A dedicated micro credit fund for rural Madagascar

No news is good news?

Did’t you learn for your grade school teacher you should never start a sentence or a report like this?

Indeed it is, for our pig breeding projects in the villages. It means no pig has died, no disease has spread, and no group in either village has complained for not being included in the new project. No devastating cyclones either.

The piglets distributed from the first phase of the project may just grow up fine. For farmers there is nothing to report if things work out. After all, if rice or piglets grow, this is how it is supposed to be.

This is especially good news, because so far we have only worked with women's groups for pig raising projects, with (as reported) ups and downs over the years. In the last community meeting with Zahana it was decided that three men from the soccer club will be included in a newly assembled self-organized group in the village of Fiarenana. Since this is the first mixed group we ever had in our pig-breeding project this is very good 'no news'. It takes over six months or longer until their piglet provided by the women’s group can becomes a gilt and the future mother sow. So all we can do is sit and wait - because only time will tell if this new experiment will truly be successful. Keep your fingers crossed, please.

The attached picture shows children playing. Not connected to any project they have a chance to just play, but imagine the educational possibilities if the seeds (looks like Eucalyptus?) might be replaced by piglets one day?

Ihanta and Markus