Kwa Heri (Good Bye), 2012!

As I look back on 2012, I can’t help but sit in wonder at all that has been done here in Kitongo, Tanzania and with JBFC. We have grown, matured, taken on new challenges and explored new dreams for our girls. But for all that we have gained this year, I can't think about the year without first considering what we lost.

The year started with a great challenge; the loss of our namesake and my beloved grandmother, Janada “Mimi” Batchelor. She was the driving force and inspiration behind the founding of JBFC and as we come to the close of a year, we are deeply humbled and grateful to be able to carry on her legacy and name. But the JBFC family in Tanzania and in the US have rallied around me and my family, helping us cope with our loss and have the kind of year Mimi would be proud of. 2012 has been our biggest year of growth yet. 

On December 7^th, we closed our school for the “summer” term. This marked the close of the first full year of our new secondary school (the Tanzanian version of high school). While a high school education may seem commonplace to most of us in the US, it is something greatly sought after here in Tanzania and something most of our students would not have been able to receive without the Joseph and Mary Secondary School opening its doors. 2012 also saw 100% of our 7th graders passing the Tanzanian national exam - that's the third year in a row we can claim such success!

This year, we started seriously looking forward to our girls’ futures. While we have always focused on imprinting our girls with a variety of life skills, we decided it was time to take it to the next level in 2012 and opened Papa’s College of Tourism and Hotel Management. This weekend restaurant and getaway is aimed at not only helping JBFC reach its goal of self-sustainability in country, but also helping to train our secondary students to successfully enter the workforce. 

As always JBFC's campus in Kitongo has been a flurry of activity in the last year. We have expanded our farm projects, added several acres bringing our total footprint to 60 acres,  started construction of a large central office building for our organization, and made many other improvements around campus.

 However, as you all well know, it is not the buildings and programs that make our organization such a success. It is the people: you, our supporters, our entire staff, and all of our children. So, as we come to the close of this year, I want to leave you all with the reminder of the girls that we were able to save. 

Many of you know about Esther, who came to us in January- only 14 pounds at four years old. But as she is getting ready to celebrate the New Year, she can walk, talk, boss her sisters around and is walking to preschool on her own! And, then there are Gertruda and Shida, two young girls whose parents passed away leaving them nowhere to turn. They were alone for months before joining the JBFC family. 

They are the reason we keep moving, and they are the reason we are so grateful for everything ahead.

Thank you for everything you all have enabled us to do, during this year and we wish you the very best “mwaka mpya” (New Year)!

Chris Gates is Founder & Executive Director of JBFC, shown here with JBFC students Eliza and Saleh (April 2012, Cindy Johnson, Photographer).

Christmas at JBFC

A long-time JBFC supporter and board member explains why he chooses to spend his Christmas Holiday at his second home, JBFC.



In 2009 after two summer trips to JBFC, I decided to travel back for Christmas with the girls. Never in my imagination did I know just how awesome an experience it would be.

So awesome, in fact, that I am departing for my fourth JBFC Christmas! 

There is no traditional fir Christmas tree and definitely no chance of a white Christmas.

But there is something about decorating our mango branch Christmas tree and hanging stockings for all 42 girls of our girls. We cook dinner for about 75 people and share a feast with such a wonderful family! Our night ends with song and prayer and we all reflect on how blessed we are. 



Watching the girls grow up over the years and take on more of the responsibility of decorating, cooking and cleaning has been a privilege and pleasure. 








Everyone should spend at least one Christmas at JBFC!












Jim Agnello has been a JBFC board member since 2009. As an administrator at Bronxville High School in New York, he also leads a student volunteer trip to JBFC every summer.

On Christmas Holiday with JBFC

UPDATE: more pictures of JBFC's Christmas vacation on our Facebook page.
About four years ago, we started the holiday tradition of going on a family vacation for Christmas. As our family has grown from a dozen girls to nearly FOUR DOZEN children, this has been a wonderful bonding experience for all of us.

These fun-filled family vacations haven't been without the kind of trials and tribulations (see the picture about African roads) that great family memories are made of (you know the ones that are incredibly frustrating in the moment and hilarious in the aftermath).

So enjoy our family vacation through these pictures and Merry Christmas to you and yours.

This year, the Christmas vacation destination was a campground in the Serengeti National Wildlife Park. It's a beautiful lodge called Kijereshi, where we can camp out, swim, and enjoy. We set out from our campus in Kitongo in high spirits, but it wasn't long before we saw this sign.

