2016: The Year in Review

This past year not only celebrated our tenth anniversary as an organization, but was also one of major transitions. It was the first year JBFC Founder and CEO, Chris Gates, and his family were not on campus in Tanzania, the year that our first set of Joseph and Mary Secondary School graduates were out on their own and moving into higher education, and the JBFC family added 6 new faces to its residential girl program. These transitions were all needed in order for our operations to grow and expand, and while we are anxious for 2017 to start, we would like to take a moment and look back on some of the highlights from this amazing year.

* JBFC turned TEN in March! The entire month was full of celebrations at various restaurants in Tulsa, but March 6th was our official birthday. We celebrated with a party at The Tropical here in Tulsa, and celebrations in Tanzania!

REFUGE


* The JBFC family grew to 52 residential girls. This year saw us take in Rehema (age 15), Samida (age 12), Salma (age 6), Vero (age 14), Lufina (age 7), and Vero T (age 11). We could not be happier to have these new additions to our family!

* The JBFC Girls' Government entered its third year, proving that this is an actual program with a mission, outcomes, and a real impact on the overall organization.

* The JBFC residential girls and matrons began self-defense lessons. JBFC was one of only five non-profit organizations chosen to participate in a pilot program to bring self-defense training to girls in the Mwanza region of Tanzania.










EDUCATION

* Joseph and Mary Primary School graduated its 6th class of Primary School students - this entire class passing the Tanzanian National Exam earned JBFC's Joseph and Mary Primary School a ranking of 18th out of 8,241 schools in the COUNTRY!

* 14 out of 28 Class of 2015 graduates moved on to Advanced Secondary (Form 5), including 3 of JBFC's residential girls, with many of the other graduates moving on the various higher education programs as well.

* Joseph and Mary Secondary School graduated its 2nd class of Secondary School students - 17 graduates including 4 of JBFC's residential girls.

* 2 Career Days were hosted by the Office of Student Development, with 6 guest speakers coming to speak to the Secondary School students about a variety of careers.

* 2016 saw the implementation and continued success of the Family Literacy Program.


HEALTHCARE

* JBFC launched its inaugural "Trek Tanzania" walk-a-thon to raise funds for our clinic. Supporters in Tulsa and around the United States walked well-over the 89,480 steps it would take to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, and raised over $30,000 for our healthcare clinic!

* JBFC's new nurse, Gertrude, was hired earlier in the fall. Prior to going to nursing school, she taught Physics, Chemistry, and Biology at a private school, where she was also a dorm matron. After completing nursing school, she worked in a pediatric ward at a hospital!

* New hand-washing stations have been installed at the dining halls on campus. Hand-washing stations and dish-drying racks have also been installed at Bibi Mimi's Girls' Home, which will greatly improve sanitation around campus.





AGRICULTURE

* The JBFC Farm has averaged over 1,700 pounds of vegetables each month, with a monthly record of 3,891 pounds of vegetables in November!

* Two community-based permaculture seminars and two-school based seminars were held this year.

* The first Tanzanian-led community permaculture seminar taking place.

SUPPORTERS

* Gretchen Scott Designs from Bronxville, New York donated hundreds of brightly-colored tunics, shirts, and dresses to our residential girls and matrons.

* JBFC received a $30,000 grant from the Segal Family Foundation, who support organizations cultivating healthy, productive, and empathetic youth.

* The U.S. Office saw lots of wonderful volunteers come into the office throughout the year, racking up 420 volunteer hours!

* JBFC launched new curriculum partnerships with 2 schools in the U.S.

* Joseph and Mary students have Pen Pals from 5 different schools across the country.

* Over 150 volunteers came to our campus in Tanzania during 2016, including several new school partners. We are so grateful for all our supporters and friends, old and new! We hope to see you again next year!

There is still time to join us in our end-of-year campaign.

Click here to donate to our Annual Appeal and your contribution will be matched up to $25,000!

Thank you for your continued support of our mission. We hope everyone has a happy and safe New Year's and we look forward to great things in 2017!

