LAMB Foundation

Author: lambfoundation

  • Plans for the Future: High School

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    Like the Primary School the Supernova High School division was especially successful.  They too started thinking of new ways of raising funds for the clinic and their trip to Senegal.

    High School:
    Decided to take in addition to the clinic planning fundraising events for the community.

    Movie Night: They plan once a month to have a movie night at the schools largest sectional. Where each person would pay to enter and watch movies. All funds will go towards the projects.
    Moores’ Got Talent: It is basically taken from the popular show in the US called America’s Got Talent. Individuals or groups can come and show case their skills and judges decide who wins for a prize.
     The students will also use other resources like their churches, schools and friends to assist them on their goals and projects.

    The students also understand their role as mentors to the younger children. They will in addition to meeting with Shawna Kay volunteer their time to meet with the younger students in our tutoring program Hand in Hand.

    As the projects are under way we will have more information  on them. Stay connected to Supernova.

  • International Conference: Language

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    On Saturday, January 16, 2010 the Bridge Kids organization had its first online conference for the year.
    Members from all over the world, including Jamaica, Rwanda and the USA not only shared their ideas for improving their communities and promoting the organization, but also engaged in an interesting language exchange.
    Students, Kadian Powell, Stephanie Edwards and Zoya Knight from Jamaica had sheer fun sharing the meaning of some of Jamaica’s most popular Creole expressions, including What a gwaaan? which means How are you doing? and Mad! which is usually used in recognition of something phenomenal, meaning Lovely! Great or wonderful.
    Members from Rwanda, which is a monolingual country in Central Africa, also gave matching expressions in their own language.  Some of which included ibintu ni byiza cyane, which means What’s up?  and nakala for Jamaican Mad!

    Bridge Kids Projects
    In an attempt to broadcast Bridge Kids’ commitment to community development across the world, members in Rwanda announced during the conference that they have been distributing Bridge Kids’ flyers to raise awareness and have also been targeting prominent radio stations in their area to spread the word.
    In addition to this, they are co-coordinating with other Bridge Kids members to put on a concert in Dakar in July to raise funds for the Bridge Kids international camp in Senegal in July. The exact date for this is yet to be decided.

    Other Bridge Kids members in the USA stated that they will also be embarking on a recycle project, in their attempt to secure a more eco-friendly environment. They will also be undertaking fundraising activities, such as cake sales to raise funds for their project and the trip to Senegal.
    Jamaican Bridge Kids members also announced their current mission to open a clinic in the Moores community, to offer health care services and advice to ailing community members. The kids also declared that they will be focusing on a host of fundraising joints for their project and the upcoming trip to Senegal. Some of these include movie nights, cake sales and a talent competition, which are expected to generate significant funds.
    But that’s not all, Nappy Roots will also be donating a percentage of his records sale to Bridge Kids and is being sought for performance at the concert in Dakar.
     All in all, the plans look very forthcoming. The next international conference is scheduled for February 20, 2010.

  • Bigger and Better

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    “Bigger and Better” said Gary Foster the Chairman of Upliftment Jamaica. With this in mind LAMB Inc will be working with Upliftment Jamaica to fulfill the mission of helping all in need, when in need, where in need, with what’s needed, just how it’s needed. Together Upliftment Jamaica, LAMB Inc and YOU….we plan to build a Bigger and Better Jamaica.
    Upliftment Jamaica is recognized as a 501 (c) 3 non-profit charitable organization by the Internal Revenue Service which is dedicated to reaching out and raising awareness, educating and inspiring people to create an empowering future for them, their environment and their homeland. Upliftment Jamaica  wishes to create, support and provide opportunities to these people, to establish and continue ongoing transformation in their lives and the country as a whole.From individual people, to communities, to a nation, step-by-step, Upliftment aims to build positivity and possibility where it does not exist, to build a bright future.

    Upliftment Jamaica’s Past…

    In 1999 a group of young men with vision sat under an Ackee Tree in White Horses Jamaica. Their thoughts were of creating an uplifting future for Jamaica, its youth and its people in general – to make a difference. On this day these young men – Gary Foster, the late Kirk Green, Nigel Paris, Clayton Balliston and Rainford Grant, put their thoughts into action, this zeal to ‘give back to the community and environment resulted in the foundation of Upliftment Jamaica.

    Upliftment Jamaica’s Present…

    11 years on, Chairman Gary Foster who resides in the USA, has taken Upliftment from strength to strength. He has not only managed to make a huge personal contribution of time and money, but also inspire others to do the same, to support a worthy cause. Gary continues to be a driving force and contributor. He can be proud that Upliftment has grown from a vision shared by 5 childhood friends, to an organization with a dedicated US Board of Directors and an on the ground staff both in the USA and in Jamaica. Over 10,000 people benefit annually from this organization, via year round projects and events, with numbers rapidly increasing daily.

