First Annual Report for Jambo! Cafe

The idea for Jambo café started in October 2011 when Bethan and Gareth Shrubsole thought that a café in town would be a good outreach and refuge for foreigners who want to relax and meet other foreigners in the area.  They pitched the idea to a small group of women in Kasese Central Baptist Church as a business plan and six women came forward to start saving.  It was agreed that they should save 500/- (12p) per day for a year and then apply for a loan of 4 million shillings (£1000) as it was predicted, through research, that this was how much it would cost to set up the business.

As the women were saving, Bethan Shrubsole taught them how to bake cakes every Friday afternoon in her home.  The money for the ingredients was taken from BMS World Mission Uganda team’s ministry fund.  Towards the end of the year of saving the women did research about the business and wrote an extensive business plan including expected set-up and running costs, profit/loss predictions and market research in town.  At this time two women had started to fall behind in their saving.  They decided that they could not afford to stay in the co-operative.  Bethan encouraged them to continue saving and helped them find revenue as these two women were particularly in need of a form of business since their families had no other form of income.

Customers enjoying Jambo's birthday party 4th March '14

 

The women submitted their business plan to a Savings and Credit Co-operative (SACCO) who said that they had been approved for a 4 million shilling loan to be paid back over one year.  Although the women were nervous of making repayments, it was decided that they could manage, according to the predicted sales and profit.  However, after several weeks the SACCO had still not come up with the money and it looked unlikely that they could as there were rumours that there was no money in their business to lend.  By this time the women had rented a building (using money borrowed from Bethan and Gareth that would be paid back by the forthcoming loan) in town ready to fill with the oven, sofa and cupboards etc that they would buy with the loan.  When it was obvious that the loan was not coming, they decided that they should not delay in opening since they were wasting rent on the property.  Bethan and Gareth put a plea out to some churches in the UK and they were sent some generous donations towards opening the café.  The donations were both monetary and gifts including cake tins, icing bags, cake decorations and the like.  The women paid back the loan to Bethan and Gareth and contributed things from their own homes such as a coffee table, blender, mixing bowls etc.  The café opened on March 4^th 2013, 18 months after the idea had been put to them!  It started slowly, using an electric hob lent to them from the BMS Uganda volunteer team’s box of kitchen equipment and they used Bethan’s oven to bake cakes, which were then taken down to the café each day as needed.

The money sent to Jambo! café from UK churches and individuals amounted to just over 4 million shillings (£1000).  The women bought a cooker and gas canister, a display cabinet and bookshelves.  They later added a fridge, freezer, cupboard and blender, toastie machine and toaster and electric kettle with money they had saved from business profit.  Bethan helped the women from time to time offering advice, teaching new recipes and helping with icing special occasion cakes for customers.  Books were donated by foreigners who were leaving town, and crafts were made by the Jambo women to sell in the café for extra income for the individuals, and the business takes a cut of the sales.  It was decided right from the start that 10% of profits would be tithed to Kasese Central Baptist Church, then the remaining 90% would be shared half for saving in the business account and half for sharing as wages according to how much each woman had worked that week.

Jambo! cafe's "customer of the month", Alex #2, cuts the birthday cake.

 

No one took home any money in the first two months of March and April but by May wages were being shared out and money was being saved.  The money that is saved is also used for electricity and water bills and any improvements to the café such as another plug socket for the new computer station and a new ceiling fan.  In July some volunteers from St Andrew’s Street Baptist Church came with a laptop donated from Tools With A Mission (TWAM) and the women bought a dongle so they could offer internet services.  The internet has mixed use and has not been as popular as was hoped because most of the customers at Jambo have their own dongle to use portably with their laptops.  However, Jambo! may find a way of getting wifi so that customers can use their laptops in the café, since there is only one other place in town with wifi.

From July – December the women were taking wages home according to how many days each woman worked.  It was becoming clear that some women were working more than others as some had small children that they could not bring with them to work nor did they have someone to care for them at home.  Another woman was a teacher who could therefore only work Saturdays but often needed to do housework on Saturdays so could not come to work.  Another was on maternity leave so the burden fell on just three of the women.  There were some disagreements amongst the women about how the business should be run.  Some people had higher standards than others and were trying to keep these standards high and others were seen to be slacking in their work for example not serving customers well or not cooking in the uniform way that had been decided amongst themselves so that customers get the same thing whether it is cooked by one woman or another.  There were also some complaints by customers and government officials that they couldn’t recognise some of the women who worked there because they worked so infrequently and were not keeping up with new recipes that Bethan was implementing to help add flavour and diversity to the menu.

