Thread by @JesseBrown

This deep-dive into the #WEscandal by Bloomberg's @natalieobiko @daniellebochove @herbling moves on to the record things we heard about but didn't have enough sources to report.

It also includes a disturbing allegation I hadn't heard.

Here's the new stuff I took from it... 1/x

https://twitter.com/business/status/1343816036156657665

WE buildings in Kenya dedicated to visiting donors were then rededicated after those donors left. A plaque would be installed for a visit then removed & replaced with a new plaque for the next. Multiple parties were led to believe they had "built" the same charity project. 2/x

The actual physical work done in Kenya by voluntourists would be destroyed so the next batch of tourists vould re-do it. We heard of other instances of this. 3/x

Kenyans were pressured to perform as "props" for visiting donors. Locals were asked to dress in traditional Masai outfits and cheer for visiting donors. Students had to drop their studies to entertain donors or stick around to receive them in uniform during holidays. 4/x

Here's some new info (to me): girls at a WE Charity school in Kenya were regularly beaten, reports Bloomberg. Yes, this is illegal in Kenya. WE denies it happened, but Bloomberg has a firsthand source on the record and corroboration from other students and a teacher. 5/x

This Bloomberg piece also gets into something that probably deserves its own dedicated investigation: the story of how the Kielburgers wooed Chip Wilson into handing over his Ethiopian charity Imagine 1 Day, which WE then exploited for tourism and starved of funding. 6/x

WE Charity's tactic of burying reporters in expansive, misleading and often confusing rebuttals makes this article a bit of a slog to read (as was the case with our stuff). But the facts are in there and this piece advances the reporting on WE Charity meaningfully.

7/7