Eating good food, supporting good work in Santa Fe

Image copyright Jambo Café;
all rights reserved.

If you happen to be in Santa Fe for any reason — like, say, checking out Wings's one-man show at the Jean Cocteau Cinema — at some point, you'll need to eat.

Allow us to recommend a place with really, really good food . . . and a chef who is using his success to help others.

I'm talking about Jambo Café.

 No, it's not stereotypically Santa Fe. It's not Mexican food, or Spanish, or Native, or any combination thereof.  

It's indigenous African food. Real soul food, homestyle African and Caribbean cuisine. It's very reasonably priced, the portions are good-sized, and the flavors are incredible. We stopped in after finishing up at the Cocteau on Tuesday. It's one of the side benefits of our rare trips to Santa Fe, which are usually supply runs: We actually get to go out to eat. And Jambo's prices mean that we can afford to get lunch.

Tuesday, I had the Island-Spiced Peanut Coconut Chicken Stew with a side order of Roti. If you've never had roti done right, you don't know what you're missing. and theirs is most certainly done right. They also serve beer and wine; if you like ale, I can recommend the local Santa Fe Nut Brown Ale.

But here's what's really great: Chef Ahmed Obo is a community activist who works to provide a better future for kids in his native Lamu, Kenya. [Part of Lamu has, like Taos Pueblo, been designated a UNESCO World Heritage site.] Mr. Obo established the Jambo Kids Foundation, and last year opened a model health clinic in Lamu known as the Jambo Kids Clinic. From the Foundation's Web site:

Contributing to a Healthy Future for Lamu includes improving both the health and education for the citizens of Lamu Island, part of the Kenyan coastline.  Lamu is a chain of 7 islands covering 3,000 square miles. It is home to nearly 100,000 people, 50% of whom are children.  And while Lamu Old Town is 800 years old and designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and called “the oldest and best preserved Swahili settlement in East Africa”, it is poor.  Healthcare opportunities are minimal. 

In the Fall of 2013, the Jambo Kids Foundation has successfully installed and opened a model healthcare clinic ~ the Jambo Kids Clinic.  A one year budget to operate Jambo Kids Clinic is $85,000; we have successfully raised $40,000 since September of 2013.

And from the Clinic itself:

The Project:  Build and operate the Jambo Kids Clinic, a model health care facility serving the people of Lamu Island.  Phase One is complete:  Jambo Kids Clinic opened it’s doors on November 1st, 2013.  Scroll down for a photo gallery of the clinic. 

The Stats:

• The clinic serves between 30-40 people a day, most of them children

• The number one request for treatment is due to respiratory issues.  Followed by dental issues and ear infections.  

• Click Here for a detailed report of medical services rendered in January 2014. 

The Goal:  Raise $85,000 to cover furniture, medical equipment, drugs, and quality staffing for one year.  The actual cost of running the clinic at it’s current rate of seeing patients is about $4,000 a month.  Our goal to raise $85,000 stands to implement Phase Two.  Phase Two includes:

• Increase the number of staff to serve the growing numbers of patients 

• Build a Obstetrics / Maternity ward to offer OB/GYN care, prenatal care, delivery, and postnatal care. 

• Implement a medical professional volunteer program 

• The building that houses the clinic was donated by Ahmed Obo.  Mr. Obo is underwriting Foundation administrative and fundraising costs.  100% of your contribution goes directly to sustaining The Jambo Kids Clinic. [My emphasis.]

The Challenge: Lamu Island has a rundown 80-bed hospital.

• Only 1 doctor is on staff, an astounding 1:35,000 doctor/patient ratio. 

• Maternal mortality is nearly 1,000 per 100,000 births compared to 360 for Kenya as a whole. In the U.S. that rate is 21. 

• Infant mortality is 72 per 1,000. Children under 5 mortality is 123 per 1,000.  In the U.S. the rates are 6 and 8 respectively. 

• Most Lamu residents live at least 3 miles from the hospital which can only be reached by foot or donkey. 

• Life expectancy is 57 years.

As noted above, Mr. Obo is using profits from Jambo Café and his associated business, Jambo Imports, to underwrite ALL administrative costs. This means that 100% of a donor's contribution via the Foundation is tax-deductible.

So, next time you're in Santa Fe, consider stopping at Mr. Obo's wonderful restaurant. You'll be eating really good food, and supporting really good work at the same time.