Please take the below entry as a "scenario" and not complete gospel. Some lines are well-known accusation instead of confirmed truth. The scenario is explained in first person mainly because my comfort with the writing style and should not be seen as my actual life experiences. Some of the entry has the slim possibility of not being fully true, so all names are changed to protect individuals. The blog is written to express the frustrating complexities a Westerner may experience when working with a NGO in a developing country.
A man by the name of Renaldo was once the Executive Secretary of the Dedicated Blessings Advocacy Group. He then took a 6month stint with a major international charity to apparently help our relationship with the INGO. Dedicated Blessings put in place a transition ES while Renaldo was gone. When he returned, the organization gave him the position of project leader for Child Defilement, an area that was made solely for him. We also hired a new Executive Secretary that has turned out to be incredibly professional and on his game. This was less than 5months ago and for the past month Renaldo has been on holiday. I found out today from the Executive Secretary that Renaldo has just taken a job with the international charity for the next year. Which means Renaldo worked with the INGO for 6months, used Dedicated Blessings as a buffer job (spending 20% of the paid time on vacation), and is now back with the big org, leaving Dedicated Blessings hanging.
(5months after the above) Since Renaldo’s departure for the INGO, other disappointing events have come to light. Over a month ago I accidentally took possession of some documents, which turned out to be Notifications of Debt Collection. The guy was speaking broken English, and I thought the attorney was just someone from another NGO giving us his letters of introduction. Now this was the first time the new Executive Secretary, the Board as a whole, and myself had ever heard of such debt. It is rational to conclude that if I had not accidentally taken possession of the letters addressed to those involved in the dispute, no one in the organization would have ever been informed about it.
Now the Notifications of Debt Collection pertain to a personal loan of 20million UGS ($10,000), which was dispersed on October 6th 2009, about a week before I reached site. The person who received the loan is a board member and had the Chairman and the Executive Secretary at the time (Renaldo) sign off on the debt, using the organization’s name and our vehicle as collateral…Just wait it gets better. But before I continue I need to say a few things about the Chairman. The man’s brother was the spokesperson for the ADF (actual rebel/terrorist organization you can look up). The brother is free today in the border area because of Uganda’s blanket amnesty. The Chairman himself was once arrested for sympathizing with the ADF. The Chairman’s brother is also married to a woman who works for our organization, but he has not seen her or sent financial support since she became pregnant with their youngest son. The Chairman has not condemned his brother’s actions or personally helped her in any way and even rejected a small pay increase in her salary. When the woman’s infant was in the hospital for several days, the Chairman lied about visiting the child to get out of meeting and in actuality never showed his support at the boy’s bedside even once. It is also whispered that he applied for a Peace Corps Volunteer in an attempt to acquire funding, despite PC making it perfectly clear that we are poor. The other organization he is a board member of and a receiver of a PCV flat out said it was for money.
Now get ready…The board member who received the large sum under Dedicated Blessings’ name is coincidentally Renaldo’s father. The action was against our bylaws, unlawful, a conflict of interest, and terribly bad taste. The letters stated we had one week to settle the debt or risk being sued and most likely losing our vehicle. The loan would amount to a large portion of our yearly budget, if we had to pay it. Luckily, one of the members of our board is a magistrate in a nearby district, and we let him lose on the issue, as he was as upset about the abuse of power as we were. Now the board member who used the organization as his own personal security net has accepted in writing that he is the sole person liable for the debt and has started selling off property to settle the issue.
With all the disgust caused by the inconceivable actions you would think some feet would be twitching from the rafters. It is now the beginning of August and the Chairman is still the Chairman, the board member is still a board member, and Renaldo is still working comfortably with the INGO. Why the inaction? Well the Chairman has reached his term limit and has to step down soon anyways and the board member will apparently be handled in due time. Some fear if we make them examples and remove the members by force, they may go public and tarnish the organization’s reputation. For the record, the current employees in charge of our project appear dedicated to the mission, highly capable in their duties, and understand the criteria for professionalism. Though I disagree with how the abuse is being handled, it is rational to hesitate using a firm hand for fear of damaging our current and future work. Renaldo has a monopoly card in his pocket because of the position he has at the big charity. The man is in charge of a large domestic violence campaign from which we receive finances…Yeah, isn’t this a fun situation? If we try unsuccessfully to flog him, we run the risk of losing our funding from the INGO.
Charities are founded to put themselves out of business. You construct a board and an administration in hopes of ending poverty in an area. You strive to place everyone on a certain level of income, and if you accomplish your mission, the NGO should celebrate with a closure. This is one of the major qualities that make this kind of non-profit different from a business. The purpose of a charity, in theory, is not to be self-interested for the long-term. As with any model, it all goes to hell when you add the human variable and his hubris. Individuals are focused on the promotion of their own status or that of their kin. Evolution, procreation, and the family unit itself all substantiate this claim. In the developing world, the non-profit sector is seen as a great way to build experience and make a respectable living. NGOs are as abundant as businesses in Uganda, and have the benefit of the wholesome feel. There is plenty of work to be done by non-profits in the country, and it is important to have the solutions be self-sustaining by local organizations, but we also must understand a career in charities is not viewed the same in the developing world as back in the West. We have a habit of thinking Third Sector positions are for those interested more in their impact on others than their own financial and power gains. An image of a struggling social worker performing good works and barely surviving on what is somehow called a salary, meanders in our minds when a non-profit employee is mentioned. However, when the entire country is impoverished suddenly the large number of jobs handling the problems do not seem like that bad of a career choice. It is extremely beneficial to have the best and the brightest of a country working on eradicating the plagues hindering a nation. Just as important though, are the intentions and personal ambitions of those taking up the cause driven positions.
Renaldo benefited greatly from taking up the new job with the international charity. He is now in charge of a major campaign at a well respected INGO. I’m sure he thinks he is being more beneficial to the country in his new position with his new esteem and income. However, his unexpected departure left the area of Child Defilement unattended for a number of months, causing several cases to mysteriously fade away. And due to what at best was family duty, he signed off on a massive loan for his dad. Renaldo exposed Dedicated Blessings, an organization with positive impacts in the area, to liabilities the foundation would be hard press to cover. The financial promotion of a family member was more important than the obligations he had to the organization and the thousands of citizens we try to help. I guess ideals fail when idealistic people are sparse.