Christmas 2016

With the absence of Chris and his boys, many of the Class of 2015 graduates not being present, and several new faces taking part in their first festivities, Christmas at JBFC looked a little different this year! Chief Operating Officer in Tanzania, Seth Diemond, told us all about how the JBFC family celebrated the holidays this past week.

CHRISTMAS AT PAPA'S

This year, Christmas celebrations were held at Papa's. The girls did an amazing prayer on the lawn infront of Lake Victoria, which was led by our new Girls' Government President, Vale. There were prayers, songs by the JBFC choir, and a chance for people to share what they are thankful for this year. Vale gave a speech about the best parts of 2016. Melinda, Paula, and I led a wonderful rendition of "Feliz Navidad" before Mzee Kitula and all the girls joined in. Mzee Kitula running up to us with his hands waving frantically in the air, and singing Spanish Christmas songs, are memories that will not be forgotten any time soon.

Papa's itself was beautiful. The decorations committee, joined by Pili who finished a two-year long hospitality program, set up all the tables, table cloths, napkins, cutlery, etc. The girls brought benches from the girls' home and set them up in front of the Christmas tree. The girls' stockings were laid out on the bar and a table was set up under the bar for all of the food. One of our girls, Zai, said the scene was "amazing."

THE TREE

This year we were able to harvest a Grevaria tree from our farm. Now, this might not sound too amazing but it actually is for a couple of reasons. First, Grevaria trees look pretty darn similar to your standard pine tree, which added to the Christmas feel and the general ambiance at Papa's (we usually use a Mango tree). Second, it means that some of the first trees we planted when we implemented permaculture are "coming of age" for use. Disclaimer: no trees were harmed; it was cut in such a way to avoid imposing any pain on the tree and it was cut high enough to ensure that the tree will grow back!

Maggie and the tree committee chose the tree and with help from Emma, our driver, cut it down. They spent the afternoon making hand-made decorations including a star for the top.


THE FOOD

As always, one of the highlights of the day was the food. Our Papa's staff taught the girls how to make big, American style pancakes in the morning with sausages on the side. We slaughtered a hog and chickens from our farm and the girls, with the help of Emma and myself, spent the afternoon barbecuing ginger-lemon marinated meat. The girls and Papa's staff made mashed potatoes, sauteed Kale, coleslaw, and garlic bread. Melinda made sugar cookies and Paula made macaroni and cheese.

The food was a major hit and the massive mountains of food on the littlest of girls' plates spoke volumes. To top it all off, we had ice cream to go with the sugar cookies for dessert. After running out of cups for the ice cream, people started making ice cream sandwiches!

THE GIFTS

As always, gifts are a favorite part of anyone's holidays. We started the afternoon with Melinda,

Paula, Carli, and I exchanging little gifts during lunch. After dinner, we had a short staff-appreciation segment for our managers and workers who helped with the Christmas party/attended as guests. This might have been everyone's favorite part of the evening (especially Paula!) because each time we called a manager/worker up to collect a holiday card/holiday bonus, all of the girls began wildly cheering. The girls came up with a personalized cheer for each worker based on what they do for the campus. For example, when our Farm Manager, Edward, came up, the girls all chanted "EGGPLANT EGGPLANT EGGPLANT!" When our Head Matron, Mama Maggie, came up the girls all chanted "MAMA MAMA MAMA." It was absolutely touching to see how excited and appreciative the girls were for our team and equally as amazing to see how much the support from the girls meant to the staff. It made the night.

We then handed out gifts to the girls starting with the stockings. The girls got a variety of items from photo albums (thanks Alyssa!), suckers, and math sets, to water-bottles and toiletry bags. Seeing the girls' reactions to their gifts was Melinda's highlight of the night. Everyone left happy, and extremely grateful, to say the least.

Seth Diemond is JBFC's Chief Operating Office in Tanzania. 

Career Day Inspirations #2

Before the end of school, we had our second Career Day of the year for the students of Joseph and Mary Schools. We are using these Career Days as opportunities for our students to gain exposure to a variety of careers and learn more about how to go about achieving their goals.

