Comfort Rwanda guarantees 100% of all money
donated for any
designated purpose will be forwarded to Rwanda
and used for that purpose.
THE CATTLE PROJECT
Comfort Rwanda is seeking to develop
long term support by re-establishing
herds of cattle among widows
co-operatives. Rwanda is known as
“The Land of 1000 Hills”.
The Bible says that God owns the
cattle on thousand hills and our
dream is to provide 1000 cattle for
those 1000 hills.
Our partners have a network of over 50
widows’ cooperatives throughout the
country which bring together 100 - 200 widows
from all ethnic groups. The widows meet
together in smaller groups of 15-20 for
fellowship and comfort.
The provision of cattle to those co-operatives:
The provision of cattle to those co-operatives:
- Provides an important source of nutrition through the milk.
- Allows milk to be sold to pay for daily needs such as education, clothes and health care.
- Produces manure which can significantly improve crop yields from the exhausted soils.
- Allows calves to be donated to other widows so that more benefit
- Provides a focus for the widows groups to support and encourage each other and the community around them.
Some of the
150 goats distributed at Mugina where 30,000
were killed during the genocide. Recipients
of the goats dance and praise in gratefulness
at receiving their goats.
Background…
Click arrows on image to view next photo.
Cattle have always occupied an
important place in Rwandan society;
their arrival at a wedding as a dowry
can lead to long discussions between
the two families about the respective
merits of the cows and the bride, the
bridegroom meanwhile being forgotten!
The colonial rulers were able to exploit this to divide and rule the population. In 1933 the Belgian rulers issued a proclamation that anyone owning more than ten cows was a Tutsi and, as the colonialists continued to favour the Tutsi tribe, the ownership of cattle became associated with ethnicity. As a result, when the genocide broke out cattle were also slaughtered indiscriminately. Although some cattle survived, many of the hundreds of thousands of widows were left without their precious cattle. A Rwandan phrase denoting well-being is translated as “And we had milk to drink”. For those widows there was no milk, no income and little or no hope.
The colonial rulers were able to exploit this to divide and rule the population. In 1933 the Belgian rulers issued a proclamation that anyone owning more than ten cows was a Tutsi and, as the colonialists continued to favour the Tutsi tribe, the ownership of cattle became associated with ethnicity. As a result, when the genocide broke out cattle were also slaughtered indiscriminately. Although some cattle survived, many of the hundreds of thousands of widows were left without their precious cattle. A Rwandan phrase denoting well-being is translated as “And we had milk to drink”. For those widows there was no milk, no income and little or no hope.
Progress
We began the Cattle Project in 2002 using £5000 raised by the chairman, Callum Henderson from a sponsored cycle across Rwanda. This allowed Solace to train widows in cattle husbandry, build two cow sheds in Nyanza and establish two herds of cattle in that area.
At Kabuga, to the east of Kigali, a cattle shed has been built and a flourishing herd of improved breed cows is established. Cows are now being distributed to individuals in various survivors communities who have a suitable field to rear them on. Even just one cow can make a huge difference to a survivor, providing milk to drink and around £2 a day through the sale of surplus milk, which exceeds the target income of both the government and Solace Ministries. Further cows have been distributed as part of the integrated project at Bugesera and funds have been given for new start projects of cattle for Muyira and Bisesero. We are delighted at the support given and are growing very fond of Frisian cows!
Make an online donation to this project >>
We began the Cattle Project in 2002 using £5000 raised by the chairman, Callum Henderson from a sponsored cycle across Rwanda. This allowed Solace to train widows in cattle husbandry, build two cow sheds in Nyanza and establish two herds of cattle in that area.
At Kabuga, to the east of Kigali, a cattle shed has been built and a flourishing herd of improved breed cows is established. Cows are now being distributed to individuals in various survivors communities who have a suitable field to rear them on. Even just one cow can make a huge difference to a survivor, providing milk to drink and around £2 a day through the sale of surplus milk, which exceeds the target income of both the government and Solace Ministries. Further cows have been distributed as part of the integrated project at Bugesera and funds have been given for new start projects of cattle for Muyira and Bisesero. We are delighted at the support given and are growing very fond of Frisian cows!
Make an online donation to this project >>
