desperate need, but having seen some of the items which have been donated I wonder if we are really doing the right thing, spending money to send our unwanted clothes.

Presumably you'll remove the rubbish items?

What about the items? What is it that you think is wrong with or about them?

It depends on the items. My partner used to volunteer in a charity shop and the things people send such as; period stained underwear and poo smeared baby clothes.

Can you sell the rubbish stuff as rags and use that money to send the clothes over?

Well, you don't have to send 'unsuitable' things. Actually, you don't need to participate at all. But I'm sure the refugees do need clothing.

How much is it costing to send the clothing? Maybe a donation to an appropriate charity would be a better way of helping?

What started this train of thought was opening a box which had supposedly been sorted and finding a manky coat covered in cat hair .
We are just storing the items temporarily but DH has agreed that we should go through and resort them.
TenerifeSea I know this happens. Why do people think it is acceptable?

How much stuff is there? Would u be able to wash the stuff that needs it as part of your 'donation'?

One person's manky is another person's treasure. If you are freezing, a cat-hair-covered coat is a godsend.

Having been in a village in Zimbabwe when a shipment of old clothes was opened up, I can't tell you how thrilled people were to get every scrap. These were people who had NO shoes and NO sheets or bedding.

I agree that sending clothes might not be the most cost effective way to help people, depending on the situation.

claraschu I can see that point of view, but shouldn't we aim to send the best we can?
Barbarian I didn't intend to get involved, it just happened! When the boxes have moved on I will bow out gracefully.

I think we waste a lot of perfectly useable clothes. We have to start saving and reusing for the sake of the planet.

I like to get most things second hand for my family, so I have a pretty different attitude from most Westerners, I guess. I would think that someone could lovingly clean off the cat hair, sew up any holes, and save something from the rubbish heap.

I would happily use that coat for my family too, though, if we needed it, so it's not like I think refugees don't deserve the very best, more that I think we should all move away from the consumerist, throw-away culture.

God, I sound annoying!!

Claraschu I would have liked the donor to lovingly clean off the cat hair, not assume that someone else would do it.

Yes Larry. It's really quite patronising to assume someone would be delighted with something we wouldn't go near ourselves, just because they're poor and in need. Whatever happened to dignity and respect?

Also, sending our clothing and other second hand goods actually damages the market for local manufacturers in the country the clothes go to. A lot of the clothes sent end up being sold very cheaply in markets, undercutting local tailors and traders. Far better to give money and support putting locally produced clothes on people's backs.

And perhaps just buy fewer clothes for ourselves...

Rallytog - I was about to say the same. Remember being in Zaire (DRC) and finding a shack fully stocked with no doubt donated clothes. Few of the locals could afford them.

I suppose donations to disaster zones are more likely to reach their mark.

I would agree in normal circumstances rally but if these are going to people living in a refugee camp it is a bit different - the normal services won't be available, probably not taking money out of the local economy.
And from things I've read Aid - money but even food - is often misdirected and/or ends up on the black market.
I think even a cat hair covered coat would be gratefully received by someone if the alternative is freezing...admittedly better if it had been cleaned up first but if it is warm and people are desperate...
And we now have skewed standards ...people will throw something away rather than try and get a stain off it, nothing is made to last, clothes are cheap and people in this country are relatively rich and image conscious.
I used to get the piss taken out of me at school because my dad did the gardening and DIY in his old work clothes...he worked in a suit.
(So my dad was so snobby he even wore a suit for gardening ) . Nowadays people would buy clothes from primark to do gardening etc ...and the salve their conscience by putting the slightly worn out suit in a charity bag ...

I have re sorted the clothes. A lot of them were very good.
I also sewed on some buttons which were missing. However I did end up with a black sack of things I couldn't send, and a bag for the charity shop of things which were in good condition but not really suitable.
Totally agree with the comments about local markets. I saw an item on television about African ladies who were going out of business because people wanted western clothes instead of their locally made traditional clothes.
I am assuming that refugees don't have another source of clothing for the time being.
unlucky not only does aid sometimes go 'astray' but it isn't always what
the people want because of cultural differences. Normally I would go for DEC charities because they are getting more and more experience of what is actually needed.

I'm absolutely astounded by the ignorance of some people on this thread. These refugees are people who will have fled in fear for their lives from the brutal ISIS regime. Normally they will have fled with little more than the clothes they're standing up in.

They won't have employment, they will have no economic power to replace their lost homes and goods and will be entirely dependent on charity. It's a shame if people haven't washed things and they have sent things which are dirty or unusable.

But to say oh we shouldn't send them crap it will undermine the local economy is ridiculous in these circumstances. If you are cold and you have no bedding a manky coat covered in cat hair would be a god send. They're in a refugee camp not a catwalk show.

Do people really live such pampered lives that they're incapable of imagining what conditions are like in camps like this? I despair.

Yes, Moan but I still think that if they are going to be given one coat it should be the best coat I can send.

Even better to send one "best coat you can send" plus the crappy coat that would still keep a desperate person from freezing.

The thing about local markets applies to certain situations and not to others.

And what of the cost of sending them?
I wonder if it would not be better to donate that money to agencies that are on the ground and have a better idea of what is required: tents, first aid kits, clean water kits etc

Whilst sending clothes may be a kind gesture I'm not sure that it's really what is needed.

when you resort the clothing can you put the worst to be sold for rags and go to a jumble sale/car boot or something to boost it up a little? it might just have been the top coat it doesn't mean its all like it

They need the clothes , any clothes. Having been with street kids , some of their clothes you wouldn't use to clean the car. Just do the best you can.

I have a friend who lives in an African country. She comes to England once every two years and packs her cases to go home with charity shop stuff that some people would think crazy. She give it all away when she gets home and says everyone LOVES her huge case opening event!

Don't put western ideals onto societies we have no understanding or knowledge of.

the clothes might really help and inject some colour into their dismal lives, something different.

YABU - the problem here is with people who are too lazy to sort dirty and damaged clothes from good ones. People should make sure their donations are up to scratch but the donating itself is a good idea.

I have a funny story about this though. I do a lot of work with street children in Brazil and one of the first times I went the organisation I went with told us to take only older, cheaper clothes so that a) we would have less chance of coming across as 'entitled western do gooders' and b) we could leave everything behind when we came home to be given away.

When we got there we found that most of the children in the orphanage had designer clothes - they had recently had a large delievery of seconds/end of line clothing via a charity.

One little girl asked me, with a deadly serious and worried looking face, - 'did you sell all your nice clothes so you could come here and work with us?'

Ineedtimeoff the cost is one of the reasons I didn't want to send the manky coat. And as it stands at the moment there are plenty of items coming in, so it makes sense to send the best and remove the rest.

I think clothes are what they need, and I think the person who started the charity is in touch with people in the region.