For our second Career Day, we were lucky enough to have three female professionals join us, (from left to right) Ms. Nyamumi George (an accountant), Ms. Vick Majembe (a lawyer), and Ms. Loyce Masogo (a cotton-machinist).

The guests were chosen based on a survey conducted earlier in the year gauging interest in particular careers. Between both Career Days, 5 of the 6 speakers were female, often representing male dominated fields.

The students loved Career Day so much it went on two hours longer than planned! The kids asked tons of questions and were extremely interested in what the speakers had to say. I asked a few of our students what they thought about Career Day.

One of our Secondary students said that Career Day changed his future because he didn’t even know about accountants and now wants to be either an accountant or an engineer. The key message another student took away from the day was to have discipline and respect and believe in yourself because anything is possible.

Maggie, one of our standout students and residential girls, said she learned that the good things we see from people are not attained easily, but through hard work. No matter what kind of job you want, you must work hard.

Seth, the COO in Tanzania, loves career day Career Day because it exposes our secondary students to careers they may be interested in but don’t know much about. It also gives them real life role models that could prove to be invaluable contacts or opportunities in the future.

For me, I think it is important to expose all of our students, both boys and girls, to female professionals in a variety of careers. I think it is also great that our girls are able to look up to female role models from their own communities.

We look forward to adding more Career Days to the school schedule in 2017, exposing our students to even more career choices.

Guest blogger, Melinda Wulf, is JBFC's Administrative Director. 

Students Inspiring Students

On Tuesday, November 1st, the 5th grade at Bronxville Elementary School gathered together to have a little fun while also supporting our children in Tanzania through an annual lap-a-thon at their school. JBFC Founder and CEO, Chris Gates, was on the East Coast during this time and was able to be present for the event.

The weeks leading up to this day of fun had all of the 5th graders hitting their neighborhoods and streets, asking as many family members and friends as they could find to sponsor them in support of JBFC. And, their efforts paid off - the 5th grade raised over $2,300 in support of our school!


Before the fundraising began, however, it was all about education and learning about JBFC from their high school counterparts. Every year for the past 9 years, Bronxville High School has sent a group of adventurous students to our flagship campus in Tanzania. Many of these students have a life changing experience and wish to stay involved in JBFC throughout the year. This is why we created the JBFC Ambassador Program. These ambassadors wish to remain involved in JBFC and educate others within their communities about JBFC’s mission to alleviate extreme rural poverty in Tanzania.

In early October, the Bronxville JBFC Ambassadors, along with their chaperone, JBFC Board Chair, Jim Agnello, presented to the entire 5th grade about their experiences at JBFC in July, and about the various ways JBFC works with children in Tanzania. Excited by seeing what their high school friends were able to do in Tanzania, these 5th graders left the presentation inspired and eager to do what they could to help JBFC’s school - and the results were clearly amazing!

This is what’s great about JBFC - from our founding story to our volunteer program, every single person has the ability to make a wave of change across an entire community. So often, people, especially younger children, don’t think they can make a true impact on the lives of those around them, let alone the lives of other living thousands of miles away. But, that is exactly what this 5th grade class has done. They are impacting the lives of our students from halfway around the world!

Thank you to all the teachers, families, and most importantly, the 5th grade students at Bronxville School for your hard work in this year’s lap-a-thon.

If you are inspired by what these 5th graders have accomplished and what to find out what you, your school, or your community can do to make a similar impact on JBFC’s campus, please contact us as: info@jbfc-online.org.

Graduating the Class of 2016

Last Friday, December 2nd, JBFC saw its second class of Joseph and Mary Secondary School Form 4 students graduate. This graduating class of seventeen students included four of JBFC's own residential girls. Only 1 in 4 girls in Tanzania ever start Secondary School, with even fewer finishing, so completing their Secondary School education is such an achievement for all of our students. 

The graduation ceremony began with our Guest of Honor, Mr. Shindika, District Education Statistics Officer, and the JBFC leadership entering the beautifully decorated dining hall. The graduates marched into the hall afterward, and their entry was followed by performances from both Primary School and Secondary School students.

