Sumith Prasad
Directed by Jackie Jesko, HBO’s true crime docuseries ‘Savior Complex’ revolves around Renee Bach, who set up the Christian nonprofit organization named Serving His Children (SHC) in Jinja, Uganda. The organization aimed at providing free meals and healthcare to children suffering from malnutrition, only to eventually get accused of killing over a hundred children. Jackie Kramlich is a nurse who volunteered at SHC, helping children in need. When accusations against the organization started to pour, Jackie opened up about her experiences at the establishment while volunteering along with Bach. If the series made you curious about Jackie’s life and current whereabouts, here’s everything you need to know about her!
Who is Jackie Kramlich?
Jackie Kramlich is a nurse who volunteered at Serving His Children, Jinja, Uganda, in 2011. She joined the establishment a few months after completing her B.A. in nursing. “I went in holding Renée in really high esteem, with the impression that she’d gotten in over her head, and there was no help to be found, because it’s Africa—which is obviously not true,” Jackie told Ariel Levy of The New Yorker. It didn’t take long for her to realize that the way the organization was run was far from ideal. She resigned nearly four months after joining SHC and in her resignation letter, she explained why she parted ways with the establishment.
“Although Renee is very intelligent, quick to catch on, and unquestionably dedicated and motivated, the fact remains that she has no formal training in the medical practice with which she works every day,” Jackie wrote in her resignation letter, as per The New Yorker. She argued that it seemed “unreasonable, and even dangerous, that an untrained person like Renee should be in a supervisory position.” Jackie also eventually revealed that she saw Bach performing medical practices without any qualifications. “[…] she was prescribing medication. She started doing femoral taps and blood transfusions — I saw her do both of those things,” Jackie told Levy.
In 2015, Jackie was getting ready to move back to the United States from Uganda. She didn’t want to leave without doing anything about the alleged unregulated practices at SHC. In February 2015, she went to the Jinja Police Department and filed a report. In March 2015, around a month after Jackie filed a report, Jinja’s district health officer ordered Bach to shut down SHC because her operating license was no longer valid.
Where is Jackie Kramlich Today?
Jackie Kramlich currently lives in Spokane, a city located in the state of Washington. She shares her life with her husband Christopher Kramlich and four children they adopted in Uganda. She serves as a patient-care manager at a home healthcare service for the elderly, based in Spokane. In addition, she co-created the Instagram account “Barbie Savior,” an account that satirizes the “adventures” of a Barbie doll “committed” to “voluntourism.” “Jesus. Adventures. Africa. Two worlds. One love. Babies. Beauty. Not qualified. Called. 20 years young. It’s not about me… but it kind of is,” reads the bio of the account.
Jackie is the only American professional who provided an affidavit when legal actions were taken against Bach. “When I asked what she [Bach] based her treatments on, she stated she relied heavily on the book, ‘Where There is No Doctor,’ as well as her ‘gut feelings,'” Jackie stated in her affidavit. Jackie also spoke extensively to the media about Bach and her activities. “Once Jackie left, she never returned to observe activities to see how things were being run,” Bach then told ABC News about the same.
In the 2020 interview given to The New Yorker’s Ariel Levy, Jackie summarized what she witnessed at SHC. “It’s a complicated feeling to know that the funding dried up. I think they were doing a lot of things well. There was good food there. It was a clean center. They had money! I just don’t know why Renée couldn’t get out of her own fucking way,” she added in the same interview. Jackie also collaborated with Jackie Jesko for the creation of the docuseries ‘Savior Complex.’
Read More: Renee Bach: Where is Serving His Children Founder Now?