But we soldiered on (our bus might have gotten stuck a couple of times) and we arrived here.

 It's a a gorgeous campsite, but for the kids, this was the real draw...

JBFC pretty much took over the pool.

 The girls were having so much fun swimming, we had to make them get out and rest (it had been five hours straight). Here's Yonga flying through the air....

We started calling Yonga starfish, because she would lay spread eagle in the water, try to float, and inevitably sink to the bottom of the pool.

After our two days of fun, this is what we ran into on the way home.

Yes, that is a dam in the middle of the road. A farmer decided he was more in need of a water source for his cows than a road.

It took a while, but we all made it back to campus safe, sound, and full of Christmas cheer.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Cookies & Books: A Sweet Combination

This holiday season, you can help turn sweet treats into brain food.

93 Million cookies away, JBFC has a beautiful, brand-new library, but our hand-crafted shelves stand empty.

That's why JBFC is launching a Book by Book campaign to fill those shelves with 2,500 books. We'd like to raise $25,000 by May 30th, 2013 when we can have a grand opening for our new lending library. 

Students and local villagers will be able to check out books and expand their minds. This project will not only share the joy of reading with our 300 school children, but this could also help us impact illiteracy in a country where only 68% of the population can read.

Our friends at Eleni’s Cookies heard about our mission and decided to lend a bakind hand. They have custom-designed a line of beautiful cookies for JBFC. The cookies feature JBFC girl, Reka, taking a stand against poverty and designs patterned after African Kanga cloth.

20% of the profits from the JBFC cookie boxes will go directly to help stock our new library. So check another name off your Christmas list and give the gift of literacy to a young child in Tanzania all at the same time. Click here to place your order online or via the Cookie Concierge at 1.888.435.3647. First available ship date is Monday, December 17th.

With your help, cookie by cookie and book by book, we can change the world.

Happy Holidays!

JBFC's Extended Family: Mayila

When you see him in his preschool classroom, sitting cross-legged on the carpet, eager to count from one to 50, he looks just like any other kid. In fact, for a little kid who months ago could only speak his tribal language of Kisukuma, he has made great strides in English. But, when Mayila goes anywhere, you can clearly see the struggle that is his entire life.

Mayila and his sister, Yonga, in front of their hut.

Mayila became infected with a rare bacteria, when he was a baby. Due to this infection, he has little to no shin bone and his feet are extremely mangled, making it impossible for him to walk on them. Mayila walks on his hands and knees and does his best to jump, run, and play with his fellow classmates. Many say he is one of the most ornery and definitely the happiest of kids on campus. That makes it even more heartbreaking that his condition was entirely preventable. If Mayila had seen a doctor when he was just a few months old, he would be standing on his own two feet today.

Mayila with JBFC Board Member

 Unfortunately, Mayila’s story of neglect isn’t unique. Two of his sisters were removed from the home (which is a small mud hut just a few miles from campus) and now live at JBFC. Even though his life before JBFC has been what most would consider unbearable, Mayila is now considered one of our many extended family members here at JBFC. Before receiving a scholarship to JBFC, Mayila had a bleak future- his family didn’t want to send him to any school and he was lucky to get one sparse meal per day. However, thanks to the generosity of our supporters at JBFC, Mayila and many other students like him are able to study, receive two meals a day, and have hope for a brighter future.

Chris Gates is the Executive Director and Founder of JBFC.

Another JBFC Education Milestone

Two and a half years ago, JBFC’s Joseph & Mary School didn’t exist.

Today, we hosted our 2^nd annual 7^th grade graduation ceremony, which featured our largest class ever walking across the courtyard with diplomas.

7th Grade Graduate Procession

JBFC's Joseph & Mary's 7th Grade Graduating Class

I am so proud of our 26 graduates, who skipped the fall break from classes in order to study hard for the Tanzanian national exams. We don’t know the results yet, but today we celebrated their determination and drive. They’ve done what many Tanzanian students fail to do – finish primary school.

Joseph & Mary 2nd Graders Perfomed

And we had a wonderful celebration with our students and parents. We hired a DJ for the event to give our students a treat. The JBFC choir performed. And some of the most touching moments came from our 2^nd graders who created a song and a poem to say good-bye to the 7^th grade. It was inspiring to see the younger students really looking up to their older peers, knowing one day they could be graduating also.