    Upliftment Jamaica’s Future…

    Upliftment aims to continue its personal growth and development to create a future where they are able to reach out and extend their hand further, to more people. New programs and projects will be established and added to the list of ongoing programs and past success stories. They will continue to raise awareness, educate and inspire people globally, about their mission, to gain support, and turn dreams of future into a current reality.

  • Shawna-Kaye Journeys to Africa

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    Clarendon, Jamaica- LAMB Inc sends a young Jamaican Mico University student, Shawna Kay Williams to Senegal, Africa to represent the Supernova Scholarship program from July 24, 2010 to August 5, 2010 for an International Conference hosted by BridgeKids International (www.Bridge-Kids.org).
    LAMB Inc is a non profit organization started by Lecia AM Brown (Jamaican Native) in 2008. It aims to improve the lives and opportunities for individuals in developing countries in the area of education, health, and athletics. Supernova is the scholarship program that reaches out to young children. The program is set to not only financially assist the students, but to also give them the exposure and opportunities to achieve and establish their future goals. The first group of students are either current of past students of Moores Primary and Junior High working to establish a library on their school compound to benefit their school and surrounding communities.

    Shawna Kay Williams will be in an exciting week-long Bridge Kids Camp on the campus of Université Gaston Berger in the historic city of St. Louis, Senegal.  She will participate in cultural activities, leadership seminars, skill building sessions and visit field projects of local NGOs.  With the support of educators and practitioners, the dynamic group of Bridge Kids will learn about each other and the countries and cultures they represent, as well as assist one another as they perfect their project designs for serving their home communities.  Rounding out the experience, the young people will celebrate the 350th anniversary of the city of St. Louis, participate in the planning for the Museum of the African Child to be established there, visit the Djouj Bird Sanctuary and travel to Dakar, Senegal’s capitol city.

    We would like to extend our best wishes to Miss Williams on her journey and thank everyone who has supported and helped us in all our endeavors and in making this trip possible. For in our program we believe that “True Success is the success that changes you and the people around you.” Anonymous.

  • Overview of Individual Projects

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    Jamaica and The United States of America
    As for Jamaica, group leaders Shawna Kay Williams and Lecia Brown, will be working on establishing a school library at the Moores Primary and Junior High. They are also hoping to establish a local community clinic in the future. However, in the interim, the group has been hosting tutorial sessions for a number of high school students in the Moores community. Additionally, these students and those from the primary school have also been engaged in one-on-one health rap sessions after school to widen awareness on various health topics. Members of the US Bridge Kids group will be working on starting an after-school tutorial programme for under-privileged children.
    Senegal
    Representatives from Senegal were very vocal about their various projects to enhance their community. Chief among these is their mission to get the Talibe children off the streets of Senegal. According to Bamba Ndiaye, chief advisor of the Bridge Kids group in Senegal, the Talibe children come from ‘non-radical’ Muslim homes with parents, who by virtue of their own religious practices, abandon them on the streets to beg money for themselves. The group will therefore be assisting with the expansion of a mosque in Sanar, in order to accommodate more of these homeless Talibe children. In addition to this, they will be starting a tutorial programme to teach these children a second language in English, since most of them are only able to speak French, their mother tongue.

    Ghana and Rwanda
    The Ghanaian and Rwandan Bridge Kids groups will be focusing on economic development. Both groups have decided to channel natural resources in their home communities into commercially viable products.
    According to Amshawu, leader of the Ghanaian group, the natural Ghanaian environment is rich with shea nuts. As such, they will be harvesting the shea nuts and for the time being, manually manufacture them into the production of shea butter. The group also hopes that with future partnerships with commercial entities they may be able to locate external markets for their product and then use the income generated from such to buy various sewing equipment and material for a small skill-training school soon to be opened for high school drop-outs and pregnant teenagers in their immediate community.

    The Rwandan group will also be turning to their natural resources in advancing their product. Group leader Baraka Paulette said that they will be using banana leaves to make various designs on postcards. Like the Ghanaian group, they also hope to market their product and use the funds in establishing an internet café to provide computer classes and research opportunities for persons within their community.

