I am posting again so soon because something very frustrating and sad has happened at the orphanage. Eric is gone. He has been asked to move to Mithini (where they are building a new school) and will not be back at the orphanage. According to Zach, WWB is discontinuing Eric’s program at the orphanage. We do not know what this means. Eric’s job, which includes coordination of sponsorship for children outside of the orphanage, visiting with families to ensure that kids are getting what they need, and organizing the letters of thanks to donors, is one of the most important jobs at the orphanage. He is one of the most dedicated, passionate and hardworking staff I have seen and it is shocking that he is leaving. Currently, there is no one to take Eric’s place. The orphanage is understaffed as it is, because of Mwangi being in the hospital, and there is no way another staff can take over his work. Zach has chosen not to give any details about the reason Eric is leaving or how they will allocate his work, but Morgan and I had a chance to speak with Eric.
Last year, a volunteer named Alvaro, from Italy, was asked to leave the orphanage and not to return after he began asking questions about where money was going. Pushing for transparency, Alvaro hit a brick wall and was forced to leave WWB, along with many of his fellow volunteers. This week, Alvaro was back in Kenya and met Eric in Nairobi at a day care center. He decided to come to the orphanage to say hello to the kids on Tuesday afternoon. Alvaro flew out Tuesday evening to return home. On Wednesday, Eric went to Nairobi with two other volunteers, and Geoffrey called him to ask if he was meeting with Alvaro. Eric said no. He believes that Geoffrey does not believe him, and that Zach has told Geoffrey that Eric is meeting with or working with Alvaro.
All of this begs the question, so what? Eric knows Alvaro, what is the problem with meeting an old friend? Well, Alvaro’s suspicions of Geoffrey and of management have been troublesome, and by visiting the orphanage or visiting with Eric, he puts Geoffrey’s position in danger. The fact is, no one is really clear on what is going on, and there is no open communication…everyone has this façade of “oh everything is just great, jambo Kenya, hakuna matata.” So, there could be a legitimate reason why Eric is being asked to leave, but Eric has not been told, and neither have the volunteers. In some respects, I understand that it is not the volunteers business how management decisions are made. However, when volunteers provide the primary source of income for the orphanage – in essence, we pay the salary of the staff – I believe it is critical to communicate more effectively with volunteers. I do think that, having invested both time and money in the orphanage, I have a right to know why decisions are made. The top-down structure of WWB is very frustrating, because it leads to speculation (we do not REALLY know why Eric is gone). However, the situation with Alvaro has made us all fearful to ask too many questions. I do not want to be asked to leave, because I have no where to go. This situation highlights some of the negative aspects that I have seen at the orphanage - lack of transparency, lack of communication, and personal politics or family ties being placed in front of the well-being of the children. Eric is by far the most qualified and most dedicated staff member with regards to promoting development in the region and helping the children. He is university educated and could potentially have a better paying job but chose to work for WWB out of a desire to help children.
I cannot articulate how sad, frustrated and angry I am with the way this is being handled. Eric is probably the staff member I get along with the most, and he has been extremely helpful and willing to teach me about life in Kenya. He is bright, caring, passionate and dedicated to Watoto Wa Baraka, and it seems that his service has been disregarded, overlooked.
Anyway, moving on, I am putting my frustrations aside...I will continue to write as I get more information about Eric. I think that now he may have opportunities to do more work in other places, but I am sad that he is gone. I am most sad because I wanted to work with him to sponsor kids in the area, and I do not feel comfortable sending money to the sponsorship program at WWB. I have seen, via field work, where the money from sponsors DOES NOT GO, and I am disappointed that they would send their most vital employee away.
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