In the wake of the cyclone in Myanmar, donors need help. Google “Myanmar” and you’ll see a huge list of organizations advertising for donations. I don’t know whether they’re coordinating on the ground, but they’re certainly competing when it comes to raising money – and donors, including myself, have virtually nothing to go on in…

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I had a typical reaction to the disaster in Myanmar: wanting to do something. I have spent very little time looking into the area of disaster relief, so after a bit of Googling and discussion with Elie, I gave to Population Services International for two reasons: PSI was the winner of our “saving lives” cause…

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We’ve wondered why scholarship programs don’t have a stronger impact on academic achievement, and have guessed that it’s because disadvantaged children are so far behind by age 5 that they need special schools, with a special approach, if they’re to have any hope of catching up. The quote below, from an article in the Washington…

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In response to Elie’s recent series of posts on malnutrition, John J. comments: “What specific nutrients are they missing…etc etc etc?” Here’s a question for you: What possible use is this question to Givewell? Do you really need to get into such miniscule depth with regard to poor people who can’t afford enough food and…

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Below is the email I received from Kelli M. Donley, Program Director at Esperanca, in response to the questions I asked in Part I and Part II of this series: Dear Elie, Hi there! I am going to try to answer your questions to the best of my knowledge. I hope this helps: These questions…

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In Part I, I listed some questions about malnutrition that I think you’d have to answer to have any sense of what you’re accomplishing with your donation, and how it compares to your other options. I then went on a search – similar to what we did part-time before we started GiveWell – to see…

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