Projects latest update August 2008:

Ray of Joy carpentry workshop is a tremendous success! The children are making furniture for profit as well as school benches and tables for their own use. Above all, orphans and vulnerable children are getting job training. Profits go directly to the school.

Ray of Joy tailoring workshop is still stumbling. The first teacher ran off with the material. A new management plan, closer supervision from the school director, and a second jumpstart consisting of wages for three months, after which time they should be self-supporting, should reinvigorate this project. Currently 60 pupils receive one hour of tailoring instruction a week.

Ladies’ Kashikishi Churros Association. This is the first example of a women’s business cooperative and demonstrates enterprise at its best. One year ago they were granted $144 to buy material to start a school lunch fritter business, which turned a good profit. We were elated; a group of women had organized themselves into a successful business and kids got an affordable lunch! Two birds with one stone. Soon however, they were forced to close down due to a cholera epidemic, so they switched to selling coal. As the margin of profit was too meagre they turned to buying and selling fish, which has proven to be very successful. Unfortunately, this does not solve the school lunch problem, but our women are in business and have shown remarkable enterprising skills.

St. Peter’s Sewing Cooperative. The cooperative meets weekly to sew and to support each other, and they will continue to do so. They are making a profit, which is used for the benefit of the community’s orphans. In May 2008 St. Peter’s cooperative split into four new groups to pursue small business endeavours consisting of farming, fishing, baking and setting up a tuck shop in order to increase their profit margin.

St. Peter’s Satellite Groups. In May 2008 MariElena encouraged the 35 women of St. Peter’s Sewing Cooperative to multiply and diversify, to call in their friends. As a result, six new small business groups were formed with start-up money of $150 each. These women, who have only very meagre resources, are eager to learn business skills. Our partners at Bumi Bwesu Youth Center (see below) will provide business classes.

School Tuck Shops. Tuck shops are small kiosk shops set up on the premises of a school. They sell a limited selection of school supplies, snacks and groceries. The tuck shop is managed by a committee of students, teachers and parents. Fifty percent of the profits are used to support AIDS orphans, and 50 percent are used for the school as a whole, as established by contract with the committee. In 2007 a FAWCO (Federation of American Womens Club) grant was awarded to Give A Jumpstart to establish four tuck shops in primary schools. A year later, two are up and running well. Two others had security problems, in that money was stolen ($248 and $294 respectively) out of the safety deposit box but, despite the loss, they are persevering. The margin of profit in all cases is small. The school tuck shop committees have asked for additional grants to begin selling school uniforms, which would turn a larger profit. We have agreed to a modest investment of $100 per school, though two of the schools will not receive the money until the security issue is satisfactorily solved.

Kawama Basic School is floundering. This community is the most destitute in the area. We were euphoric after the first successful soy bean harvest, and after the community so eagerly raised a new roof. Next the school received funding for a piggery. The pigs ran loose, ruined the neighbours’ fields, and had to be sold, although a few goats were acquired with the sale profit. Somehow the roof burned down, and something went amiss with planting the next soy bean crop. What happened? Corruption undermined our best efforts. Thanks to the detective work of our new partners from Bumi Bwesu Youth Centre (see below for more details), the person responsible was removed from office. Our new partners are giving simple business classes to the community, while we at Jumpstart take a breathing pause. We need to nurture, supervise and monitor our goings-on with this community more closely than we had anticipated. In the future, we will finance only a single, simple, low-cost project under strong supervision of the Bumi Bwesu Youth Centre.

Social Artistry Human Capacities Workshop. Using grant money from the Jean Houston Foundation, MariElena taught a smashing 3-day course to 30 enthusiastic adult men and women. The "Human Capacities" course develops imagination, self-esteem, health-awareness, and self-perception, thus fostering empowerment.  It seeks to bring about new ways of thinking and shift the students' perspective to aid in finding new solutions to existing problems. Read MariElena's Letter from Zambia to learn more and see photographs from the workshop. As the course was so well received, we hope to continue, expand and intensify this annual seminar.  

Bumi Bwesu Youth Center. Alex Kunda Chabu was formerly the HIV head counsellor for Medecins san Frontieres (MSF). Three years ago he and MSF established a youth centre, called Bumi Bwesu, which translates into "our health." When MSF pulled out of the area in the fall of 2007, Alex and two other local MSF employees formed their own non-profit organisation with the aim of continuing the centre’s work. The centre’s goal is to improve the sexual and reproductive health of young people, in particular to reduce the incidence of unwanted pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and HIV infection in adolescents. Give A Jumpstart has decided to enter into a cooperative partnership with Bumi Bwesu; they will grant us classroom and workspace, will provide business classes, participate in project development, provide monitoring of ongoing projects, and most importantly serve as our on-site communication link.

Further education for a few gifted individuals
Margaret Chisela is an orphan who was living with her grandmother and blind grandfather until recently, when her grandmother died. Now she lives with her older sister. Margaret wants to be a doctor. Give A Jumpstart has made a commitment to support her education.

Alex Kunda Chabu, head of Bumi Bwesu, has proven over the years to be an extremely enterprising and committed worker. Jody has known him for over five years, since his days as director of Ray of Joy, before working for MSF. Give A Jumpstart has agreed to support his further education to obtain a nursing degree at the local nursing school in Kashikishi, to begin in the summer of 2009. He will continue his duties as director of Bumi Bwesu during this time.