Introducing JBFC's Mascot: Coney

Editor's Note: JBFC's Guest Blogger this week is of the four-legged variety. Coney is our beloved campus mascot and his canine charisma makes him a favorite of the JBFC girls and volunteers alike. Coney wanted to share his unique dog's-eye-view of JBFC's campus (but don't take his paw print too seriously).

Hi Friends!

 

For those of you who don’t know me- my name is Coney. I am JBFC’s mascot and everyone’s favorite thing in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD. There are so many of you out there who have not come to Tanzania to meet me yet, so I thought I would paw a quick letter and let you know about all the awesome things I get to see on JBFC’s campus every day and why more than 100 volunteers come to our campus every year to see ME! And, hopefully after reading this letter, you will want to come see me, too.

Morning is the best time of the day- because all of the people wake up and are just so excited to see me… and pet me… and play with me.

Also, Mama Mary comes in the morning- she is the one who cooks my food (which is amazing). She cooks for everyone in Dad’ house, but I think she likes me the best.

 

I get so excited every day to see all my friends wake up.  The girls wake up first. They have to sweep the dirt and water the plants every morning before school, even though I know they all secretly just want to play with me. After checking on them, I typically go up to my house, Dad is awake. SO EXCITING!

 

 

The volunteers take the longest to wake up- I wonder why they aren’t like the girls and get up early to see me? But, seriously, they really, really like their sleep. They like sleep almost as much as I do. But, when they do get up, the guesthouse porch is the best place to be- especially in June. In June, there are like 20 people in that house. THAT IS 40 HANDS TO LOVE ME! Too soon, petting time is over and all my new friends are off to do things around campus. Sigh!

 

It’s time to go check on my other friends. Did you know our school has 300 kids – that’s 600 HANDS TO LOVE ME! Yes, some of them are a little scared of me because I am so much bigger than them. But, I just want to be their friend. Maybe when they get bigger they will be okay with me.

 

Also, those 300 kids eat at the school dining hall two times a day. That is 600 plates of food every day! Oh, and it is so good. All of the kids love to share their food with me- and I try to entertain them by sitting or shaking, or doing something like that.

And, after the kids eat, if they haven’t been as generous as normal, I can head over to the girls’ dining hall where the big people eat their meals during the day. These are the people who work on campus and help dad. There’s about 70 of them (140 more hands). The staff love me. They always share because they think I am funny (I am pretty funny).

 

But, I can’t complain even if I don’t get food there, because there are four places where all they do is cook food on campus. First, there’s my bowl. It is mine, but I share it with the pigeons. Also, I already told you about the school dining hall and the girls’ dining hall. But, I haven’t mentioned the best smelling place on campus. They call it Papa’s- and strangers even come with their own cars to visit Papa’s because it smells so good. I’m not allowed at Papa’s- I don’t know why…maybe they haven’t heard how great I am?

 

Oh, and did you know that we have an awesome farm full of lots of meat…I mean, animals. My favorite days are slaughter days…OH MAN. I get the foot of whatever is being prepared. Pig is obviously my favorite- who doesn’t love pig? But, sheep is a pretty close second. The farm is getting bigger and bigger, so there’s more meat for me… I mean, the girls. MMMMM….and when they dry the bones, I can chew on them for days, and days, and days. I am not allowed to bring the bones in Dad’s house, though. That is a no-no.

 

And, the farm is full of lots of DIRT! When it gets really hot, and when I need to take a break from my human friends, dirt is exactly what I need. I love to dig myself a little bed and take a nap. Oh, how it cools me off. Next to being loved, sleep is my favorite thing. However, there are certain places I am not supposed to dig. And it seems the places where I’m allowed to roll around in the dirt are getting smaller. I haven’t quite figured out why everybody gets so upset with my digging… I did VERY GOOD holes. But I think it has something to do with all of the green things in the dirt. In fact in the last year, JBFC is getting greener and greener. My friends seem to spend a lot of time with those green things. They did holes too… but they don’t take naps in them like I do. Who knows what they’re doing? I don’t see the appeal, but it makes them happy.

 

After my nap, I am so excited because the kids come home. I know it must be rough to have been away from me for so long, so I do my best to comfort them from the time they come home until they go to bed. When Dad goes to the city, and is away from me all day long, he also needs lots of comforting. So, I do my best to stay close to EVERYONE and just spread my love.

It is often hard work to be a mascot on such a large campus, but it’s also pretty amazing. There are sooooo many awesome kids, people and FOOD. So, for those of you who are inspired by my letter but have not come to visit me yet, and see everything else that goes on here…WELCOME. And, I can’t wait for you to meet me. You can’t help but fall in love.

Okay, I have to go see what’s cooking.

Your new best friend,

Coney

Coney is an English Mastiff, who has lived at JBFC since he was born.

New Green Thumb on Campus

Guest blogger Lauren Lesch is completing her first three months at JBFC's campus in Tanzania. In this blog she describes how she took time out from her administrative duties to try her hand at farming.

