October 2011 Projects and Updates
A lot of good news to report from our last trip to Senegal. Ward Broom and I returned on October 5th after eight days at the Village of Ndangane. Everyone there sends their greetings and thanks to their American friends for the love and assistance provided to them. It was very hot and humid with lot's of mosquitoes but the Villagers' enthusiasm makes it all worthwhile. You will never meet nicer people.
1. Chicken Project - Ward (known as the Big Chicken in the Village) has done a great job working with the Villagers in construction
of the house and procedures in handling the chickens to create jobs and help them earn some income. They have raised two
batches to date. On the first batch they made $4.00 and on the second they made $250.00. Being in the black for the first two
tries, I think, is remarkable. Ward has now set up procedures where they will be able to sell chickens on a daily basis to keep
their customers supplied daily instead of having them available only every seven weeks. This is a project where we loaned the Villagers
the start up money which will be repaid by year end.
2. Micro Finance - Our Village women have come up with five groups, each with five members, who will submit their projects that
we will finance and they will repay at the end of their projects. They are really excited about the prospects of earning their own
money and a bit of good natured competition has been created.Jennifer Broom is the force behind this project.
3. The Kellie Lartigue Ndiaye Clinic - Fantastic news here. Our Clinic is one of fifteen in our District. With the work Jef Jel has
done here it is now the envy of the others.The District Doctors work out of the main Clinic in NDofan. They want the main Clinic
to be as nice as ours and have asked for our assistance. This is exactly what we were looking for, to build our model Clinic and have
the others want to do the same. Kellie would really be excited about this. Thanks to all who helped to achieve this goal. We now
add more projects but this is what we want, more challenges.
3. Chicken Transportation - Thanks to the Decatur Presbyterian Church, The Imlay Foundation and the Lartigue family for providing
the funds needed to purchase a mini-truck to transport our chickens to market. Without refrigeration we need to get the chickens
to market as quickly as possible and now we have that capability. It can also serve as an emergency vehicle for the Villagers. This
is our largest purchase to date and has depleted our coffers.
Future Projects:
1. Tractor - This is really needed. We have the land and the people but need a small tractor. This will provide jobs, food and income.
2. Solar Lighting - We have three compounds in the Village with six to ten huts each. We are supplying power to one compound now
and for about $800.00 we could do the other two enabling lights for kids to study and have more quality family time.
3. School Bathrooms - See picture attached and you will understand this need.
4. Peace Corps - We have recently made contact with the US Peace Corps, who have a large presence in Senegal. It would be great
to have their support in our area, especially with our agricultural projects. Thanks to Peace Corps Volunteers Jen, Clare, Rita and
Kathleen who took time to meet with us and discuss the Jef Jel Project. If you want to see real American young people in action,check
out the Peace Corps, you will be proud.
Our board has elected Ward Broom as a Director beginning January 2012. I have included some picture to show you what is going on in Ndangane. Please take the time to look at them. #1 our new chicken house. #2 School toilets needing our assistance. #3 Our new mini-truck. #4 Meeting with the Women's Committee where every project starts. #5 One of our new Village toilets #6 The Jef Jel fleet. These pictures are attached or at the end of this letter depending on your system. We will be going back in late January or early February and would love to have company.Sleeping in your tent under a giant Baobab tree is priceless.
We really need to replenish our funds so if you need a year end tax deduction please consider Jef Jel. 100% of our funds go directly to a project and we let you know where yours are used. We have no overhead.
You can send them to:
813 W. Ponce de Leon Ave.
Decatur, Ga. 30030
I have added new names to our list, which is completely private, if you wish to be removed just let me know. We completely understand. Thanks(Ja Jef) Candler Broom (Papa Jeneba) Director The Jef Jel Project
June 2011 Projects and Updates
We have had some exciting progress in the last few months. Three bathrooms were completed, two in our Village of Ndangane and on at the little Market in Latmingue. Real excitement has been generated by our first venture into "micro finance". We have made a loan to the Villagers to start a chicken venture. They have completed construction of a building to house the chickens and have put 300 chicks in for a test run. It's an 8 week cycle so the first group should be going to market in just a few days. If things work according to plan they should generate a profit and begin paying back the loan. This will help provide some more jobs and some income to the Villagers. Please see the photos attached of both these projects. There are a lot of people to thank and we would especially like to thank, Mr. Pat Pattillo, The Imlay Foundation,Decatur Presbyterian Church,Wallace and Perky Daniel,The Bryan Foundation,Travis and Caroline Huffines, Jeri and Josh Talley and Tom Beard and their people at Solutions Pharmacy. Also, a big thanks to Ward Broom, Bomar Ganar (Woolof for The Big Chicken) who is handling the chicken project.
Our next project will be roofing for one of the school buildings in Latmingue that at present is not usable and refurbishing of their bathrooms and an upgrade on our two millet machines, to have them ready by harvest time. We are planning another trip in late September and would welcome any hard souls looking for a rewarding adventure. Please enjoy the pictures attached and I will update you when we get our results from the first batch of chickens. I almost forgot to mention, Karim was here in June and got the opportunity to thank Decatur Presbyterian Church at the Sunday morning service. He did a great job.