7th Grade's Most Disciplined Student

The Joseph & Mary teaching staff handed out awards for the most disciplined student, most improved student, best dressed, top athlete and outstanding leader.JBFC residential girl, Pili, was chosen by her classmates to give the class speech. And Mzee Kitula, JBFC’s campus manager and Kitongo community elder, spoke to the children about the importance of education.

Pili preparing for her speech.

For the Tanzanian children who actually make it through primary school, this is often the end of their education. According to the UN, participation in secondary school in Tanzania is 26 percent and even lower for girls. Thanks to our generous donors, JBFC is able to offer secondary education. 

So we hope to continue to break down barriers in Tanzanian education, by admitting our largest secondary class to date in 2013.

Congratulations to our 7th Grade! We are so very proud of you!

Chris Gates with JBFC School Staff

 Chris Gates is the Founder and Executive Director of JBFC.

Test Time

It is nearing that time of year again and nerves running higher than ever. Today and yesterday our second set of seventh graders will be sitting for two very long days to take their national exams. 

Not only does this year’s class have to live up to the standard set by our stellar class last year (which helped us place 64th in the nation), but the pass rate for all English Medium (private) schools has been raised by 25 points! 

For the past month, the rest of our school has been closed because of a national census in Tanzania, but due to the dedication of both our seventh grade teacher and students, studying has continued for this class. Before the break, they approached the administration about staying on campus during the week so that they could not only hold class, but have extended study days for the entire month leading up to the national exams. 

Even though the stakes are high- many who do not pass this exam are not allowed to advance to secondary school- we are confident in our students’ ability.


Please join us in thinking about and praying for these students as they enter their last week of school as primary students!


Chris Gates is the Founder and Executive Director of JBFC.

Close Bonds: My (extended) Stay at JBFC

After two weeks in Tanzania, this 17-year-old called her mom and begged to stay longer. Kat Weaver wrote this guest blog about how she and her classmates from a Tulsa high school spent part of their summer and the friendships they won't soon forget.

Upon arriving at JBFC, sixteen Holland Hall guests (fourteen students, two chaperones) including myself, all from Tulsa, Oklahoma were greeted with screams of joy, hugs and welcoming smiles from the JBFC girls and school children. Throughout the next two weeks, we were tasked with painting dorms and classrooms, doing inventory of classroom materials, working on a football pitch, fundraised by Holland Hall back in the US, and painting a Periodic Table mural in the new science lab.

However, it was not all work for us. We had the amazing opportunity to experience Children of Africa Day.  After decorating the dining hall Tanzanian-style, we sang, danced and played with the girls, and also gave gift bags to each of them for their “birthdays.”  

We enjoyed a hike on one of the campus’ scenic mountains, an unforgettable safari in the Serengeti, a trip to the city of Mwanza to explore the market, dinner with a JBFC Mama in the village of Kitongo, movie nights with the girls, attending church each Sunday, numerous jewelry-making sessions, dance parties and football games with the village children. We also had the privilege of eating at the new campus restaurant each weekend, experiencing all different types of cuisine with a gorgeous beach view of Lake Victoria. Whatever free-time we had was spent talking and playing with the JBFC girls, and bonding with them as much as possible before our departure.

The overall experience of living at JBFC for two weeks was both eye-opening and life changing. After becoming so close with the children and experiencing a lifestyle so different from the one we have in Tulsa, we all left with a new/strengthened connection to the JBFC girls that cannot be broken. After a job well-done and new friendship made, we all left with dismay, but also warmth in our hearts.  We all share a strong motivation to return back to the states to help JBFC grow and evolve even more and a mutual anticipation among all of us for our next opportunity to return to the children we have so closely bonded with. 

You Have to Change to Grow...

I had the opportunity to visit JBFC for a week in June, after an absence of two years.  I could not believe the changes that have taken place on campus--new dorms, updated guest and staff houses, the Secondary School, restaurant and bungalows, four new Mamas, and most importantly, fifteen new, beautiful, happy girls! 

 On my second night at JBFC I had the privilege of attending the opening of Papa's Cafe--the restaurant and training center on campus.  It was a very special night and our JBFC students did a wonderful job!