A truly moving moment of the ceremony was when three of JBFC's residential girls, Happy, Jackie, and Leticia, sang a medley of songs by Adele. These girls had been hard at work practicing these songs for the past two months as a way to send off their older sisters with something memorable. There were lots of emotions around the dining hall as the girls sang their rendition of "Hello", and it was clear to all present that our JBFC residential girls have an incredible amount of love and support for one another!

After the moving performance, it was time for speeches. First, graduates Nasogani and Kulwa gave a speech on behalf of the Form 4 students. This was followed by a speech from Mr. Kidapanda, the Head of Secondary School. JBFC Administrative Director, Melinda Wulf, then addressed the crowd and encouraged students to work hard, be kind, and to make themselves and others proud.

Seth Diemond, JBFC's COO in Tanzania, then took to the stage to encourage students to be thankful to those who have helped them get to where they are, encouraged them to never forget the lessons of their parents and guardians, and asked them to each be a leader in their families and communities. He also reminded students about the importance of being careful with social media and networking.

Special Guest of Honor, Mr. Shindika, then spoke to the crowd and encouraged the graduates to see finishing Form 4 as just the beginning, and discussed strategies for how to deal with life's challenges.

The speeches were then followed up by presentation of class superlatives, academic certificates, and finally, the diplomas!

Once the diplomas were in hand, all guests enjoyed a lunch of rice and pilau, chicken and beef, fruit and greens, and of course, soda. It was a fantastic day for all of our students, staff, and especially graduates.

Here are some quotes from the day:

"Graduation was fantastic. My favorite part was the time of giving certificates. I loved the food too.  loved the speeches by Seth, Melinda, and the Guest of Honor. I was so proud of JBFC. What can I say, I will really remember this!" - Rose (Form 4 Graduate and JBFC residential girl)

"I was so happy. I was happy because I was singing to say bye to the Form 4 students. And happy because we have been practicing for so long- at least twice per week for over two months I felt sad singing "Hello", because the song is so emotional- all of its words. It felt good because I sang from my heart and I was happy because they (the audience and graduates) felt the way I was feeling. I will keep on singing..." - Happy (Form 2 and JBFC residential girl)

"The graduation was great. All around great! Good for our JBFC family and for the students. Everyone enjoyed it!" - Mzee Kitula (Campus Manager and father of Maryciana Kitula, who was part of the graduating class)

"It was amazing. Of course there were challenges, but overall it was good! My favorite part was having the disabled students from our school help hand out superlative certificates and gifts to the students and the JBFC girls." - Samo Matiko, Dean of Students

Girls' Government: Election 2016

The end of the year always sees a lot of changes. With Joseph and Mary Schools students, this means national exams, moving up another grade, and graduation. The JBFC Girls' Government is no exception, with the President, Vice President, and cabinet members each serving one-year terms, the end of the year means election time.

In preparation for the election of next year's government, the current Girls' Government planned two weeks worth of introductions of the candidates, speeches, question and answer periods, debates, and finally, a "moderated" debate last Saturday afternoon for the Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates in front of all the girls and matrons.

Happy, Leticia, Rose, and Maggie (the "cabinet" members), planned the activities and spent a lot of time preparing for the moderated debate. They came up with ten questions for each candidate, and even strategized on how to press the candidates if their answers were found to be insufficient. 

They decorated the dining hall and set up tables for the moderators and candidates. All of the girls attended, and for the most part, paid close attention to the answers. Some of the sample questions were:

"As the Vice-President, what will you do if the President is doing something that you don't think is good, or she is being unfair to some girls?"

"What is the biggest mistake that this year's Girls' Government has made?"

"What has inspired you most about this year's Girls' Government?"

"To you, what is leadership?"

The day after the moderated debate, the annual election was held. Once again, the cabinet took care of all the planning, covering everything from the day/time of the election, to the ballots, rules and procedures, ballot counting, and announcing the results.

