Give A Goat

A comment on the blog asked if we require goat recipients to return the first female offspring to the program. The answer is YES, we do. Only 8 were returned in 2008, but our extension officer anticipates at least a dozen more coming soon (female kids that he's seen in his home visits). The vision is that this program eventally become self-propagating, so that needs for immediate individual assistance can be quickly met as mothers die or as HIV-infected mothers wean their babies. But we also have a growing vision for the broader problem of chronic widespread under-nutrition in toddlers and preschoolers. Bundibugyo's stunting rate is 43%--that means almost half of kids are shorter than the lowest cut-off for normal in a healthy population. This happens because small bodies faced with repeated cycles of infection and access to minimal calories and protein compensate by slowing their linear growth to preserve survival (even our own child experienced this in his second and third years of life here, though he's recently miraculously sprouting lengthily). Our dream: the male dairy breed goats that we import will be used by every village, crossing with the hardy local goats, to eventually produce flocks of little milk-makers, adding high-quality protein to the marginal diets of most children. The Joy Children's Center in Masaka has provided most of our goat stock and we continue to work together towards this end, thanks to Karen's years of establishing the program, Lemmech's daily forays into the bush to follow-up on goats, Sarah's careful records and accounting, Pat and Heidi's patient screening of potential recipients, our Nairobi team's creative assistance with hand made ornaments, our Sending Center's coordination of gifts, and the 117 extravagantly gracious people like the commenter on the blog who actually purchase these goats for poor families. It's an amazing partnership (remember our themes!), made even more powerful by the prayers which accompany the giving.