Kibera is an amazing yet difficult place to experience. Both crushing poverty and tremendous hope live together in Kibera. Among the trash-covered paths and narrow alleyways live the aged, the elderly, the Wazee of Kibera. They are overlooked. They are forgotten. We at the Wazee Foundation are committed to changing that. This is Kibera. These are the Wazee.
Wazee Foundation
Board of Directors
Barbara Darling
Board President
A registered nurse for over 40 years with a Masters Degree in Nursing (Gerentology), Barb brings to Wazee Foundation a deep professional knowledge of working with aging populations. Barb currently works as a manager of Geriatrics and Extended Care for the VA in Albany. Barb has a deep love for Africa, fostered on her first medical mission to Kenya, and she ensures our projects and partner organizations stay on target — helping the Wazee!
Elke Farinacci
Elke Farinacci was raised in Troy, N.Y. and still resides there today with her husbandPhilip. She has been a hairstylist for the past eight years and is currently employed at Changes Salon inCohoes. She has been educated in the medical field and worked in various fields of medicine including,maternity and oncology/hospice. She has a strong passion for serving and caring for people. She hasbeen influenced by her parents tireless involvement in a number of projects to better the lives of thosein need in Kenya. She is excited to be part of the Wazee foundation and support its growing efforts.
Julie Best
Julie is an accountant, wife, and homeschooling mom from LaGrange, Illinois, near Chicago with four grown children and a passion for others, either in her own home, neighborhood, church family, or around the world. Julie’s contribution to the Wazee foundation comes from the personal experience of caring for her mother-in-law in her home during the final four-year struggle with Alzheimer’s disease. In addition, she shares a lifetime of stewardship with the gifts she has been given, having served for more than 30+ years with children, teens, couples, the elderly and the oppressed in many supportive roles.
Dr. Deb Lawrence
Dr. Deb Lawrence is the Dean of Russell Sage College, a women's college in Troy NY. She lives near Troy with her husband and two daughters. She is a firm believer in the power of education to help individuals, particularly women, improve their own lives as well as those around them. It is an honor to be a part of an organization that strives to provide basic needs of food, shelter, health care, and most of all, dignity.
Doug Smail
Board Member
Doug is an upstate New York board certified oral surgeon whose own smile has been widened and brightened by his many years working with impoverished communities in Africa and Central America. Doug’s brings to the Wazee Foundation both his professional experience in medical mission work and his heart for helping those who could use a helping hand.
Vicki Best
Treasurer
Vicki is a compassionate accounting guru with a BA degree in Accounting and Mathematics from Gordon College and brings to the Wazee Foundation over 15 years of helping non-profit organizations in business and accounting matters. Vicki’s expertise includes non-profit budgeting, tax preparation, and IRS 990 filings. Vicki ensures the Wazee Foundation’s funding and reporting efforts are transparent, effective, and carefully controlled.
Carl Siebels
Executive Director
Carl is hopelessly committed to helping the Wazee and has walked the streets and sat in the huts and heard the stories and seen what happens when a little bit of help changes an entirely family’s situation. Carl brings to Wazee over 40 years in business (real estate) and community engagement. In his many travels to Kenya Carl has helped local partners set up low-income housing, orphanages, and established micro-finance programs for the Wazee in impoverished Kibera-- although Carl would argue with the ‘impoverished’ label given the rich culture and work-ethic of Kibera’s citizenry.
