New Animals Arrive in Bukomero!

Last Monday I visited Bukomero to give the leaders of the association their follow up money, which totaled $300. It was a very exciting day as they received the money and made plans to go to the local animal market to buy pigs, goats, and chickens. A week later, on Tuesday, I went back to Bukomero to see the new animals.

On Tuesday, I had the chance to see most of the new animals, who were proudly brought by their owners to our meeting. In the meeting we talked about how they were going to keep the grant sustainable. They also told me that they went as a large group to pick out the animals. This is really great that they went as a group to the market because it shows how involved and committed the community is to the project.

A few minutes after I arrived in Bukomero, a group of children aged between 4 and 8 came up to me holding their family’s new chickens and baby pigs. It was great to see their joy associated with the animals, and is an example of how much pride an animal can provide a family.

Bukomero was able to purchase 24 chickens, 4 goats, and 8 pigs with their follow up money of $300. The goats are a few months old and will reproduce within the next few months. The goat group also purchased a male goat that will make it easier for the goats to reproduce. The pig group also purchased a male pig, but because the pigs are just a month or two old, it will be around 7 months before they can reproduce. The chickens are full-grown, and will start laying eggs soon.

While some of the families who received chickens and pigs received animals during the first phase of the grant, their groups decided to give them a second animal because their first animals had died due to sickness. But the majority of the families who received animals hadn’t received animals before. Furthermore, for the great majority of people who received animals this week have no other animals, thus they were very excited to receive an animal.

During the meeting, I could tell that the people who received animals were very excited. Throughout the meeting they were holding their animals proudly and all wanted to pose for photos with their animals. But my favorite sight were the pig owners who each had their baby pigs either in their laps or next to them. Throughout the meeting they were petting their baby pigs, showing how much they cared for them. For me this was a great site and let me feel reassured that the animals are in great homes and will be taken care of. Bukomero is now in a great place to continue their grant sustainably!