Each block of dorms had their own voting stations, ballot receptacles, and supervisors. Even the matrons participated in the voting. Like any election around the world, there were lines at the JBFC polling stations with all the girls eager to cast their votes and let their voices be heard.





Positions up for election were: President of Girls Government 2017, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, Health Advisor, Food Supervisor, and Dorm Leaders from 3 dorms (dorm leaders are elected to two-year terms so that only three dorms per year elect new leaders). Some of the positions saw only one girl sign-up for the election, in which case she had to receive at least 24 votes (50%) in order to be elected.

With the ballots cast and counted, we are pleased to announce the JBFC Girls' Government for 2017:


President: Vale
Vice President: Jennifer
Secretary: Zai
Treasurer: Abby
Health Advisor: Dotto
Food Supervisor: Rachel
Dorm A Representative: Reka (also senior advisor)
Dorm B Representative: Shida
Dorm C Representative: Lau
Dorm D Representative: Kulwa J
Dorm E Representative: Justina
Dorm F Representative: TBD

We know all of these girls will do fantastic jobs in their new positions!

Giving Thanks

Though Thanksgiving is a North American tradition, we at JBFC think taking time to stop and reflect on what we are grateful for is important regardless of regional boundaries. We are thankful for our healthy and happy children, our JBFC team, and our countless supporters around the world. You mean the world to us! 

Reka

"Firstly, I am thankful for my sponsor. Secondly, I am thankful for Massawe (Seth) for teaching me basketball this year! Third, I am thankful for all of my teachers - BIG THANKS!"



Veronica Lucas

"I am so thankful for my sponsors for helping me until I graduate Form 4. And I'm also thankful for Brunswick for putting solar electricity in our home."

Neema Mathew

"I am thankful for my sponsors for paying for everything like my school fees and food."






Rose

"Thank you to JBFC for taking care of me and everyone who has supported us. Thanks to everyone for keeping us from bad things."

Leticia

"I am thankful for surviving. But I am most thankful for having so many visitors this year and for my sponsors."







Nyamisi

"I am thankful to know a new game - basketball. I am also thankful for graduating Grade 7 and for passing my exam!"

Zai

"I am thankful to have learned a new game - basketball, and I am thankful to all my teachers for continuing to give me knowledge."

Wishing you all a very Happy Thanksgiving! 

We are so thankful for YOU!

Staff Spotlight: Mr. Kidapanda

Editor's Note: To continue our Staff Spotlight segments, JBFC would like to introduce our supporters to Mr. Kidapanda, the head of Joseph and Mary Secondary School.


How long have you been working at JBFC?:

I have been working for 2 years now. This is my second year.

What is your position at JBFC?:

I am the Head Teacher of Joseph and Mary Secondary School.

What are your responsibilities at JBFC?:

Being the Head of Secondary School, I have two things to do - teach in the classroom (I teach English), and supervise the teachers while accomplishing their teaching activities. Also, I overview the school discipline for both teachers and students and I give daily progress reports to the administration. I'm the middle man to take the information from the administration to the teachers and vice versa. This communication promotes unity between the teachers, students, and administration.

Why did you want to be a teacher?:

I decided to be a teacher in 1983 when my English teacher inspired me in the way that he was teaching. In that year, some of the students in my class came to me asking some questions and I found that I really enjoyed teaching. While answering their questions, I was using the blackboard and my classmates were saying that they liked my handwriting and so did my teacher, so after that I had the responsibility of writing on the blackboard during class time.

What is your favorite part of your job?:

My favorite part of my job is teaching English, especially Literature, because I relate past situations and compare them to present realities in our society which catch my attention. There is so much that we can learn from the past to make a better future. I feel happy when my students are engaged in my lessons, answering questions, etc. That makes me feel like I'm doing a good job.

What is the biggest challenge you face with your job?:

The biggest challenge that I face in my day to day activity is when the teachers fail to perform their activities at their maximum standard. I make meetings to remind them about the importance of quality education. Another challenge I face sometimes is the students' attitude. Some of them don't really like coming to school, and it takes a lot of time and effort to keep them engaged and make them understand the importance of education.