Women healthcare for diseases in Africa

Christine and Kara traveled to Kenya in March of 2009 and visited over a dozen GlobalGiving projects. Each wrote a separate account of their visit. This is what each one wrote about SACRENA:

Christine wrote:

"After negotiating a car for the day so that we could see some of the more rural sites that SACRENA supports, I got the opportunity to spend the day travelling with Wycliffe Mboya, the founder and director of SACRENA. We started off the visit by seeing his office, a one room space open to the street. I met with the volunteers that help SACRENA, and heard about how great their soccer team was. The team seemed to be a major focus for the volunteers, and I learned little about what they do for the community, but I do know that they have the best soccer team in the area and dreams of becoming professional players.

More interesting were the stories from women that are being served by SACRENA, many of whom suffered due to the recent election violence. I had no idea that the violence was so tribally focused, with most of the women fleeing home where they would be safe from opposing tribal violence, often having lost their husbands. Unfortunately, while they did share their tragic life stories and situations, none of them said what SACRENA was doing to help them.

Afterword, we visited one of SACRENA's first schools, where enrollment had gone from @15 students to hundreds. We were treated to a school production including dancing, singing and some of the poetry written by the children. The school had come far from its humble beginnings, with most children having uniforms and shoes, and the classrooms having some desks and chairs. The current goal is to get enough funding to lay cement flooring in the buildings, since the dust kicked up by the children isn't healthy for them.

Next we saw one of the most recent schools added to SACRENA, where @40 students in an extremely rural location are studying in the local church. There was more singing and dancing, but it was uncomfortable when Wycliffe promised that my partner and I would purchase a desk for them (they have only a few) during the production, without asking us first. SACRENA is trying to provide pencils, clothing, and improved facilities for the school. We played soccer with the kids for awhile and passed out the candy that Wycliffe had insisted we buy. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to visit the last location that we had planned on visiting.

Throughout the day, Wycliffe repeatedly asked me and my partner to purchase things for the soccer team and the children. It was clear that providing for so many beneficiaries weighs heavily on him, especially considering how diverse his constituency is. It’s a shame because I do believe that SACRENA is doing good work, but their approach is a turn off. Only hearing about the need, but never about the work being done doesn’t encourage support."

Kara wrote:

"While in Kenya last month, I spent a day with Wycliffe Mboya, the director of Sacrena. It was a busy day, spent visiting the office, the staff, and two schools in Kisumu and the surrounding areas. Although Sacrena’s main initiative seems to be focused on combining sports and education, it has also worked with women who fled to Kisumu after the post-election violence in 2008. I saw the sadness on their faces and in their words as they described losing husbands and homes in the violence. However, I am not exactly sure what Sacrena is doing for these women.

I also visited two of the schools that Wycliffe wants to help. Both are impoverished, lacking even the most basic resources and supplies. hope that Sacrena will be able to invest in improving education for these children in the future.

A few things surprised me during our visit. 1) We were supposed to visit the orphanage that is run by Sacrena, but we never got the chance, which surprised me since their main project on GlobalGiving has to do with those orphans. 2) Wycliffe asked us for a lot of money throughout the day: to rent an expensive car, to pay for footballs and snacks for the schoolkids, to buy benches for the schools, to get him a digital camera, to tip the driver, to buy drinks for the football team, and more. By the end of the day, I literally had no money in my pockets, and I left feeling a bit taken advantage of, a feeling I did not have at any of the other organizations we visited. 3) I was surprised by the focus on serving just the Luo tribe and the animosity toward other tribes by the Sacrena staff.
Wycliffe Mboya is a likable guy and Sacrena has the potential to be very impactful, but I left with mixed feelings about the organization as a whole."

When asked for an overall comment, Christine thought SACRENA had "Good Projects" whereas Kara was "Not Impressed."

GlobalGiving is committed to incorporating many viewpoints on our 600+ projects. We feel that more information, especially from eyewitnesses helps donors like you continue to support organizations doing great work in the community.