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2010

INNOVATINGINSPIRINGIMPACTING

Welcome to a Special Edition Act!on Newsletter aimed at highlighting some of the invaluable projects chosen by our JNBS Members!Over the past 4 years, JNBS Members have identified and funded more than $24m in community initiatives within their communities.

To become involved in your local Members Advisory Council, or to apply for funding for a local community project, visit your nearest JNBS Branch or JN Moneyshop. Members of JNBS always Lead with Act!on, and help their communities “find a way”.

Jamaicans love affair with chicken finds favour with MAC Jamaicans love their chicken meat. Last year 106,721,136

kilograms of chicken meat was produced locally, according to figures from the Ministry of Agriculture. Even so, chicken meat is imported as there is a shortfall.

For most Jamaicans, this is still the cheapest source of protein and one that is eaten by the majority. Recognizing this, Members Advisory Councils (MAC) gave grant funding to several chicken rearing projects across the island to kick start community entrepreneurship.

Schools in particular, “dish up” chicken almost daily as it is easy to prepare and can be done in a variety of ways. However, it makes a dent in their budget on account of cost.

“We use to spend $11,000 weekly on chicken meat to feed the 133 students here,” says Mrs. Sandra Becca, Principal of Drapers All Age School in Portland. With the funding from MAC for the school to construct a 300 square foot chicken coop, and to raise the first 100 chickens; the school not only met its weekly needs, but had excess meat to sell members of staff and the community. “This is after buying feed, medicine, and taking care of all other expenses,” she said with pride. Having gotten it right, the school plans to increase their production until they can fill the coop to the 200 chicken capacity.

Eggs - The Port Antonio High School, under the guidance of the 4-H Club’s School Garden Project, has decided to use their chicken coop for another venture. They bought layers in time for the Christmas 2009 demand of the product. “We sold eggs to community members, shops and supermarkets in the area,” says Mr. Clinton Brown, Parish Co-coordinator of the 4 –H Club School Garden Project.

Chicken rearing has also found favour with community groups. For most community groups, chicken rearing is good business, as the six weeks maturity makes for quick turnover and guaranteed profit which to them equals a sustainable enterprise. “The sale of the chicken has covered all our operational costs and we still made a profit” says Mrs. Barbara Smith, President of the Lionel Town Community Group.

The Accompong United Youth Club in St. Elizabeth, found a quick market for their entire stock with two funerals in the community where feasting at the wakes and the repasts took care of everything. According to Youth Leader of the Club, Mr. Sheldon Wallace, the sale from the chickens allowed them to sponsor six high school students with back to school supplies, inclusive of money for transportation.

Kingston Chicken - Chicken rearing is not exclusive to rural communities. In African Gardens, August Town, St. Andrew; the August Town Community Group has put in three sets of chicken amounting to 2,000. Retailing at $120 per pound, the project has employed five persons to date. According to Mr. Andre Hylton, leader of the group, “this is an excellent project” and he is pleased that the MAC decided to invest in the community and happy that they can see for themselves how well it has taken off.

“I don’t think JN Foundation realizes the dynamics that has been unleashed in the community with this coop which has helped so many youths, Mr. Hylton added.

Lionel Town Community Development GroupAcross the island, JNBS Members are choosing innovative community projects to support. Here are just a few!

Rhino tanks keep school open

The MAC stepped in and has provided rhino water tanks to supply potable water to four schools in Christiana (Alston & Christina Primary, Cobblar Early Childhood Institution, & Devon Basic School). These tanks ensure that in the driest of times the schools will have an adequate water supply to remain open.

Revolving pigs empowers community

May Pen, Clarendon: Avenues for employment are scarce in most rural communities so residents are always look ing f o r ways t o empower t h e m s e l v e s . T h e L i o n e l To w n Community Development Group, through funding from the MAC, has found a sustainable formula to empower their community. The Group, with the purchase of two pigs, has started a revolving scheme whereby each litter will be shared among members who are interested in pig rearing.

The group is also rearing chickens, which after six weeks are ready for the market. The quick turn-around profit from this venture is being used to cover operational costs.

Solar water heaters for Infirmary

Morant Bay, St. Thomas: The life of the residents and staff at the Morant Bay I n f i r m a r y h a s b e c o m e m o r e comfortable with the installation of three solar water heaters.

