Goats Galore!!!
Happy to say that the goat buying is underway! Unfortunately, my presence at the market would artificially inflate the goat prices, so I patiently wait at the village for the new arrivals to be herded home.
The meetings have gone well and we have selected three new villages to begin goat loans as well as doubling the project size in Garin Maigari. The women have been ecstatic about the opportunity and have shown this not only through their words of gratitude, but through their actions.
In the village of Gaden Iyya, we arrived to find the women gathering and getting ready for our second meeting. Following our protocal, we had had the initial informational meeting where all the women gather to get an understanding of how the project works and we announce that our next meeting will be in 3 days to evaluate their ability to participate and sustain the goat loan project.
As they had been advised, these women had selected a president, secretary, and treasurer for each group along with the amount that they would each be depositing into the SoHA savings and loan bank each month. They proudly brought out their notebooks showing us their lists, adding that they had in fact already made their first monthly deposit. Sannu da kokari! Greetings on your effort!
In a culture where women are not allowed to take initiative in most areas of their lives, they have shown that they are able and ready to take the initiative to not only benefit, but make this work sustainable.
As is customary in their culture, each women's group chooses a male representative to oversee the market affairs of buying the goats as well as herding them home to the village. We need to visit 3 different markets to fill our quota and make sure all are getting the best (and sometimes already pregnant) goats. Along with our SoHA representatives, Ibrihim and Muntari, the group reps arrive at the market,choose the best goats, bargain with the owners and decide on a price. When they have selected and bought all the goats, they slowly herd them to the kungiya's (womens group president's) concession where all the women will gather to claim their treasure.
The women are excited as young messengers run from hut to hut passing along the news that the goats have arrived. The group presidents arrive first with the project notebook to follow the list and hand out the animals to women as they arrive.
I greet the women, wish them luck, and answer the myriad of blessings bestowed on me and all who have donated to make this possible with a simple "Amin", over and over again.
It's nearly dark and all the goats have made their way to their new homes when Ibrihim, Muntare and I reconvene. I congratulate them on a job well done, talk about any challenges they may have faced, and go over the plans for the coming market day. As I head to my hut for my bucket bath under the moonlight and dinner, I again smile at the beauty of all of the people coming together to help make life better for a woman and her family in Niger, one goat at a time, and I say a few blessings of my own.
Zoulleha
(Written October 16th, 2008 in the village of Garin Maigari)
The meetings have gone well and we have selected three new villages to begin goat loans as well as doubling the project size in Garin Maigari. The women have been ecstatic about the opportunity and have shown this not only through their words of gratitude, but through their actions.
In the village of Gaden Iyya, we arrived to find the women gathering and getting ready for our second meeting. Following our protocal, we had had the initial informational meeting where all the women gather to get an understanding of how the project works and we announce that our next meeting will be in 3 days to evaluate their ability to participate and sustain the goat loan project.
As they had been advised, these women had selected a president, secretary, and treasurer for each group along with the amount that they would each be depositing into the SoHA savings and loan bank each month. They proudly brought out their notebooks showing us their lists, adding that they had in fact already made their first monthly deposit. Sannu da kokari! Greetings on your effort!
In a culture where women are not allowed to take initiative in most areas of their lives, they have shown that they are able and ready to take the initiative to not only benefit, but make this work sustainable.
As is customary in their culture, each women's group chooses a male representative to oversee the market affairs of buying the goats as well as herding them home to the village. We need to visit 3 different markets to fill our quota and make sure all are getting the best (and sometimes already pregnant) goats. Along with our SoHA representatives, Ibrihim and Muntari, the group reps arrive at the market,choose the best goats, bargain with the owners and decide on a price. When they have selected and bought all the goats, they slowly herd them to the kungiya's (womens group president's) concession where all the women will gather to claim their treasure.
The women are excited as young messengers run from hut to hut passing along the news that the goats have arrived. The group presidents arrive first with the project notebook to follow the list and hand out the animals to women as they arrive.
I greet the women, wish them luck, and answer the myriad of blessings bestowed on me and all who have donated to make this possible with a simple "Amin", over and over again.
It's nearly dark and all the goats have made their way to their new homes when Ibrihim, Muntare and I reconvene. I congratulate them on a job well done, talk about any challenges they may have faced, and go over the plans for the coming market day. As I head to my hut for my bucket bath under the moonlight and dinner, I again smile at the beauty of all of the people coming together to help make life better for a woman and her family in Niger, one goat at a time, and I say a few blessings of my own.
Zoulleha
(Written October 16th, 2008 in the village of Garin Maigari)
posted by Seeds of Hope Africa at
Sunday, November 02, 2008
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