Practitioner Experience Notes (PENs)

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The ‘donated aid’ that ate our time

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Attribution: SCUK Alumna
PEN Type: Field Experience (Programme Delivery)
Main country: Viet Nam
Other countries: —
Project Themes: Food Security & Livelihoods, Health & Nutrition, Humanitarian, Nutrition, Programme Management
Role: Field Nurse
Mission brief: Community Development: In 1966, SC expanded its presence in Vietnam by launching a community-development program designed to support local families and infrastructure. Medical Aid & Welfare: By the late 1960s, we had deployed medical and welfare teams to support children caught in the conflict. Support Activities: We began specific support activities in the country as early as 1968, focused on the immediate needs of vulnerable children
Audience: Frontline / Field, Programme / Project, Country or Regional Management
Geographic applicability: Global / broad applicability
Dates: 1967 → 1970
Advice Summary: Gifts-in-kind sound like 'value for nothing' and an easy acceptance. In reality there are significant hidden costs and unless you plan the activity, you'll end up wasting valuable time and effort.
Key words/phrases: donated aid, in-kind, inappropriate goods, sorting, warehousing, re-packing, opportunity cost
Operational snapshot
  • Setting: tropical heat; scarce staff time/energy
  • Inputs: large wooden crates of ‘donated aid’ from the UK
Context We were trying to do real work in real conditions. Then the crates arrived. On paper, ‘donated aid’ sounds like a gift. In practice, it can become a job in its own right. The story We opened the crates and found heavy coats, scarves, gloves, woolen socks — plus pink corsets (old fashioned even then), boots and high-heeled shoes… in Vietnam. So we spent ‘time and valuable energy’ unpacking, sorting, repacking, and eventually sending it on to STC Korea — where it is cold. What we did
  • Triaged items into ‘usable here / usable elsewhere / not usable’
  • Repacked and re-routed to a context where the goods made sense
Lessons learned (for today)
  • The hidden cost is staff time. In-kind goods can consume the very resource you’re shortest of.
  • If you accept in-kind, insist on standards: packing lists, categories, pre-shipment checks, and clear rejection criteria.
  • Have a rule of thumb: if it can’t be distributed quickly and appropriately, it becomes a burden.
What I’d tell my younger self Be grateful — but be honest about the operational cost. Sometimes the best donation is the one that doesn’t create a second emergency in the warehouse.