Give A Jumpstart

Spring 2009 Update

Projects

give a JUMPSTART continues its support of and cooperation with Bumi Bwesu Youth Centre. The centre offers workshops to JUMPSTART participants on topics such as basic business and accounting skills. They monitor the projects, and continue their own work in youth education on sexual and reproductive health (Projects). We also use their centre as a base for our operations when in Kashikishi.

Swiss Chapter of give a JUMPSTART

As Jody Staehelin, the President of JUMPSTART lives in Switzerland, a Swiss Chapter of give a JUMPSTART with the official name “Jumpstart Switzerland” has been created to better mobilize the Swiss community.

Personnel

Welcome aboard Suzanne Joyal, new board member, Director of Media and Public Relations (Board)

Hilary Harwin leaves the organization as vice president, but will continue to participate when time permits. We thank her for her invaluable photography, which adorns this website.

Events

San Francisco Fundraiser, July 2008, was a great success

San Francisco: Spring 2009

President's Message

2008

2007

President's Message 2008: Unreasonable Circumstances

A long time ago when I was a resident in paediatrics at Babies Hospital in New York City, a young woman and her newborn baby were brought in by ambulance from the projects. It was 2:00 am and I was tired. She wanted a check-up to see if the baby was breathing alright. Why on earth in the middle of the night and was an ambulance really necessary? Because black smoke was streaming out of the heating vent. She had to get her baby out of the apartment. The elevators were out of service. Dealers and junkies hung out in the stairs, and people got raped there. So she called the ambulance.

Since then, whenever I want to holler because of the unreasonable things people do, I tell myself, take a deep breath, ask first. Then I often discover, they are not unreasonable at all, they just live under unreasonable circumstances.

You could say the same about Kashikishi, in Nchelenge, northwestern Zambia: unreasonable circumstances. People are hungry and one quarter of the adult generation is dead or dying. Who is there to teach, to farm, to fish, to care for the sick, to make a chair or sew a dress, to worry about the vulnerable children?

Our organization aims to cultivate a bit of reason in this expanse of unreasonableness. We have been around now for two years, and it may be fair to ask, are we achieving this goal?

Please judge for yourselves. We do not hide our errors. Is it trite to say, we have learned tremendously, not only from our errors, but from our successes as well? Here are some of the lessons:

Schools are by nature institutions of learning. They are not businesses. The school kiosks are only turning a small profit. Should we not concentrate our resources on making money out of training programs, rather than establishing pure businesses on the premises? The Ray of Joy carpentry workshop, which has turned out to be very profitable, is an example of how it pays to help schools do what they do best, teach and train.

The smaller the better. The success story I am most impressed with is that of the Kashikishi Ladies Churro Cooperative. I originally thought these women were too destitute, too disorganised, and too inexperienced to make it. With MariElena’s patient facilitation they started a successful school lunch fritter business (start-up money $144). When circumstances turned against them they adapted, and then when times were hard they moved on. They are making great money selling dried fish. Is not that what Mohammed Yunus claims in Banker to the Poor, the poor are the most resourceful clients, because their lives depend on it?

Not every bird can fly on its own. Kawama community school was exploited by a corrupt head teacher, who has since been removed. We need better on-going, onsite monitoring, and in some cases outright supervision. To this end we have established cooperation with a local community health centre, Bumi Bwesu Youth Centre.

Initiative mixed with humour and trustworthiness is a rare bird indeed. Befriend that bird and help it fly higher. We have decided to support the director of Bumi Bwesu Youth Centre, Alex Kunda Chabu, in his endeavours for higher education.

Thank you to our supporters. We value your time, your advice and your donations.

Jody Staehelin, MD, President, give a JUMPSTART, August 2008

President's Message 2007

This year the rains came on time, but were unusually heavy. Ushiba Basic School is well organized, and they planted their soy crop on time (using the $100 grant we provided last year to clear the land). Everything was washed away. Kawama Community School got their money late, so they planted late (using the money we granted them for seed and fertilizer). This delay was rewarded with an abundant harvest. In Switzerland, using the best technology, we say the weather forecast is accurate for three days in advance. It helps to plan whether to wear a jacket to school. In Africa, the weather forecast rules a child’s fate.

When I worked for short stints in Liberia as a medical student, in Afghanistan as a general medical doctor for MSF, and then in Haiti as a pediatrician, it never felt right. Why treat a child for malnutrition? Shouldn’t I rather give it more food? Why treat neonatal tetanus? Shouldn’t I rather immunize the mother? On top of that, I don’t like doing the work of others. Shouldn’t I be training doctors, not replacing them?

Since I became involved in our projects in Zambia, I know for the first time: this is the right thing. I take pride in our initial achievements.

The hammer mill is finally generating income. For the first time ever, the teachers at Ray of Joy School received a modest salary in May. As a consequence, they come to school to teach, instead of looking for short-term jobs elsewhere. The boys who take carpentry are producing painted birds and fishing boats out of wood, in addition to simple furniture. Tailoring lagged behind. We had to mobilize forces, pull the three machines that we had donated last fall out of their boxes, and show some muscle with the school's board of directors to get the project back on track.

Kawama Community School has a roof and, as mentioned, produced a respectable soybean harvest.

With a donation from the Federation of American Women’s Clubs, we were able to give startup money for four school “tuck shops.” These are shops sponsored by each school that sell school materials, such as notebooks and writing materials, and snacks. With schools of over a thousand pupils each, they can turn a good profit. At our arrival this year in June, four well-written proposals awaited our scrutiny. We signed four contracts and put four schools in business.

What are our plans for the future?

We will stay true to our credo: we give grants and loans, not handouts. We foster self-reliance among our partners, not dependence.

Kawama School will start a piggery. They received money for one male and three female pigs (it is the way of the animal kingdom…).

After this first year’s pilot phase we plan to expand the school tuck shops to cover a dozen more primary schools.

A local women’s group received startup money to sell fritters to school pupils at lunchtime.

A warm thank you to our board members for their work and commitment.

Merci to our donors for their confidence and financial support.

Jody Staehelin, MD, Pediatrician (certified by AAP [USA] and SGP [Switzerland]):
President, give a JUMPSTART