I’ve been in Tanzania for three months now and most of my days consist of  running errands around campus, answering loads of emails (when there is a good internet connection), working with the Papa’s staff and doing my best to make sure things are in order.

In mid-July, I picked up a hoe (the farming utensil) for the first time and headed out to the farm with Marcus, JBFC's expert farm hand. We spent the morning planting okra and cucumber seeds, along  with a baby jackfruit tree. It was definitely hard work, back-breaking work actually, especially for a city girl that has never hurled a hoe from the ground, up over her shoulder, around her head, and back into the ground again. Marcus made it look effortless but trust me, I exerted A LOT of effort each and every time I had to dig.

The following week I was able to plant a crop from start to finish. I did not realize how much time was spent preparing the beds before you even bury the seeds. No wonder I have a hard time growing flowers and herbs in the States! First I hoed about seven rows of beds, making a rectangle that was slightly lifted off the ground. Next I dug eight holes in each bed. Afterwards I filled each hole with fertilizer, also known as goat manure. Next I had to mix the fertilizer with the dirt so that there was equal parts of each for the seeds to be planted in. And did I mention that I mixed with my HANDS! It was approaching noon at this point and the Tanzanian sun can get pretty hot so I stopped for the afternoon and came back that evening to finally plant. I water all the beds down and transplanted baby Chinese cabbage from one large bed to each individual hole so they would have their own space to deepen their roots and grow. I finished with another round of watering and called it a day.


A shower and a scrub underneath my fingernails was in order!

As hard as the work was for me, it was also very therapeutic. Since I was so new to farming, I had to really concentrate on what I was doing, making sure not to screw up. Often good intentions without attention to detail can create more work for JBFC farm staff - crooked bed lines or digging holes to small or too big, or in the wrong place just means farm workers would have to re-do all of it. I didn’t want that to be me!

Not only was it good physical exercise but also allowed me to clear my mind since I couldn’t think of anything else besides the task at hand. I felt a sense of accomplishment in the fact that I finished a project from start to finish, not knowing anything about what I was doing beforehand, but learning from our staff as we went along.

I plan to continue my work on the farm at least once a week in order to change up my daily routine and rejuvenate my mind. I am so thankful for all the new experiences I am having through JBFC especially this one!

Lauren Lesch is the assistant for JBFC's Executive Director, Chris Gates. She's from Dallas, TX, but lives at JBFC in Tanzania full time.

Life Lessons

Thinking back on my childhood growing up in Portland, Maine (a long way away from Kitongo, Tanzania), one of my fondest memories is of grocery shopping with my father. I can vividly remember waking up on Saturday or Sunday mornings, jumping in the car, and heading off to the grocery store and the farmers market. There, I would help my dad pick out the groceries for the week, push (and sometimes ride) the cart, help pay at the cash register and carry the bags of food. Looking back now, these excursions into the real world weren’t just about the toy I’d be able to pick out at the end of the day (though at the time I was positive they were). These trips with my dad served an important role in my upbringing.


With all that is going on here on campus this year- transitioning to 100% solar power, moving the farm closer and closer to our sustainability goals, opening of a new dorm where we will accept new girls into our family, construction of our administration building, many dozens of wonderful guests- it is easy to forget the little things that we do here in our attempt to create well-rounded, caring, knowledgeable, girls who will one day be self-reliant citizens who make positive contributions to the world. Here are a few of my favorites, in three parts!

Family Market Day

For the past few months Mama Maggie, our head matron, has been taking small groups of girls with her to the market every Sunday to help her with shopping for things like cooking oil, flour, rice, soap, laundry detergent and spices. We started with the oldest girls first, usually taking four or five per week, and moving down grade by grade so that as many girls as possible would have the chance.

This particular Saturday morning was the youngest girls’ turn to go shopping with Mama Maggie. By the time I got out of bed and went to the girls’ home at around 8 AM, I found not four or five girls ready to go, but 13 girls dressed in their nicest clothes, carrying purses, and some wearing earrings. Bhoke had even applied lipstick.

While this may have been one of the cutest encounters of my life- it was surely a scene right out of “Little Rascals”- it was also an important day for the girls. During their field trip to the market the girls learn important skills that will help them later in life. They learn the price of food and supplies, learn how to barter at the market, are taught about family budgeting (although they may want to eat chicken and potatoes seven days per week, it just isn’t possible!), help in ensuring quality control by picking through and selecting only the best products, and learn teamwork through working together. 

At the end of a hot day in a dusty, sweaty market, the girls are treated to a soda as recognition for their hard work. While tough, it is an experience that the girls generally look forward to as they get to spend some time out in the world- always dressed in their Sunday best.

Global Citizens

With our guest and internship programs we often use the term “Global Citizens” in reference to the many wonderful people who pass through our campus. Through their experiences, we hope to give them diverse perspectives and a global outlook on the world to use as they navigate through school, careers, and family life.

