Goats and Donkeys Transform Lives in Darfur

Good progress has continued to be made in the three new villages where KIDS FOR  KIDS has started activities during the last six months, namelyTikailat, Abu Nahla and Khreiban B. In December 50 people from each village received training in improved animal husbandry techniques. This included all the poor households selected by the communities to receive the goat and donkey loans and the key members of the Animal Loans Committee who will manage the livestock loans scheme and of the Village Development Committee. In addition a group of children in each village have been selected to form the Children's Shepherds Committee and these children have also received animal husbandry training. This is because the children play a key role in looking after the goats, in particular taking them for grazing. They are therefore well placed to notice if any of the goats are sick provided that they have been trained what to look out for. The Children's Shepherds Committees are given the responsibility of checking all the goats on a weekly basis and reporting any problems to the village paravets who will be trained by KIDS FOR KIDS and to the Animal Loans Committee.

The animal husbandry training covered animal care, animal behaviour, feeding and nutrition including types of pasture, reproduction, and health including the important endemic animal diseases - their symptoms, treatment and control. Training was also given on the importance of vaccination and the use of  vaccines. In addition the trainees were shown how to make cheese and yoghurt as possible means of livelihood. All this training is provided to ensure that the recipients of the livestock loans are able to manage their livestock as healthy and productive animals.

Now that the training has been completed, the recipients of the loans in Tikailat are this month being helped to purchase their goats and donkeys at the local market. The Project Manager, who is a vet, will guide the beneficiaries in selecting strong and healthy animals. In the coming month the beneficiaries in Abu Nahla and Kreiban B will receive similar assistance to purchase their animals. The arrival of these goats and donkeys will make a huge difference to the lives of these poor families. The goats will immediately provide milk to improve the nutrition and health of their children and in the future there will be income from the sale of milk and kids which will enable the families to pay for things which they have not been able to before - water, school fees and books for their children and medicines when the children are sick. Having the animals as a 'bank' provides great peace of mind to the mothers. The donkeys are an enormous help in transporting water, fuelwood and fodder saving much time and effort for the women and children. The donkey is often used by the children to go to school when it is far away.

So we are most grateful to you all for the help which you have given which is making all this possible. I hope you can see that you really are making a difference to the lives of some of the most vulnerable and neglected families in the world. 

• Animal husbandry training in Tikailat (DOCX)
• Chidren's Shepherds Committee in Kreiban B (DOCX)

Good progress is being made in the three new villages - Tikailat, Abu Nahla and Khreiban - which were brought into the programme earlier in the year. The Programme Manager has been able to visit the villages on several occasions and the communities are very enthusiastic about the project. One meeting in Khreiban was attended by 955 persons - 395 men, 450 women and 110 children. All three villages have now selected the families which will receive goat and donkey loans - these are the poorest 10% of the households in the villages. However, before we provide the animals we need to ensure that the necessary support facilities are available in the villages to maintain the health and productivity of the animals. We do this by training all the recipient families in improved animal husbandry techniques and by training 2 villagers as paravets to treat the animals should they become sick. This training will commence shortly and it will include separate training sessions for the children as they are heavily involved in caring for the animals and are well placed to detect the early signs of sickness. All the villages have selected their paravets and the training will take place in the next few weeks. On completion the paravets will be provided with a basic kit of equipment and a cross bred donkey so that they can reach families with sick animals speedily. Once the paravets have been trained, we will establish a revolving veterinary drugs fund for each village so that families have ready access to the basic medicines if their animals are sick. This fund is self-sustaining as the charges for the drugs enable the paravets to replenish the stocks.

The Programme Manager is also discussing with the communities the mechanism for purchasing the animals. If good quality animals are available in the local market, the recipient families will be assisted to select their animals which will be purchased by the Animal Loans Committee. The paravet will ensure that the animals are healthy prior to purchase. If good animals are not available locally the Programme Manager will arrange for contractors to purchase the animals further afield. All the households are eagerly awaiting their animals as they know that they will make such a difference to their lives.

VERY MANY THANKS TO YOU ALL - WE COULD NOT DO THIS WITHOUT YOU AND YOU ARE REALLY HELPING TO TRANSFORM THE LIVES OF SOME OF THE MOST VULNERABLE PEOPLE IN DARFUR. BUT STILL MORE FAMILIES NEED OUR, AND YOUR, HELP