Art for Africa

UPDATE: JBFC Ambassador Emily Wilson, 17, has volunteered at JBFC’s campus in Tanzania for two years in a row. In early September, she hosted Art for Africa in Tulsa, Ok to help raise money for her friends in Africa. Her goal was to raise $2,200. She tripled that amount, raising more than six thousand dollars in one weekend! Emily still has art left to sell, so she's set her sights on not only paying for the handicapped bathroom for some of JBFC's neediest students, but she also wants to support a campus biogas system that will enable JBFC to utilize waste for energy.

I've been wanting to do a big project of some sort to really benefit JBFC. I've been lucky enough to visit the JBFC community for two consecutive summers, and I know it's changed my life, so I wanted to do something more to help improve the lives of the girls (and boys) living at JBFC.

Art for Africa seemed like a cost-friendly way to incorporate my own strengths into a fundraising project. I am selling fused art, hand-blown glass art, jewelry and ceramics.

Many of the materials needed were donated by awesome members of our community, so that 100% of profits will benefit JBFC! I like Art for Africa because I feel like it brought together the members of Tulsa's artistic community for a good cause, in order to benefit the incredible community that is JBFC. 

My goal is to raise enough money to buy JBFC a handicapped bathroom for its handicapped students. There are several very sweet students living at JBFC with physical handicaps - little girls like Neema Malele, who came to live at JBFC this year, and students like Mayila. Both of them contracted a bacterial infection when they were just babies, which caused their legs to be malformed leaving them permanently disabled. The monetary goal seems achievable to me, and I think it will improve the lives of these incredible young kids who have to manage every day with a physical handicap.

Art for Africa 

Friday, September 6th, 6-9 pm 

Brady District Art Crawl 

On the sidewalk at 19 Brady Street 

Sunday, September 8th, 10 am – 4pm 

Guthrie Green Market 

Downtown Tulsa Brady District 

JBFC reminds me that it’s possible to make a difference in other people’s lives and that humanity can be awesome. Just knowing that there is a program that does so much good in a part of the world, where for the most part programs like JBFC don’t exist. I love knowing that JBFC is doing awesome things for Kitongo (and Tanzania as well) and that I can be part of it.

Emily Wilson is a student at Tulsa’s Holland Hall High School. For more information on volunteering at JBFC or our Ambassador program, click here.