 But how do we instill these same perspectives in our girls without traveling the many hundreds of miles to visit another country? One way is through media.









Twice per week, we buy JBFC’s secondary girls two English language newspapers. The girls then sit for hours thumbing through articles on elections in India (the world’s largest democracy), educating women in Afghanistan (astonishing advances have been made in recent years), violence in Nigeria (Boko Haram), peace talks in the Middle East, refugees in South Sudan.

 Sitting with these girls, discussing issues that they may have an impact on someday as leaders of their generation will be some of my best memories of JBFC. The girls can be found, long after dark, sitting outside under a tree debating the merits of one point of view or another.


Leadership Through Church

Through their experiences, we hope that all of the JBFC girls become leaders in their communities and role models for generations of girls to come. One way of creating confident leaders is through our prayer services and church here on campus. As anyone who has visited campus can tell you, various girls lead our nightly prayer services and Sunday morning Church services. Hearing Salome sing “Mambo Sawa Sawa” or Nyamisi lead “Mwamba Mwamba” are consistently guest favorites. They select the Bible readings, lead the prayers, call on contributors, and make general announcements regarding our JBFC community.


This past week, however, several of our girls have been provided a new opportunity to learn leadership through religion. One of the local churches in Kitongo has elected Eliza, Liku, Nyamisi, Nyamalwa, and Lau to be the representatives for all of the young adults and children in their congregation. With this opportunity, the girls will be given the chance to help plan services and events and to lead discussions with the young adults about the issues in their lives. On Sunday, I attended church with these girls and a couple of our guests (John, Ari, and James). What I saw was amazing. Not only did they help plan the service, but they were in charge of organizing all of the activities going on at the church that day- lunch, decorations, discussion time for young adults, child care for the toddlers. Eliza has been asked to teach Sunday school to the youngest members of the congregation- something I am confident she will excel at. 



With all of the big items on our daily, weekly, annual to-do lists, it is easy to forget that we are, in every way shape and form, a big family. We strive to make sure these 44 girls get all of the experiences that make a family, well, a family. We encourage them to try new things. We are proud of their accomplishments. We use moments of failure or frustration to teach and to build. Whether it’s cooking lessons from Dad, swimming with Melinda, or choir practice and Bible readings with Markus, we strive to give these girls as many tools as possible to succeed in the future. In the end, we are confident that the JBFC girls will look back on their time here with fond memories of a loving, productive childhood.










Seth Diemond is JBFC's Campus Director.

Putting the Bee in JBFC

All of our farm staff is extremely excited about a new addition on the farm….HONEYBEES! Because of the generous donations we received during our annual KUWA fundraising event in Tulsa, OK and the Children of Africa Day gifts, we were able to raise enough money to buy hives, train a staff person in the art of beekeeping, and purchase the equipment necessary to start the process and keep it going.

JBFC’s assistant campus manager, Marcus, was very excited to head out for a week of beekeeper training earlier this summer in Central Tanzania. When he returned he brought back with him five hives, a “killer" bee outfit, and plenty of knowledge on how to raise honeybees and produce honey.



JBFC decided to pursue beekeeping when we realized how important bees are to the agricultural crops that we grow on campus and other crops around the world. According to the US Department of Agriculture, bees pollinate 80 percent of all flowering crops, which make up a third of the human diet. Cucumbers, passion fruit, papaya, okra, tomatoes, onions, and sunflower seeds are just some of the foods that are grown on the JBFC campus that rely on bee pollination.

It’s easy to think that bees are such a nuisance with the buzzing noise they make in your ear and the welt they leave on your skin after a painful sting. Many people are quick to swat bees with the bottom of a flip-flop, but on a farm they're essential partners in keeping our farm producing hundreds of pounds of fruit and veggies a week. At JBFC, we want to continue to feed our girls, staff and community with healthy food items that come straight from our garden. With an increase in bees on campus, we are increasing the amount of crops being pollinated and in time, will result in more fruits and vegetables for all of us to enjoy.

Another big benefit of raising honeybees is of course for the honey! Each of our five hives is estimated to produce 40-50 liters of honey each year.

Honey is a delicious natural sweetener so we plan to replace the normal sugars that the JBFC girls currently use in things like sweet tea, which they have almost every morning at breakfast. These sugars are a fairly large budget item for us, roughly $1,400 a year (that's enough to pay for two girls to live at JBFC and attend school for the entire year).

Honey is also a healthier alternative to white sugar. Furthermore, many of our girls suffer from seasonal allergies. By consuming local honey, their bodies will slowly grow accustomed to the pollens and allergens in our area. All in all, having these bees on our campus is beneficial and profitable in many, many ways.

So, next time you visit the JBFC campus, you can look forward to a glass of honey tea that came straight from our farm!








Chris Gates is JBFC's Founder & Executive Director.