Banksy and the NGO Dilemma

I just came across these images by Banksy, the world's most famous and anonymous graffiti artist, who has in recent years broken into the world of high art. Celebrities and art collectors alike buy his work which fetches up to US$576,000.
Banksy's piece (above) represents the precise state of the Non Governmental Organizations (NGO's), how they operate, are funded, and the marketing scheme that leads them by the nose. Everything becomes a photo opportunity. Everything is a dramatic story if told just so. It must be aimed to tweak the heartstrings of the unconsciously guilt-ridden wealthy west. It must be told in a simple and somewhat trite manner. Please don’t include any complex irony that may complicate the objective or indicate true humanity. If all goes well the money should pour in. Is this compromising too much?

I instantly conjure up images of World Vision television ads. The background music has caused me to dislike “tear jerker” movies in their attempt to manipulate my emotions. Mine are manipulated easily (I score high as a Feeler in Myers Briggs). Nor will I ever look at the faces portrayed and believe that their overriding feelings are not embarrassment and intrusion.
I watched in embarrassment at the Mercy Ships screening day in Liberia. Crowds of people lined up before the sun came up, many with very visual physical deformities that, in a superstitious culture such as Liberia, is commonly believed to be a sign of a curse or an evil presence. Many hide away for their own safety. Mercy Ships with its boundless supply of excited and sometimes naive volunteers had a handful of amateur photographers who had procured themselves professional cameras and were exuberantly clicking away in the faces of people whose dignity should have been protected rather than exploited.

After the 2004 tsunami a Canadian news team did a follow up story on the international emergency aid and NGO’s that were sent to that part of the world for emergency relief efforts. They found that almost exclusively the aid was concentrated in prominent media covered areas. The organizations were heavily reliant on international exposure for funding and therefore exposure became the priority over the helping of the desperate. This particular news team went town-by-town to “unpopular” areas and found nothing had changed or been done there despite the millions contributed worldwide.

There was one exception. A Toronto Muslim society had sent a medical team that was operating with doctors and medics in the middle of nowhere. No one knew they were there except the people who benefited. The team was filled with doctors who could not practice in Canada due to the strict regulations on any medical persons trained outside of the country. I was mightily impressed. I assumed the society had raised the necessary money to send the team. In an era where Muslims are often vilified, it is so nice to see anyone humbly operating exclusively out of their own desires to help the needy.