  • Personal Reflection of Senegal: Shawna Kay Williams

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    Journeying to Senegal, West Africa, for the annual Bridge Kids International camp, was the fruition of a life-time dream and the dawning of a life-changing cultural experience for me.
    My prior knowledge of Africa was only that of a poor continent with rambling expanse of dry, uncultivated land, wide-spread diseases, dire poverty and the most unsanitary and inhumane living conditions. At least, this was the impression formed from those palpable media images I had seen over the years. Sadly, what I witnessed upon my sojourn was just as grim and gruesome.
    The wan countenance of many children told many dismal tales. Their tattered, dirt-stained clothing was only just the beginning of those sagas.  I found many children, barefooted, hungry and homeless, roaming almost every street crevice begging for bread. Many had sunken expressions, many had hallowed yellow eyes and many had fungus and sores piercing their heads and skin. I also found many children ignorantly frolicking in murky river water with putrid animal carcasses just a few stone throws away. And if things couldn’t get worse, I found garbage and vast flies taking residence over expansive acres of land.

    It was heart-wrenching to see an apparent single mother and her child crouched on the roadside with a small pan begging for bread. During all this, huge flies from all around feasted on the exposed bread and the sores on the child’s skin. The hunger and dejection shone right through their eyes as they waited on the mercy of passers-by.

    Those who weren’t homeless lived in shacks that were precariously perched near odoriferous landfills. Only a few beautiful mansions sprung up out of the slum, sparsely overshadowing the abject state around.
    But it wasn’t all despair and destitution around the land. A glint of hope and prosperity flickered far beyond that grimness. What the media sparingly captured was the cultural wealth and patriotism that I witnessed among many Senegalese people. Their African culture was celebrated every day with their attire, food, dance songs and general mannerism.

    Never did I grow tired of the pulsating rhythm of the drum or the chanting, dancing and singing of many cultural songs or the blazing hits from Akon, their musical icon, and the Reggae legend, Bob Marley.
    Never did I grow tired of the vibrant spirit of many Senegalese and their outpour of nothing but love and hospitability.

    That very energy, that very enthusiasm and hospitable mannerism shown among the people opened my consciousness to a beautiful and prosperous African land that many are yet to see. Through that very vivacity and cultural homage, the glint of hope for an improved Africa sparkled brightly. It’s an Africa that will not only be culturally enriched and enthused, but also very enriched with more health and educational opportunities for the optimal betterment of its people all around.

    With this very glint of hope and the unwavering devotion of Bridge Kids members, their hard work, faith and tenacity, the pall of grimness, not only over Africa, but also over our various communities, can be lifted and brightness gradually restored.

    I may be in Jamaica, you may be in Ghana, Rwanda, USA or England, but the little work we do in our little corners, in our little communities, can impact many lives and can create the changes we want, the changes we deserve and the changes that will positively change and advance us and others into a brighter and better future.
    With the training that I have received from the camp and with the knowledge that I have now amassed, I will make the changes my community and I want, the changes my community and I deserve and the changes that will positively change and advance all of us.

    So whether it be improving the living conditions in Senegal or constructing a library and a clinic in Jamaica, or improving the skills of high school drop-outs in Ghana or generating the creative talents of youngsters in Rwanda, we can make our world a better place for you, me and the entire human race.

    Thanks to Stacy Bailey Ndiaye and Madam Nafi Ba for their instrumental role in pushing forward for an organisation like Bridge Kids International that inspires its members to seek holistic betterment in their individual lives and communities.

  • Another Victory:Moores United

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    It was a big game against Chateau United. Again Moores had the home advantage as Shamair Harris scored the goal for the win. It was at 66 minutes the goal was scored and at that time there was no hope for the rivals Chateau United to come back.

  • Home Advantage: Moores 1-0

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    Moores United played against Youth United from May Pen Clarendon in their first home match of the season. Not only did the team win their first home match today 1-0 but they also won the Jersey Parade. This is where the teams come to show their jersey for the season.

    Our winning shot was made with less than 5 minutes to go by Jaimar Scott better known as Chongie. The crowd went wild as Chongie went back onto the field after suffering a charlie horse just a few minutes before scoring the winning goal.

    The team was congratulated and celebrated by the community. See photos of their practice of the day before as well photos of the game day.

  • Bridge-Kids International Camp

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    Announcing the Second 
Bridge Kids International Camp!
    July 22 – August 3, 2010
St. Louis, Senegal, West Africa
    HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM SUPERNOVA!
    In July 2010, Bridge Kids Group members will gather for a life-changing experience of sharing, friendship and cooperative work – the Bridge Kids International Camp. In what will surely produce many moments of great joy, Bridge Kids Groups from around the world will meet their friends face- to- face for the very first time. Participants can expect to enjoy social and cultural activities, leadership seminars, skill building sessions and field visits. At the Bridge Kids Camp, this dynamic group of young men and women will learn about each other and the countries and cultures they represent, as well as assist one another as they perfect their project designs for addressing issues of economic development, education, the environment, girls’ rights and health in their home communities. Most importantly, we hope everyone will leave with new friendships to last a lifetime!
    Keep watching for more information!
    www.bridge-kids.org