Dear Robson, esteemed e-forum members and facilitators,

Thank you for allowing me in a window of your world to learn so much about each of you and also the GF. Knowledge transfer and dissemination has always favored the West and the Third World has been exploited and still is being exploited. This e-forum will recognize that most of us hail from the Third World and have unique contributions to make; however, we need to know what the P& P guidelines are for the GF to do paid consultancies before we divulge all we know and have innovated.

I deeply appreciate Robson’s concern as a fellow African with my Ghanaian, Guyarathi, Latino and Polish Jewish heritage. We do have colleagues from different parts of the world that are well educated and are currently making money especially from the Bretton Woods institutions because they understand the ropes and the system and also understand that they should not be raped for their knowledge and innovations. They have kids to send to school just like us on this e-forum and they are all keeping quiet because they have their bread buttered.
 
Right now my child, who has a serious language learning disability called Landau Kleffner Syndrome, an extremely rare language acquisition and processing disorder, needs to complete his additional 2 years in the IT Bachelor's degree programme at UCF in FL USA. I don’t know where those school fees will come from. Why should the “high powered consultants” be remunerated for their work whether African or Indian or other, while we just sacrifice in the name of who and what? Why should they get paid for their consultancies when we have unique skills those consultants don't have and present credible plans that will transform millions of lives and not be paid for our innovations? 

One may ask themselves: Does it matter being business like and take your community out of poverty?

Is it criminal, unethical and immoral to ask to be compensated at fair market value and enter into a contractual agreement with an entity such as the GF when you have what they need? Don't you know that fellow Ugandans, Africans or Asians are consultants for some of these huge Bretton Woods institutions and the UN family and get paid handsomely...then why not you? Doesn’t your time have value? Mine does after 13 years of college and university education and paying  $80,000 USD in university loans since 2001, which my kids should never inherit!!! Does getting paid for a consultancy imply immorality or criminal activities on the part of our colleagues?

My point to you is that most of us on the e-forum are of the Third world, have extremely sharp brains and breathtaking brilliance and have sacrificed so much with our organizations without seeing a dime for our work while those we do things for see a monthly salary coming in.

Do you think the GF is a charitable organization and its staff is employed without a salary? I need you to think about these things.  

I design multiple variate disease management models/risk matrix with built in loss control mechanisms. My models manage TB, HIV/AIDS/ Malaria/Hepatitis B & C in one, for cost effectiveness, UR and QM, while aggressively decreasing disease prevalency in those areas. I can't be working for free when I am choking with bills and others are laughing their way to the bank. I also work on functional literacy models with a flexible base that are Pedagogic Learning Technological and Interventional models as well as evaluation models. My specialization is in the functionality of language and I have been developing a new discipline called psychoneuropedagogy which I have been laying the groundwork for since 2001. The healthcare risk matrix (disease management models) can be customized to the specific MDGs or groupings and incorporate MDG's 4, 5 and 6 but can be separated in unique free standing models. My other models and research institutions focus on a part of MDG # 8, and MDGs 1, 3, 4 &, 7. The MDGs are also weaved in our secondary and tertiary institutional framework and that is what I will be presenting on a global level in Sept 08.

In closing, for ethical and professional reasons, I would like to make a clarion call to the Global Fund to post its policy guidelines regarding consultancies to enlighten all of us on this e-forum and start discussions on this matter immediately. We believe in transparency and want to know who the consultants are currently with the GF. This should be information within the public domain. They are paid for consultancies while we are volunteering information and will never see a dime!!! We appreciate being with the e-forum but we need to be considerate of each other’s skills and knowledge systems that it didn’t come easy to have made it not continue the exploitation that the West is notorious for.   

Thank you for being considerate and respectful of all our colleagues who struggle to make ends meet while they share knowledge and don’t know how to be remunerated for such a unique skill. All consultants should have equal access to the GF to market their skills and services and this should not be controlled by a few.

Respectfully,

Fenna E. Bacchus, MA, CHEd, LHRM, CHRM, AIM, RN

CEO/President

Functional Illiteracy Research and Education Inc.

544 Walnut Street

Altamonte Springs, FL 32714-2329 - USA

Tel/Fax: + 1(407) 774-6542

Cell: + 1(407) 484-0292  

Kenya: + 254 728 76 9090

www.fireinc.org