Monday, October 23, 2006

Don't Forget Where You Come From......

Nothing like a good story to start the week...

There were these 3 ladies who met during a conference held by an international ngo. These 3 women were all living with AIDS. They got to talking and decided that they could play a role in fighting the affects and effects of the disease.

They were all from different walks of life and had different education levels, ranging from high school to advanced university.

They started an organisation and chose the most outgoing lady to be the head (the one with the high school education) while the rest chose to work from the background.

They started out with a very small office in Nairobi's CBD and two other sites, one in the slums where they feed orphans and the other office in Nyanza province where they would help women and orphans.

Their work was seen by potential donors who were impressed and as a result they were able to expand their organisation via the funding they got. With this funding they managed to move office to a larger premises on Ngong Road, start a small pharmacy and acquire vehicles for field work.

As a couple of years passed one of the ladies left for the U.S where she got married. By this time the number of staff had risen and each of the two remaining founders had brought in staff member who they thought would be loyal to them. With the increasing amount of partisanship the other lady who used to write alot of the grants to donors left the organisation to start her own but passed away from HIV related complications shortly.

The organisation was still in existance as the defacto head was still present but without the restraining influence of the other two ladies she began to run the organisation as she saw fit. She used donors' money to educate two of her children in the States, salaries for employees were reduced, abritrary sackings became the issue of the day, firing employees she saw as loyal to the other founders were sacked and replaced by those from her tribe (who were often inferior workers aka positive tribalism), she gave contracts for projects (ie getting food for orphans) to her friends at a exhorbitant price so she could get kickbacks and even brought in an accountant who would facilitate her embezzlement.

For sometime the organisation continued running just fine but over time employee morale began to dip and those who could leave did while the rest remained just doing enought to get along. As the donors began to ask for feedback from the money they had been giving they noticed that they were getting far less bang for their buck. It also didnt help that the individuals they had become used to corresponding with had been let go and their replacements were unable to establish the earlier rapport. So donations began to reduce drastically. From what I hear is that many employees are going to be let go at the end of their contracts, many projects have stalled and even the orphans they were supporting are running out of food.

This is the kind of thing that happens when people forget their vision and origin. This lady forgot what she was supposed to be doing, who she was suppossed to be helping and just decided to indulge her hunger for power and money instead and you can see the results. It will be only a matter of time before the organisation grinds to a halt.
And yes this is a true story.

Seems I'm not the only one who should stop using inappropriate language.

What's up with this whole Swaleh Mdoe drama? Is it a way of the government to punish KTN? Even if somehow Bwana Mdoe has broken immigration law, I do believe that the whole issue could be handled in a far more tasteful and covert manner then it is being handled now. For one, Swaleh is a public personality and is far less of a flight risk than a somali picked up in Eastleigh. Also why aren't charges being pressed? I think there is far more going on than is being let on.

16 comments:

egm said...

When money and power blind us to the important things in life, people end up suffering. What is it about human beings that make us so susceptible to this corruption of sensibilities? So what's the status of that organization today?

Anonymous said...

sound like founders syndrome mixed with a big serving of corruption. Ingalau even the donors are wack! How can this go on for such a long time without it being caught?

stackofstiffys said...

Too bad about the NGO ladies, but apparently most local NGOs are ran like personal fiefdoms, and most collapse. About Kibaki and his language, those guys are bickering for nothing, the crowd at Nyayo Stadium found it funny, and so did I. Poor Swaleh. I had to do whole post on Kenyatta Day coz come on, what are we really celebrating on all these 'national days'?

mwasjd said...

Prov 29:18 When there is no vision, people cast off restraint i.e. lose their heads by doing things they are not meant to.

Especially for someone running an NGO that feeds orphans, losing sight of what's important is a sad, sad thing.

Deep one, acol.

Anonymous said...

More money more problems? Without the other two to keep her honest I guess everthing is downhill all the way now.

Achana na Obaks next year inacome. We shall see who is the real mpumbavu.

Poor Swaleh. Kwani snakes on a plane is still after KTN and the Standard Group?

walk said...

tribalists, rumour mongers and wapumbavu. i couldnt agree more with the president he was simply stating the facts as they are.

Aegeus@ you are right next year is comming and kibaki will still win another 5 years why coz he will be facing tribalists, rumour mongers and wapumbavu.

swale mboe should face the full force of the law.you cant go around breaking the law simply because you have "mafans".the somalis in Eastleigh have kenyan government residency cards issued with the help of the UN. if bwana mboe is a refugee he should have told ktn/standard to organize for the same(a residency card).Good morning and have a lovely monday

Msanii_XL said...

Sad about the NGO..start strong but eventually fizzle out

matusis seem to be the order of the day shame..laughable that he is NOT a tribalist

Senility is disease.

Msanii_XL said...

ohh aco before i forget.. ya lost to Man U-seless?

walk said...

Senility may be a disease but stupidity is a plague.and there is an epidemic of it in odm

modoathii said...

ngos are get-rich-quick schemes.

the baks will sukuma another kumbafu term. wacha tu mtaona. like i said the splits in ODM are just forming. kutalipuka mbaya.

swaleh, swaleh, swaleh...usilale mzee, ukilala (insert one of his smart lines here)

Nakeel said...

Its bad to see something started of a worthy course collapse due to greediness.
As for Swaleh there is alot than what meets the eyes.. As Muite said should we send the Veepee to UG to join the brother there to equalize things ama?

Lovely week..

@Msanii Its Man U-seful..

Anonymous said...

so much like most of our ngo's and companies....

Thought provoking post but don't let the comments degenerate into another mashada.

I love reading your blogs.Pamoja!!

Acolyte said...

@ egm
The organisation is on it's way down and out.
@ mutumia
Seems you can get away with creative accounting! And once again happy b-day!
@ stack
I do agree most Kenyan NGOs are ran poorly!
I liked your post
@ Mwasdj
It's amazing what you learn from just looking.
@ aegeus
I guess time will tell huh?
@ joe
You would be surprised how many illegals are running free in Kenya and have bribed their way out of cells.
@ Msanii
Imagine there are over 700 AIDS ngo's and cbo's in Kenya, one would think we should be much further than we are now.
Don't even talk about that game!
@ joe
Please this isnt the place for ODM hunting!
@ modoathii
Sad but true the ones to be helped never get the aid they need.
@ Nakeel
I guess Ill just sit here and wait for the resolution of the issue.
@ webjinx
Thanks for passing by, I'll try to keep things as sane as I can; its better that way.

Anonymous said...

After the end of the six days...... On the seventh day, man created his most adorable idol: money! And with it came power and arrogance! And made his life so good and comfortable that it eventually became so miserable and horrible.

As for Mdoe... i donn think what they are doing is really right. no charges pressed? that's violation of rights. same old kenya!

Girl next door said...

Once someone has a taste of the good life, they want more. It's tragic to embezzle funds in the name of a worthy cause. Money and power blend into a highly addictive cocktail: you taste a couple of drops, sip it slowly, and eventually gulp it down while hunting for more.

Anonymous said...

Sounds quite exactly like AMREF.

Osas