Food and Self-Reliance for AIDS Orphans

This past year I spent six months in Zimbabwe working with American Foundation for Children with AIDS helping to set up one of their livelihoods projects in the Matopos area. While I was there I helped set up the multiplication center for the project, train the people running the center, and identify and train the families that will be beneficiaries.

• We purchased goats from the surrounding communities to build the multiplication center’s herd
• Trained the people who work at the farm that will be running the project
• Visited families in the community and identified possible beneficiaries
• Trained the possible beneficiaries on how to:

     Make drought resistant gardens
     Build goat shelters out of supplies they may already have
     Take care of goats
     Use goats and their gardens to support their families

I loved being able share what I know about goats with the people at the center and in the community. Sometimes they thought what I was doing was weird until I started explaining it to them and showing them why it was important. They learned how to tell the age of a goat, what to look for when buying a goat, how to know when it is sick, and how to care for the goats.

This area of Zimbabwe has been in a drought for about three years. This year while I was there during their rainy season, they received two and a half times the amount of rain they would get in a normal year. Many places flooded and rivers formed where they had not been before. It damaged and washed away many gardens, houses, and homesteads in the community. Through the livelihoods project, people are now learning how to make gardens that will not only thrive in droughts, but be able to survive in the downpours.

When we were identifying families, we visited as many of their homes as possible. AIDS has impacted this community greatly. There are families that are missing one or both parents, parents that are sick, and orphans being raised by older siblings, grandparents or aunts and uncles. Visiting their homes made me realize how important this project was and how much of a difference it will make in their lives. Growing gardens and raising goats will provide the children with food and the nutrients they need to survive and thrive. Being able to barter and sell the milk. fertilizer, and vegetables they grow will provide the families with money for school fees, allowing the children to stay in school longer and have a chance to reach their full potential.

When I left Zimbabwe in May the goat herd at the multiplication center was up to about 55 goats, today they now have over 75 goats with more kids on the way! It is amazing to see how the project is expanding and moving forward. In a few months, the beneficiaries will have finished the rest of their training and goats will start to be given out. This project is giving children in Zimbabwe hope and a future. I am so happy that I got to be a part of it and cannot wait to see how it impacts the community in the years to come!