The MAC Members are pleased with this project as af ter the ini t ial installation cost, there has been no addi t ional expendi ture for t h is necessary alternate source of energy.

“We are using what God has blessed Jamaica with - sunshine - to bring comfort to the most needy in our society,” one member stated.

Food and Therapy for the Mentally IllRoyal Flat, Manchester: Out of a seed planted at the Denbigh

Agricultural Show in August 2009, a new farming project has sprouted, aimed at improving the quality of life of persons living with mental illness in Manchester and its environs.

Five kilometers north-east of Mandeville in Royal Flat, the Ebenezer Home for the Mentally Challenged, is poised to expand its current chicken rearing project into a more ambitious agricultural undertaking, says Chairman of the Home, Reverend Clarister Johnson.

“The potential of a sustainable agricultural project for advancing the Home has long been recognized,” Rev. Johnson states.

Having secured a mobilisation grant from the Jamaica National Building Society (JNBS) Foundation, she sees the farming venture as a positive means to self-sufficiency and meeting the critical long-term needs of the cash-strapped institution.

At the onset, the $100,000.00 funding was used to implement the expansion of the chicken house, establish a rabbit hutch and set up a goat and pig run, as well as cover the costs for minor landscaping on the premises the Home shares with the Mandeville Infirmary.  

Rev. Johnson reasoned that, “With this project, we anticipate being able to secure a vital and continuous source of food for residents at the Home. We want to generate income for day-to-day operations and introduce a skills-training programme that will double as therapeutic activities for our clients,” she said.

“Achieving our goals will require additional funds, but we are grateful for the generosity of the JNBS Foundation,” she added.

The primary function of the home, the Reverend revealed, is to “provide care and assist in the rehabilitation of these mentally challenged, homeless persons; provide short-term stay and try to relocate them with their families.”

Ebenezer Home has been able to keep its doors open as a result of the generosity of concerned citizens. Volunteers, church groups, the Central Manchester Returned Citizens Association, social aid agencies, and other organizations give of their time and money; however, assistance for the home is not consistent or sufficient. And, many areas of the deteriorating seven-year-old Home, including its building and contents require major upgrading and refurbishing.

Nonetheless, Reverend Johnson and her team have faith that the project will act as a springboard to achieving improvement in the future. This, through subsistence farming and the sale of surplus meat and produce.

“In order to eat what we grow, we must first grow,” she said, adding, “We have been growing what we can, and are enthused about gaining the capacity to do more,” Rev. Johnson says.

Returned resident and Community Volunteer Marilyn Lindo is actively involved in procuring aid for the Ebenezer Home and was

responsible for submitting the project application at the Denbigh Agricultural and Industrial Show.

“I was invited by the JNBS Foundation, as a patron in the JN House at Denbigh, to fill out a postcard with a community project of my choice and place it on their ‘Wall of Action’,” she said, continuing, “There were several posts; and, thankfully we were chosen.”

Ms. Lindo is also using her expertise as a Livestock Officer for the Rural Agricultural Development Agency (RADA) to provide additional technical support to the Ebenezer Home during the project stages.

“We will be seeking further assistance to acquire the necessary animals and feed,” she noted.

She explains that among the obvious benefits to the project, one of the critical offshoots is to encourage the homeless persons to stay and be rehabilitated. Many of these young and middle aged men need to receive ongoing treatment and therapy, and being involved in a project would contribute to their care.

“When some homeless persons are fed and treated, they tend to leave the Home because there is no motivating activity to stimulate and influence them to stay,” she said. “This project will offer residents a skill, a hobby, therapy and the means through which they could become productive citizens.”

“This Agro Project has the built-in potential to improve their chances to enjoy some of the normal things we sometimes take for granted,” she concluded.

Saffrey Brown (left), General Manager of the Jamaica National Building Society (JNBS) Foundation and Antonio Swaby, Manager at the Ebenezer Home for the Mentally Challenged in Royal Flat, Manchester examine a chick. They were at the Home at the end of 2009 for a handover of a $100,000 donation by the JNBS Foundation toward an agricultural project at the institution.

