Economic Growth Sudan Project #4011

Goats and Donkeys Transform Lives in Darfur

by Kids for Kids

Project Report | Aug 7, 2017
How goats and a donkey change lives - double your donation!

By Caroline Donald | Administrator/Fundraiser

Mahasin - case study

We love to hear about a brilliant success story from the beneficiaries of our programme. Mahasin is one such success.

Mahasin (pictured) lives in the village of Kulkul. Mahasin (22 years) is a mother of six (2 aged under five). When we first met Mahasin, she and her family were in real need. Mahasin was identified by the Village Development Committee as being amongst the 15% poorest in her village. This is why she was eligible for a goat loan (and more) from Kids for Kids. Through the programme she received 5 goats, 2 blankets, 2 mosquito nets and a female donkey. She has cared well for her goats, in the first year having 8 kids born and 3 more this year. Her total goats are now 16 and three are pregnant. Her donkey is also pregnant. After feeding her own children, she had managed to make some profit through the sale of goat’s milk to other families. Her income has meant that when her child was very sick she was able to send him to the hospital. This was a major source of pride and empowerment for Mahasin.

Mahasin is a wonderful example of how a goat loan and a donkey can transform a life in Darfur, lifting her family out of abject poverty and giving them a chance of a real future. We are so proud of Mahasin for making such a success.

Mahasin said "I had never owned anything. When Kids for Kids lent me the goats I was very proud. They were beautiful and my three oldest children helped me look after them. It was hard. Water was a long way away to start with but it was worth it. Seeing my children get healthier was beyond my dreams. Now we have a submersible pump at our village. The only one for miles and miles. Thank you Kids for Kids. I did not know there were people like you who would help families like mine."

Women are frequently the main beneficiaries of our goat loans. Why is this? The main reason is because women are usually one of the most vulnerable and poorest segments of society. Once they start making visible economic contributions to the household, this can lead to growth in women’s self-esteem, self-confidence and their status within the household, as well as the wider community. Eventually, this provides women with more choices and a greater voice in family and community matters.

Another reason to target women as micro entrepreneurs is because studies have shown that women are the ‘change’ agents of the family and will spend a greater percentage of their income on the welfare of their households than men. As a consequence, as women’s income increases, so do improvements in the health, nutritional and educational status of other household members, particularly children. Isn’t it incredible to think that just a few little goats can make transformational changes to not just the little family they are loaned to, but also have a positive impact on the whole of society and women’s equality?

If you think you would like to help more, please consider making your donation a regular donation for the next two years so that we can make sure Mahasin and her children are supported through this journey. We will keep in touch with her and other beneficiaries regularly to find out how they are getting on.

If you are able to donate between 7 -12 August (save the dates in your diary now!), your recurring donation could be matched 100% by GlobalGiving partners – DOUBLING the difference you can make.

Thank you so very much!

Little shepherds check on the goats

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May 15, 2017
When those who receive give back!

By Mary Jane Kupsky | US Volunteer Kids for Kids

We choose the poorest families for goat loans

Springtime in the Northern Hemisphere and many thinks of planting. And I hope you will think of your donations to Kids for Kids in the same way.

We have just had an update from Abu Degeise, one of the Kids for Kids adopted villages in Darfur. When Afaf the poorest widow in the village received the loan of goats from Kids for Kids, she put every energy into learning to care for her goats, and she has succeeded beautifully. When we were first in Darfur we were told that people knew how to look after their animals, but animals were dying. Our Animal Husbandry Courses are now the most popular in Darfur! Afaf's children are thriving and she has seen the benefit of one glass a day of goat's milk for her own children.

And now, even more, good news. Afaf decided to become the donor just like you! She regularly takes goats' milk to the kindergarten Kids for Kids has built in the village and donates that milk to help poor children survive. With so little in life, she gives to sustain and help the children grow stronger.

In two year's time, this widow has grown her little flock of 6 goats to more than 20 and can now return 6 goats to the "loan" program. Now another family will, with the help of our trained paravets, begin to make their lives more food secure.

So, each donation to Kids for Kids plants the seeds of life and hope and giving.

If you have a special occasion coming up this spring - a wedding, a graduation, a birthday - why not 'plant a goat' with Kids for Kids. We can even arrange a special 'goat' certificate for your recipient. You can donate via GlobalGiving and contact MaryJane-US@kidsforkids.org.uk for the certificate.

Why not 'plant a goat' today!

Links:

http://www.kidsforkids.org.uk

Attachments:

Goat & Girl (DOCX)

2 Attachments

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Feb 16, 2017
The gift of a goat and donkey is untold wealth

By Patricia Parker MBE | Founder

Checking the goats are healthy

Mothers in Darfur have begged us for Kindergartens in their villages. They know that education is the way out of poverty but schools are often miles away across the desert. Many children walk 2 to 3 hours to get to school. Some stay with relatives in distant villages. It is just too far to walk home again. There are no roads. The only transport is a donkey, but a donkey costs more than twice a family's annual income. If only children could have a donkey they would be able to go to school. They could collect more water. They could help plough more land with the help of our donkey ploughs. Donkeys are more than the 4 x 4 of Darfur, they are what makes life possible. That is where Kids for Kids is able to help. Thanks to you we provided donkeys for the poorest families in four villages just before Christmas. Those donkeys are busy transforming the lives of their families. To be given a donkey is to be given a new life, to be freed just a little from the drudgery which is life in the remote villages.

But that is not all we do. For 16 years Kids for Kids has been lending goats so that children have goat's milk. Babies whose mothers cannot feed them, have milk to drink. Children who are malnourished wake up to a cup of milk each day. Mothers have a supplementary income they can rely on - and after two years they pass on offspring to another family. And, over time, the health of the entire village is improved. As you read this, new little goats will be walking into a village in the centre of Africa and bringing smiles to the faces of the children. Every week the Kids for Kids Children's Shepherds' Committees check all the goats and donkeys. In Dor Fazy, a village we adopted in 2014, last month the children checked 462 goats. Already there are 306 kids. "It is a great responsibility to check the Kids for Kids goats" said Hamid who is 11 and who is Chairman of the Shepherds' Committee in Dor Fazy. "If we see a goat that won't get up we report it to the paravet who will make it better. None of the animals has died in our village since Kids for Kids provided veterinary care for us and taught us how to look after the animals."

With your help we have trained two paravets in each of the villages we adopted last year, provided training in animal care and given the beneficiaries things like salt licks to keep the goats healthy. "It's essential to make sure the animals are well looked after" explains Dr Salim, Programme Manager for Kids for Kids. "Darfur is a tough environment, both for humans and for animals, but if the animals are healthy then they will help keep the children healthy too."

Shepherds caring for their flocks

Donkey need veterinary care too

Links:

Find out why the gift of a goat or donkey means so much

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