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GOATS

04
Jun

For many people in Rwanda – especially in the country – a goat is a very special gift! Contrary to what is assumed, a goat in Rwanda is not used to obtain goat milk but is considered a sensible and safe investment. However, the goat must be female and well fed so that it can have baby goats soon. If the goat is a male, it is either eaten or sold on the market. If the goat is female, it is usually only sold in emergencies – e.g., when school fees, health insurance contributions, an expensive doctor’s visit or the repair of a mud house are due. A goat helps all those people who do not have a real income like subsistence farmers.

Donate a goat for a family in need and transfer € 30 to our project account with the purpose “goat”.

Our project partner will take care of the purchase, transport and handover of the goat to a family selected by the village leader. You will then receive the relevant photos and a receipt as proof that the project has been carried out.

In 2016, 120 goats were given to families in need as part of a special campaign. Numerous other goats followed in the years that followed.

Read the report from our board members Kenneth, Sebastian and Sonja, who were on site in summer 2016 when the goat project was implemented:

During the 2016 summer vacation, right at the beginning of our trip, we visited Bisesero, a region that is mainly inhabited by genocide survivors and is one of the poorest regions in Rwanda. There we talked to the village leader to find out how we could help and got a very simple answer: Most people would be happy about goats!

Without further ado, we decided to start an appeal for donations via all social media available to us and within 2 weeks we received enough money for 120 goats! The goats should be handed over in two different villages: On the one hand Bisesero in western Rwanda and on the other hand Rutunga near Kigali.

Goats for Bisesero

With two older sponsored children and our Rwandan project partner Egide, we drove towards Bisesero at the end of the third week of our holidays. We stayed at the beautiful Hotel Rwiza Village on Lake Kivu and took a little boat trip the next morning before we set off. This was a unique experience for our sponsored children, because they had never been on a boat or in a hotel before in their lives. Correspondingly many “selfies” were taken, and it was discussed who was “the blackest” in the photos – we had a lot of fun together!

When we arrived in Bisesero around lunchtime, we first gave school materials and books to the local primary school there that we had bought with the help of several individual donations. Since most teachers get an extremely modest salary (between 50 and 70 € per month), it is hardly possible for them to buy teaching materials such as maps, chalk, etc.

In the meantime, 60 families had gathered on the village meadow of Bisesero, each to receive a goat from us. Days before, the villagers had selected these families at a meeting (under the direction of the village leader) based on needs and made a list. In the meadow next to the families, the loud moaning goats were heard! Both the village leader and the cell leader gave a speech for us and especially thanked the many sponsors in Germany: “May God bless you!” Afterwards Egide introduced us and our project in Kinyarwanda and translated our words: “We hope to see lots of baby goats next year.” The applause was huge!

In groups of 10, the individual families were read out, came to the front for the photo with their goats and thanked us warmly. The total amount for the goats was RwF 1,440,000 (RwF 24,000 per goat = € 27) – so we even had money left over for another goat handover. The atmosphere in the village was simply wonderful: We will remember the many faces beaming with joy for a long time!
 

Goats for Rutunga

The goat transport to Rutunga, a particularly poor sector north of Kigali, was almost more spectacular: the four of us (Kenneth, Sonja, project partner Egide and sponsored child Gilbert) drove over gravel roads to Gikomero. There we had an appointment with a goat wholesaler and his helpers to follow the transport of the goats. The 60 “ordered” goats were collected with a pick-up at two different locations and hoisted onto the wagon.

On the way we came to a bridge that first had to be repaired to be passable – the helpers cleverly attached the loose tree trunks …

When we arrived in Rutunga, countless children and the people who were supposed to receive a goat were already waiting for us. As in Bisesero, the social officer had prepared a list of the neediest families in coordination with the village community. Since no more than 40 goats could fit on the loading area of ​​the pick-up, it had to drive back again to fetch the remaining 20 goats. At least another 60-80 children came to see us while we were waiting. Kenneth immediately found a little friend who followed him everywhere and ran a race with the children. The goats were grazing in the grass and had to be caught again and again whenever they tried to run away …

When the pick-up came with the second “load”, the handover could begin: with the help of numerous boys, the goats were caught and given to the chosen families.

And then something happened that we had never experienced before: the primary school on the other side of the village square had finished school and around 1,000 students rushed towards us cheering: every student wanted to test what white skin feels like!

This day in Rutunga will also be unforgettable – thanks to the sponsors and thanks to the good cooperation between the responsible contact persons on site: the social officers, the village leaders, the goat dealers and our Rwandan project partner!

Thank you very much from the bottom of our heart!!