JN Moneyshops will Post for Act!on in 2010For the 1st time, JNBS Members who utilize their local JN Moneyshops will be able to put forth ideas for funding through the Wall of Act!on - an interactive idea board that allows anyone to have their ideas heard. Throughout October and November, the Wall of Act!on will move across Jamaica, visiting each JN Moneyshop for a week at a time.

Moneyshops are located in Whitehouse, Westmoreland; Spanish Town Road, Kingston; Half Way Tree Transport Centre, Kingston; Knutsford Boulevard, Kingston; Barbican, St. Andrew; Highgate, St. Mary and Old Harbour, St. Catherine.

Denbigh Visitors Post for Act!on 2009Members choose Ebenezer Home for the Mentally Challenged

A few more MAC Projects...Granville Jonkunnu Band brings revelry to the streetsMontego Bay, St. James: When a Jonkunnu (Jonkanoo) Band comes out to play everybody joins in the fun. Funding from the MAC has brought revelry to the streets of the volatile community of Granville with the revival of this cultural tradition. Christmas and New Year’s Eve belonged to the Granville Jonkunnu Band with all the colourfully masked gyrating traditional figures punctuated with the distinct sound of the bamboo fifes and Kette drums.Infant warmer for Jubilee HospitalDowntown, Kingston: The Jubilee Maternity Hospital got a boost to its antenatal care with the donation of an Infant Warmer by the Duke Street MAC. The hospital, which has the busiest maternity ward in the island, welcomed this critical equipment. Salvation Army as teacherSanta Cruz, St. Elizabeth: The Salvation Army is known to hand out donations to those who are less fortunate. However, the lesser known role of skills training was brought to the fore when the Top Hill chapter of the Army asked for a donation of an Industrial Sewing machine to augment its Skills Training Programme to empower the women and men in the surrounding communities.

MAC Project galvanize Beeston Spring Community Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland: A refrigerator, a stove, utensils and a sewing machine kicked off the training of 47 persons in the Culinary Arts, Sewing and House Keeping in a community where few opportunities existed. When the MAC, in partnership with the HEART TRUST/NTA, held the first graduation in 2008 it galvanized the community spirit and saw an increase in community participation which resulted in the Community winning the “Best Community” prize for Westmoreland and copping the third place nationally, two years in a row. “It all started with the JN Foundation’s contribution. After graduation several persons got employed in hotels and restaurants and a few started their own business. After that, people started coming to meetings and other organizations started taking interest in us,” states Mr. Astil Gage the hardworking President of the Beeston Spring Community Development Committee. In August of this year, the Beeston Spring Community Development Committee was awarded first place in the National Better Environments for Social Transformation (BEST) Community Competition for 2010.

WELL DONE BEESTON SPRINGS!

Reviving basket craft - Basket and Tings

Falmouth, Trelawny: “Earning and Learning” is the mission of a group of skilled veteran basket makers who have embarked on a drive to pass on the knowledge of the craft to another generation thus enabling them the opportunity to earn a livelihood from their products.

Thanking the Member Advisory Council of Falmouth for its contribution towards their “Passing on Knowledge, Gaining Knowledge” workshops, at the launch, Clara Ledgister, Secretary of the Association, said that the senior basket makers are getting a new lease on life as they are gratified by the number of young persons who have stepped forward to learn the craft and become trainers.

“The MAC selected this project because it represents the theme of Cultural

Preservation and embodies the elements of JN Foundation’s projects of creating employment and generating income thus making it sustainable,” Mr. Claude Thompson, Branch Manager of the JNBS Falmouth branch explained. This sentiment was endorsed by Mrs. Estella Grant, MAC chairman.

Mayor of Falmouth, His Worship Colin Gager, in endorsing the Basket and Tings initiative, said at the launch that the timing was right as with the Falmouth Cruise ship pier set to open later this year (2010) the group is positioning itself to take advantage of the opportunities that will come to the parish.

Now that the word is out, several persons with the skills are stepping forward and offering their expertise. Already some members are using the skills gained to augment their earning power while others are passing on the skills to community members.

Basket and Tings, Falmouth MAC Project

JNBS Foundation32 1/2 Duke Street, Kingston CSO

Phone: 876 922 4931Fax: 876 922 4777

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