In December it was clear that three of the women wanted to leave the café so a meeting was held in January where Bethan mediated.  We tried to find a way of fixing relationships and bringing everyone back so that each woman worked equal hours.  However, one was still a teacher and not able to work the two days that were required to work equally; one had a disagreement with another woman at Jambo that she could not resolve and another wanted to start her own business in town away from Jambo.  It was agreed that they would receive their initial savings back over a set period of time so that they would be bought out of the business.  Therefore there were now three women remaining in the co-operative working at the café.  One of the women was pregnant and went on maternity leave in December, gave birth in January and is yet to come back to work full-time although she helps out when there is too much work or the other two women need to be elsewhere.  The two women have been working six and a half days a week for almost five months now and are getting tired so waiting for the third to come back from maternity leave!  However, despite being tired, they are so happy to be running a successful business and they enjoy their work, which is obvious when you see them interacting with customers and baking new things such as bagels and croissants.  Since January many weeks have had more than 100,000 shillings to be shared in wages, and profits have been high.  There are so many customers from all over the world, even Ugandans, and many are so fond of spending time at Jambo that they even begin to call it home!  Some come to meet other ex-pats, some come for the food and some come because it is the most comfortable place in town to sit (it has a sofa) and pass the time.

American pancakes served on "pancake day" for Jambo's birthday celebration

 

One of the main aims of Jambo! cafe was to share God's love with customers.  Although the first six months or so was spent concentrating on setting up the business side of things, once the business was stable the women started running an Alpha Course, which was when the café started opening on Sunday afternoons in order to accommodate it.  It has been run by Kasese Central Baptist Church’s pastor, and Jambo woman Alice’s husband, Alphonse.  Attendance has been low but discussions have been pertinent and open with those who have attended.  One problem with attendance is that people are always leaving Kasese or coming for a short time only.  There have been at least five people (excluding BMS staff) who have attended Alpha at least once and there are two who have attended for most of the course.  The Jambo women are keen to keep the course running and try to find more ways of reaching out to the ex-pat and Ugandan community with evangelism.

One form of evangelism that they wanted to do was to borrow a projector and show the Nativity DVD produced by the BBC two or three years ago.  They would also like to show the Passion at Easter time and other Christian DVDs.  If they managed to get a projector they would also show mainstream movies (that were appropriate for Christians to be watching) in the café and have ‘movie nights’ for customers on a regular basis to show love and care for the customers since many are home-sick or lonely and love to use Jambo as a place where they feel they belong and can have a bit of ‘home’ together with other foreigners.  The women managed to borrow a projector only once from a mission hospital 40 km away, which didn’t work in the end and was not at all convenient to borrow or return.  A recent donation from Livingstone’s Café, Cambridge, will enable the women to buy a projector in the UK and bring it out with a visitor in May so that they can achieve their aim of showing movies both mainstream and Christian in the future.

These Ugandan-Americans come regularly for their breakfast at Jambo!

 

The café has made more than 5 million shillings (£1,250) in profit over the year.  Although this is lower than was predicted in the business plan, it is considered a success because first it is a profit and not a loss and second that they have made more money than the initial investment of donations.  There has also been more than half a million shillings (£125) given to the church in tithes, with an additional donation of 50,000/- (£12) towards the baptisms that took place in December.  2.3 million shillings (£575) have been saved or reinvested in the business and 2.7 million shillings (£675) have been taken home in wages.

Jambo ladies would like to thank everyone who helped them to set up the business whether by sending money, sending resources or sending good wishes and prayers.  Alice, Eliza and Moreen are now earning wages to support their families and have a business that they feel proud of.  They are giving their customers (most of whom are foreigners) a place to feel welcome and at home and are reaching out through evangelism to share God’s love for them.  They appreciate all the help they have been given and are astonished that so many people care for them and their business.  Bethan has also taught them how to use the internet to look up new recipes (Alice recently used the BBC good food website to look up a new pancake recipe!) and to view the Trip Adviser website that Jambo has a page on to read the reviews and see how they can improve.

At the recent one year anniversary party we had at Jambo a survey was handed round in which the twelve customers present wrote down what they loved about Jambo and what could be improved.  They loved the western food and the friendly atmosphere the most and offered some ideas for new recipes that could be added to the menu although the most desired thing was bacon that cannot be found anywhere in Kasese!

Jambo! is a beacon, providing a caring home for lonely ex-pats and sharing God's love to those who come.