The students were all in finals at the time I was there, and I saw first-hand how seriously they take their studies, and how dedicated the teachers of JBFC are.  I would often see teachers staying after and helping students one-on-one with their study and preparation for their exams.  My daughter Liz had spent several weeks in May and June helping out in the Secondary School.  She was very impressed with the teachers as well!!  Once again, I got to bring a music class to the younger students, and we had a lot of fun!! 

It was a pleasure to meet George and Connie, two staff members, and spend time with them and Kris and Kayci. They are very committed to the girls and the students of JBFC.  Chris has a great team! 

Chris brought me out to see the farm and livestock facility.  That is all new too since I was last at JBFC.  With goats, cows, and tilapia ponds, JBFC’s agricultural program has grown into an amazing operation.

I spent a number of mornings with Esther---the young girl you have all read about.  Esther came to JBFC very malnourished, weighing just 14 pounds at four years old. Despite her rough start in life, JBFC’s nurturing has helped her start an incredible turnaround. She was recovering from a broken femur, and had to spend much of her time in her dorm room on her bed, in order to let her leg heal.  She is amazing, and is growing and thriving.  She is speaking a lot more now and is blowing kisses and singing!  Her smile and laughter are heartwarming, and she is loved by all the girls. 

While there have been many changes at JBFC, there are some things that have stayed the same.  There are still the squeals of joy and delight when you arrive, and tears and hugs when you leave.  And music still fills the air with the girls voices raised in song.

  

It is so special to see how these girls are growing into beautiful, caring, capable young women. 

Guest Blogger Kristin Bender is JBFC's Board President. She has served on the board of directors since 2008 and is an avid volunteer.

Fundraising Isn't Just For Grown Ups

Through Rites of Passage and Pajama Parties some young JBFC supporters are making a big impact.

For those who worry about the next generation, I only have to point to JBFC’s young supporters to prove that the world will be in good hands.

Hanrahan and Forst with JBFC students

One of JBFC’s most successful fundraising efforts this year has been spearheaded by a group of teenagers from Bronxville, New York. Brian Forst, Ellie Hanrahan and several of their classmates visited JBFC last summer. When they got back to the US, they were determined to help raise money to finish JBFC’s secondary school. They sold virtual bricks. And brick by brick, they’ve raise more than $38,000 to date.

Davis and Gardner walking with JBFC Student

These two Tulsa students, Tamarco Davis and Hogan Gardner, were also motivated to help by their visit to JBFC last year. Both are back on our Tanzania campus right now, helping to dedicate a soccer field they raised money to build.

Goldberg

Emma Goldberg, also from Tulsa, is barely a teenager. She just celebrated her Bat Mitzvah this spring. And she asked all of her friends and family to help celebrate her rite of passage by giving money to JBFC. She’s raised a whopping $5,000 just by sending out a simple lavender card asking for their support.

Weinberg

And one of my favorite young fundraiser stories comes from Henry Weinberg, who’s also from New York. Henry wanted to raise money for JBFC, so he gave a speech about JBFC to the entire student body of 90 kids. He asked everybody to bring $5 to school the next Friday and wear their pajamas. The PJ Party packed in more than $200 in less than a day.

JBFC wants to thank all of these impressive young people and all of the others who do great things for our organization. We are blessed to have such committed and inventive supporters. This year, we’re really trying to galvanize the power of young people by launching an official JBFC Ambassadors program. If you want to help raise money for JBFC and spread the word on our mission, please click on the link and fill out an application.

We hope our young supporters will continue to do good works and show us adults how it’s done.

 Sims with JBFC Students Saleh & Eliza

Guest Blogger: Ashli Sims, JBFC Director of Development. Sims is a former television reporter who joined the JBFC Team in January of 2012.

2012 JBFC Olympics

JBFC catches Olympics fever, going for gold on its campus in Kitongo, Tanzania. Hundreds of students at JBFC’s Joseph & Mary School participated in an Olympics-themed field day last week.

Students were assigned to represent eight different countries in nine different games. While some of the events were modeled after Olympic sports like the long jump...

...while other activities you would never see at the London games. Students teamed up for three-legged races, hopped to the finish line in sack races and tried to stay dry in a water balloon toss.

But the day wasn’t all fun and games. All of the
participants had to research the country they were representing and draw paper replicas of their flags, which were worn during the games. Form 1 (8^th
Grade) and Form 2 (9^th grade) students gave presentations detailing each country’s population, geographic area and culture.

For more pictures, check out our JBFC Olympics Photo Album on our facebook page.