Give a Goat (or Chicken): The Animal Husbandry Project in Congo

Our goat family in eastern Congo is growing, and welcoming a new animal into the herd: chickens! 

Originating with 50 goats, the husbandry program is expanding, and when members of the community gathered this June at the Mumosho Women's Center, 31 additional families received goats, and 22 families took home a chicken.  The chickens were primarily distributed amongst teen mothers who do not live at the women's center, to provide eggs to help feed their children, and to raise up baby chicks to pass on to more families.

Currently, the goats help with feces to fertilize the small plots of land farmed by the members of the community.  To provide nutritious goat's milk and cheese will be the next step in the project, after finding the correct breed of goat that produces more milk. 

As Amani noted when the program began, "When a baby goat is born, the family caring for the goat will return the baby to ABFEK to pass it on to another neighbor who is waiting. Paying forward the good in their lives, providing more milk to drink and sell, the community will grow stronger, Amani explains. Which is why the project is called, 'My goat is your goat.'"

The addition of our feathered friends means it's time for a name change...

If you'd like to partner with the people in eastern Congo, consider a one-time or monthly donation.  All funds go directly to programs like this on the ground, and every dollar makes a difference.

Families meeting their goats, June 2014.

 Read more about the programs:

• Maombi's Sewing Story: Designing a Life of Dignity
• Claudine on Coming Back to Life & the Sewing Workshop
• Creating New Stories for Women: Sewing, Reading, Farming Fundraiser
• Sewing students and grads: Cikwanine, Cozi, Ernata, Safi, Amie, Bienvenie, Evelyn
• the women and girls in the literacy program,& Marhonyi, one of the literacy course teachers.
• the women learning agriculture lessons on the shared farm, & a second shared farm at the Mumosho Women's Center
• the community conversation (women AND men!) on the importance of family planning and contraception
• the animal husbandry / goat program
• the women who weave beautiful baskets
• the school kids: girls at the top of their classes
• & meet Amani, community builder, leader, and visionary!  Watch the video to experience his corner of Congo here.