Monday, August 26, 2013

Volunteer Perspective: JBFC's Impact


Guest blogger Hogan Gardner talks about the difference between life at JBFC and the rest of Tanzania.

Obviously (or perhaps not if you don’t have feelings) when I sat down to write this blog, I thought I was going to focus on a couple of the girls. And it’s not that I don’t want to - I could go on all day about any one of them and everyone knows the kids here are awesome. I’d just prefer to use this part your day to actually educate you about the JBFC Community and the impact it has had, because of the standard it holds itself to.

 For example, if somebody wanted to know what Tanzania was really like, I would tell them to steer clear of this place, because they are two different places. Take a short drive away from JBFC’s campus down to the main road that heads to the million plus city of Mwanza and it is a different world. Out there people are trying to survive, they get their money, they get their food, and on to the next day, every man for himself: a kid trying to sell little bags of peanuts to passing cars, a woman begging for money, a man throwing bags of rice into the back of a truck. Not a horrific scene, but you can sense as you look around that there is a “you get yours, I’ll get mine” mentality. They do not have time to think about tomorrow.

In here, at JBFC, no one has to worry about the necessities. Everyone is fed; everyone is paid. As a result people can afford to look forwards. There is an attitude of progression that is nonexistent in the rest of Tanzania. 

If you look around the campus during the day, it is always buzzing: kids reading in the library; workers employed from the neighboring village turning what used to be a random plot of land into a soccer field, so the soccer team has a place to practice; the construction team working to get the new dining hall and restaurant ready; the kitchen staff at PAPA’s laughing while they prepare the orders for tonight’s reservations.

Of course, that is not to say this campus doesn’t experience setbacks. There are, but the ability of the administration to keep everyone motivated creates an atmosphere that I have not felt outside of JBFC. A feeling that makes you think this is just the beginning of an organization that will eventually become a household name.

 It would be cool to say I went to a third world country for a couple of months this summer, but I didn’t. I came here.







Hogan Gardner is a rising sophomore at NYU. He is a JBFC Ambassador, who has visited JBFC four times since 2010. He spent this summer working as an intern for JBFC.

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Questions & Answers: 3 Years of Lessons at JBFC

Veteran Volunteer, Tamarco Davis, writes about what he's learned after visiting JBFC's campus in Tanzania for three summers in a row.

The beauty still strikes me. It’s not a type of beauty that can be put into words, but one you have to feel and see for yourself, and even then people often overlook it.

“What did you learn?!”- Multiple people
Year 1
I can still hear the chopping of her feet. I turned around and there she was again. I first met her at the school on campus in the summer of 2011. In a sea of stretched out arms, she stood there and just smiled at me. It was a moment I will never forget because that is when it struck me. I made my way through the crowd of kids and picked her up and she hugged me with a grip, it felt like she used every muscle in her small body not to let me go. It was almost a competition to see who wouldn’t let go first.

That entire day we spent together, we climbed trees, laughed, played soccer and ate together. During lunch that day, I got up to get my water bottle from the guesthouse, and as I was walking I heard the chopping of her feet, I turned around and there she was. I picked her up, and she used every muscle in her body not to let me go. Once again it struck me.

Later that day we were on the soccer field, she kept pointing at my livestrong band which I wore in remembrance of my grandmother, who died of cancer in July of 2005. I was reluctant to give up the bracelet because it was my way of keeping my grandmother close to my heart. Eventually, after thinking about it for hours, I gave her my band. For the next few hours I felt bare, and it stayed on my mind for the rest of the day.

The next day, I saw her again still wearing the livestrong band. I remember picking her up, but something was different this time. It wasn’t the same bear grabbing, hug, but yet a softer, looser hug, and for the first time she let go before me. I sat her down and she ran off. Couple hours later I go back to the school to say goodbye her, I searched everywhere and finally I asked her teacher where she was. Her teacher had told me that she had left; it was the last day of school. I saw the last of Kamadumyla.

 Her beauty still strikes me. It’s not the type of beauty that can put into words, but one you have feel and see for your-self and even then people over look it. There was never a word spoken between us, but she taught me one of the most important lessons I’ve learned to this day. You have to let go.

Year 2, 3
“Do something to change the world.”- Tiamoya Collins, mom

One of my best friends, Hogan Gardner, and I were out one night talking to some of the school boys staying
at Chris’s house as they prepare for the class 7 national exams. We were sitting outside the dinning hall in front of the water tap and we were discussing school. I was describing the American education system with one of the boys and he was telling me about how horrific the Tanzanian system was. Referring to the Tanzanian system, he than turned to me and asked, “What are you going to do about it?”

