Hello from Greg Pelly of Jega International. After a recent month-long stay in West Africa (including time in Cameroon), I have been asked by many people for a description of the trip and the progress Jega has made as a result.

I will start by thanking everyone who has shown an interest in Jega and been supportive of our work. We have received support from many people connected to Jega in various ways: many had a personal connection to West Africa or Cameroon, while others had an interest in international development. Some were attracted to Issek’s art before they knew the story of his nonprofit organization.

As Jega has grown I have witnessed a community that has materialized directly from the kindness, generosity, and willingness of others to reach out. I left the States with many letters to distribute, gifts to mail, and a suitcase filled with French-language books to donate to a library in Burkina Faso. I returned home with a different set of letters and gifts from people in various corners of West Africa. One company named Dick Blick Art Materials was kind enough to donate oil paint and painting knives to Issek and his students. The members of HandiArt were thrilled to receive this gift; finding high quality paint supplies is quite costly when they can be found at all.

My time in Cameroon afforded me the opportunity to discuss with Issek his vision for HandiArt and allowed me to align Jega's goals with those of HandiArt in order to help both succeed. Issek’s focus, now that he has begun to gain popularity and recognition, is to expand the reach of HandiArt in order to raise the standard of living of those around him. In conversations with me, Issek expressed what he believes to be the irresponsibility of those in his community who have become wealthy and forgotten that his village has many material needs that are not being met. Issek hopes to address many of those needs in his projects, which he hopes to expand beyond the disabled community in his village.

During my visit, Issek had recently taken in a teenager who had no physical disability, yet was homeless and begging for money on the street. Issek approached the boy, offered him a place to stay at Handi-Arts, and agreed to help the boy find a way to make a living. In this case, Issek lent the boy money to buy cooking materials to start making and selling food in the local market.

Though helping those with disabilities was Issek's first focus, Issek discussed with me how he came to support those in need with no physical disabilities. Issek explained that he interprets the term handicapped more generally than to refer only to physical limitations. Different circumstances lead people into situations in their lives where they are unable to achieve their potential. Issek sees many of these limitations as being more restricting than limited mobility. In Issek's village the circumstances limiting people's opportunities include poverty, homelessness, low levels of education, and high rates of HIV infection. It was in this mindset that Issek began an orphanage at HandiArt and sought to expand its focus to include those without formal disabilities.

As Issek's work gains in popularity, he is able to more effectively help those around him overcome their disabilities, both physical and otherwise. I am honored to be working with him and grateful for the opportunity I had to hear about his future plans and how Jega can be a part of them.

Greg Pelly
Founder
February, 2005
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