Kenya’s First Mockumentary Exposes Dark Side Of NGOs
People have always wondered what impact, if any, NGOs have on the people they presume to help. Africa, as a whole, is practically infested with NGOs claiming to do this or the other. But are they making any positive impact?
The Samaritans is a new comedy TV series from Kenya, about an NGO that literally does nothing. The new mockumentary series, produced by Kenya-based Xeinium, profiles the fictitious relief organization Aid for Aid whose ambiguous mission is to “save Africa.” The show’s characters, who work out of a Kenyan field office, have no idea what that mission entails or how they’re supposed to go about fulfilling it. But what the characters do succeed in doing is exposing the dark underbelly of the nonprofit world. The show explores how funds are often wasted on extraneous expenses and how ill-equipped college grads are sent to spearhead major campaigns they can’t handle, “Samaritans” creator Hussein Kurji told Africa is a Country. For example, one character named Scott is an Ivy League graduate whose only prior experience in Africa was a six-week internship in Casablanca, Morocco, according to the show’s Kickstarter site.
Kurji told Africa is a Country that he was inspired to develop the show because there are more than 4,000 NGOs registered in Kenya and far too many untold stories exist from these groups. (more…)
AMARIE ADHIS 