Toxic Charity #2.4: Problems that can result from helping others:

Sometimes groups coming in can do more damage than help. Is the project they are undertaking within their skill set? Even amateurs can eventually learn to run an electric screwdriver, but can the group successfully frame out a house? At one work site, I toured a “dorm” that other groups had started. Most of it was going to have to be torn down: the concrete columns were full of holes from not being packed down when poured, and an outside, load-bearing wall was started from both ends and they did not come close to meeting in the middle. Those groups should have stayed home and sent money, or recruited someone who knew construction, or taken on a task appropriate for them (we built a non load bearing compound wall).