WE CALLED YASSIN 'BROTHER'
IS 'BIG CHARITY' MORE ABOUT PROFIT THAN COMPASSION?
FOR MORE THAN A DECADE, WE CALLED HIM A BROTHER, A MODEST MAN, A PIOUS MOSLEM WHO SERVED MERCY CORPS IN DANGEROUS PLACES. A REFUGEE FROM DARFUR, LANDING IN KHARTOUM WHERE HIS HOME WAS DAMAGED AND LOOTED.
EVENTUALLY TO A ‘RENTAL’ IN KUWAIT FOR HIS WIFE AND CHILDREN, CLOSE BY TO IRAQ WHERE HE WORKED FOR MERCY CORPS AND MANAGED A LARGE PROGRAM IN DIYALA--A ROAMING GROUND FOR TERRORISTS. WE SHARED ROOMS IN KHANAQIN. THERE WAS A PRICE ON OUR HEADS.
FAST FORWARD TO 2025, HE WAS NOW A MANAGER IN NIGERIA AND WAS CAPTURED BY TERRORISTS AND BEATEN REGULARLY FOR A MONTH UNTIL, GOD WILLING, HE WAS ABLE TO ESCAPE.
WHEN HE GOT FREE, WE TALKED. HE TOLD ME THAT MERCY CORPS HAD IMMEDIATELY TERMINATED HIM AND GIVEN HIM A TWO WEEK SEVERANCE.
MEANWHILE THE EXECUTIVES BACK AT HQ IN THE USA WERE MAKING IN EXCESS OF $250K EACH. WHEN WE, WHO WORKED WITH YASSIN, TRIED TO INTERVENE WITH THE MC/HQ, WE WERE IGNORED.
SO, MERCY CORPS ( NO STRANGER TO SCANDAL—GOOGLE IT) HAS WASHED THEIR HANDS OF YASSIN.
IN THE MAIN, IT IS YASSIN AND FOLKS LIKE HIM WHO HAVE SUPPORTED ALL THE REAR AREA STAFF FINANCIALLY BY THE U.S. GRANTS THEY MANAGED IN THE FIELD.
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THE HEART AND SOUL OF ALL EMERGENCY-RESPONSE OVERSEAS ARE THE ‘YASSIN’s OF THIS WORLD YET THEY ARE FACELESS AT CORPORATE HQ.
IN BRIEF, ‘BIG CHARITY’ IN THE USA IS NOW MORE OFTEN IN BED WITH THE ‘MONIED--CLASS’ THAN WITH THE SHRINKING CLASS OF HUMANITARIANS WHO RISK THEIR LIVES FOR THE BENIGHTED.
PLEASE SUPPORT YASSIN; HE AND HIS FAMILY ARE HANGING BY A THREAD.
I WRITE TO YOU AS YASSIN’S FORMER BOSS, A PURPLE HEART RECIPIENT IN VIETNAM AND A VETERAN OF 45 YEARS OF HUMANITARIAN WORK IN AFRICA, THE LEVANT AND ASIA. MY COLLEAGUES AND I HAVE STARTED A GO FUND ME SITE. PLEASE HELP US.