Over the last 2.5 weeks, China’s Red Cross has raised an astounding amount of money from domestic and international sources. At last count, I think it was near the 40 billion RMB level… 4 billion USD. The process itself has been amazing to watch…. Cadres, companies, and individuals were seen 24 hours a day showing their “support for China”, fanning out the red notes to show the audience just how much they were putting into the box, and for some… if you didn’t give enough, you were considered to be an iron rooster (Chinese for cheapskate). As donations began to snowball, the media (professional and amateur) began to ask some important questions about how this money was going to be spent, about the potential for graft/ missallocation, and who would be responsible for monitoring/ reporting all of this.. All important questions, ones that should be asked, and ones that were at times asked in public forums that one would not have been allowed to only 18 months ago. However, where I am becoming bothered is that through this process there are a lot of misconceptions that are being reported as fact, and that is not constructive to the process. Where I think I get most bothered is that a lot of the people putting forward the questions are people who simply do not understand how an NGO like the Red Cross operates, do not understand the size of the problems, or do not understand the limitations of NGOs in China.. and what that means. There are of course legitimate questions that come with the 40b RMB, and it will be important for the central government to stand behind its commitment to ensure monies are spent as advertised, but questioning why the Red Cross requires more overhead than another NGO who doesn’t need to invest money in specialized training, hold inventories of tent, or be responsible for responding first… is not one of them.