I froze. Am I supposed to do something about it? Why is he asking me, I’m only 18?!

But then it struck me. This past summer, while helping Mr. Fredrick, one of the teachers at the school, he had mentioned in front of the class how bad the government was. I was sitting in the back of the room, and he looked at me and said, “Are you going to change it?” All the kids turned and looked at me, as I stared back. Am I supposed to do something about it? Why is he asking me I’m 19?! And that’s when it struck me. “Do something to change the world” Is this it?

The beauty of their eyes on me, awaiting an answer, still strikes me. It’s not a type of beauty that can be put into words, but one you have to feel and see for your-self, and even then people often overlook it.

Year 3
“Why do you keep going to Tanzania?”

“Hope” I said. “You hope what?”…-Multiple People

Everyone has had those moments. Those moments in which you look up and down, left and right and you realize that the only thing left for you to do is hope. Hope that things would swing your way. That is what I feel about Tanzania, I Hope. As I finish my third year, I’ve learned more about the country itself than I did in the past two years. Tanzania is one of the poorest nations in the world, with a declining literacy rate. They have a corrupt government that tries to get money anyway they can. In a world of poverty and corruption it’s hard to find a silver lining. JBFC is that silver lining. JBFC is the hope in which I see not only in Tanzania, but the world. I remember peeling garlic with some of the girls; Pili, Zai, Laurencia, and Valentina. In a conversation of comparisons between America and Tanzania, Zai, one of the smartest 10 years olds I’ve ever met, asked me, “Why do you come to Tanzania?” Then it struck me. I have 43 reasons.

Abby, Anna, Bhoke, Dotto, Elizabeth, Esther, Gertrude, Happiness, Imelda, Immakulata, Jackie, Julieti, Kulwa, Kulwa J, Laurencia, Reka, Leticia, Liku, Margaret, Martina, Neema D., Neema M., Neema M., Neema M., Neema R., Nyamalwa, Nyamisi, Pelusy, Pendo, Pili, Rachel, Rose, Salome, Shida, Siwema, Sophia, Teddy, Valentina, Veneranda, Vernoica, Yonga, Yuge, Zai.

Even in my third year at JBFC, their beauty still strikes me. It’s not a type of beauty that can be put into words, but one you have to feel and see for yourself, and even then people often overlook it.


Guest Blogger, Tamarco Davis, is a rising sophomore at the University of Missouri and graduate of Tulsa's Holland Hall High School. He is a JBFC Ambassador and has helped raise money and awareness about JBFC for several years.

Monday, August 19, 2013

Book by Book


 JBFC launched its Book by Book campaign back in April of this year in order to begin the process of stocking our new library.

Dollars are being donated, books are starting to come in, and nearly 70 summer guests have carried pounds and pounds of books over to Tanzania in their checked luggage.


Several of our artistically talented guests have helped transform a room into a brightly decorated home for reading and learning.



Thanks to your generosity our library has gone from virtually non-existent to more than 1,600 novels and children’s books.


Now, as you can see through the pictures, we have a great beginning of a library! But, what is most exciting about these books is how they are helping JBFC achieve our mission. Literacy in Tanzania hovers around 68% and is on the decline. But, here at JBFC, in our little corner of Tanzania called Kitongo, the love for books and reading is alive and well.

Every week, each class in both our primary and secondary schools visits the library once or twice for a little more than an hour. After school, our summer guests adopted reading buddies, spending quality time reading with one of our residential girls several times a week.


But, the fun doesn’t stop there. Thanks to volunteers from this summer, we were able to start a catalog system and begin checking these books out to our students, teachers and staff. In less than three months, more than 100 books have been checked out (and returned!) to JBFC’s library.

While we still need your help to achieve our goal of 10,000+ books on our campus, this is a much more successful start than any of us could have dreamed of. So, THANK YOU!





And, most importantly, you can see how important this campaign has been for our school by the smiling faces of our students as they march over to the library in their single file line for reading time! Please check out our guidelines, if you’re interested in donating dollars or books to JBFC’s Book by Book campaign. Help us continue to break down barriers to literacy, one book at a time.

 Chris Gates is the Founder and Executive Director of JBFC.