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The floods in Pakistan have produced a fast-growing humanitarian crisis. But international aid has been a trickle compared with the January earthquake in Haiti. The World’s Jason Margolis looks at why.

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JEB SHARP: The floods in Pakistan have affected some twenty million people, making it one of the worst humanitarian crises in modern history.  But international interest has been low, and aid has only been trickling in, especially when compared to the recent earthquake in Haiti.  The World’s Jason Margolis looks at why the two disasters have gotten such very different responses.

JASON MARGOLIS: Shortly after the earthquake struck Haiti earlier this year, aid poured in.  At one point, donations being sent by text message were reportedly arriving at a rate of $200,000.00 an hour.  Nan Buzard with the American Red Cross says to date, they’ve raised close to $470 million dollars for Haiti.

NAN BUZARD: And about 2 million to 3 million people were affected in Haiti, depending on how you count affected.  In Pakistan, the numbers now are saying that 20 million have been affected, and we have raised less than a million dollars.

MARGOLIS: Buzard says part of the reason there’s been such a huge gap in giving is because people in the United States were bombarded by images from Haiti.

BUZARD: You know, 24/7 for almost three months, Haiti was on the news.  It was really unprecedented from a media coverage point of view, and it was also someplace that the media could get to immediately, so that journalists could make their way to the heart of that disaster within two hours from Miami.  So the coverage was immense, and that drives enormously public awareness and in turn, public contributions

MARGOLIS: Those images, while tragic, made for better TV – more emotional – .than what we’ve been seeing from Pakistan, says Daniel Borochoff.  He’s the Founder of the organization, American Institute of Philanthropy.

DANIEL BOROCHOFF: Flooding doesn’t make as interesting of footage as an earthquake that’s collapsed buildings and roads and infrastructure.  This is radio, but people are very visual, and then they base a lot on that.

MARGOLIS: Borochoff’s organization keeps tabs on how charities use your money.  He adds that the timing of the floods in Pakistan hasn’t helped those charities.

BOROCHOFF: Fundraisers know that the end of the summer is one of the worst times to try to raise money, because people are coming home from their vacations, they’re looking at their credit card bills, you know, there’s the back to school expenses.  I mean, the last thing that they’re thinking about is wanting to send money to people around the world that are suffering, but in a situation that’s really hard to understand.

MARGOLIS: Borochoff points out that the Asian tsunami in 2004 happened right around Christmastime, when people were in more of a giving mood.  That time, Americans opened their wallets to people in Indonesia and Sri Lanka, countries we hear and know little about.  Pakistan is often in the news.  Borochoff says Americans hear enough about the country to be confused.

BOROCHOFF: People don’t know whether they’re our enemies or are friends.  And so people don’t really know what to do.

MARGOLIS: Many potential donors also don’t trust that their charitable donations will be put to good use in Pakistan, says Nan Buzard of the American Red Cross.

BUZARD: Pakistan has had multiple years of disasters, thinking back just to 2005 and the large earthquake there, and then various flooding operations, civil unrest.  It’s a politicized environment where I think people have concern about kind of Pakistan’s place in the political geography of national security.

MARGOLIS: And finally, with the earthquake in Haiti, there was another major difference.  Seemingly everybody knew how to donate.

MUSIC: Haiti I can see your halo.  You know you’re my saving grace…

MARGOLIS: In the days following the Haitian earthquake, the world’s biggest performers – Madonna, Bono, and Beyonce – put on a concert to help raise money.

MUSIC: Haiti, we can see your halo.  I pray it won’t fade away.  Your halo….

MARGOLIS: There hasn’t been a celebrity concert for Pakistan.  It’s not just Americans who have been less generous with Pakistan.  Across the globe, from Europe to Asia to the Middle East, it seems that people have been in a far less giving mood to help people in Pakistan cope with this latest natural disaster.  For The World, I’m Jason Margolis.

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