1/18/13
I will start by saying that today was a wonderful day, because I visited 3 projects outside Kigali, all of which are really changing people’s lives and are growing each time I come to visit.
First, we went to see the Murama Pig and Chicken Cooperative (called Rwanda Pig and Chicken Coop on the PLF website). In terms of the pigs, they started off 2 years ago with 12 females and 1 male pig. Now they have 84, including two litters of one day old piglets. The manure from the pigs is a consistent source of income. The plan is to distribute a couple of pigs to each member, so they can personally use the income from the manure and the whole group will share the profits from the communal farm’s collecting of manure, plus the sale of pigs.
The chicken farming is more complicated and only two of the members that have the chickens at their homes are doing really well. The money is made both from the sale of eggs, which is consistent and from the sale of chickens after they are past their egglaying period. I learned today that these chickens only lay eggs for 10 to 12 months, then they are sold for their meat. The plan is to split the rest of the chickens being tended to by coop members that are having difficulties raising them and giving them to the two women that are doing well. These women will get to profit from the eggs for their hard work and success, but the whole group will profit from the sale of chickens.
The Murama Cooperative is led my Mukashaka, a very hard working and committed woman. When I asked her if the farm was improving her income and the quality of life, she told me that if the project ended today, she would lose everything. For those living in this area, it is very difficult to afford enough protein, especially for the children, so the coop has started providing some eggs to 10 neighbor children and 5 pregnant women once a week and are going to extend the training for the neighbors, plus extra eggs and a training center. While we were there, the children came to eat hard boiled eggs, which we also got to sample and they were delicious!
Unfortunately, my camera had a snafu and the great pictures I took of the babies eating the eggs did not come through. This farm is so successful that is now being used as a demonstration farm for the area.
Next we went to visit the Fish Farmer Cooperative (called Rwanda Fish Farmer Project on PLF website). This project is only 9 months old. It was very exciting to see that the fish that had been donated as “seeds” by the government were growing well and soon they will be able to begin fishing them. They have done a very good job of clearing high grasses from the small lake to enlarge it and allow for better breeding. They have begun planting the garden, which they will rent out for weddings and have built a fence around the grounds to keep the cows out. Eventually they will build a small bungalow where they will sell cooked fish lunches, as well. In celebration of the progress of the cooperative, they made us the most delicious lunch of fried whole tilapia, grilled potatoes and bananas for dessert. It was so lovely to sit beneath a tree by the lake, a nice breeze blowing, eating with the group. The fish business is very lucrative here, because there is not many places to get fresh fish locally. Needless to say, today we are well fed!
Lastly, we visited the Gahanga Chicken Cooperative (called Rwanda Chicken Project on PLF website), a small group. They had were doing very well, but had made the mistake of using cheaper feed, which decreased their egg production in half. Unfortunately, it was a very expensive mistake, but this group of women are very hard working and have suffered a lot of hardship, so we decided to give them the money they need to buy enough feed until the chickens begin laying enough eggs again to cover the cost of their feed. They will pay us back over time.
Today was a great day. We really saw how the projects are growing and how both the clients and we are learning from mistakes made along the way. I will upload pictures to the site when I update the project pages, which may not happen until I get home from Africa. Tomorrow we drive just over the border into Uganda to visit the Batwa in the mountains near the border. It is possible I may not have internet for a few days.
