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’ co-operatives 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:
•
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.
For its success the project needs grazing land,
sheds for shelter, good quality stock for cross
breeding as well as native cattle.
Widows
at Nyanza dance and sing
in celebration and thanks for their
cattle.
Progress
We
began the 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 >>
Give a Goat
The goat is a wonderfully versatile animal with many economic advantages:
1) it provides manure which increases crop yields dramatically so there is more likely to be spare crops to sell at market.
2) it produces around three kids a year, each of which can be sold for the equivalent of an average monthly income.
3) it is easy to raise and does not require much land.
Comfort Rwanda has provided funds to buy hundreds of goats for widows. Donors have included individuals and families, Balmalloch primary school pupils, Broomhill Community Church women’s group and Balfron High School staff.
The first kid in every project is always given to another widow to keep the benefits spreading. One widow who suffered great loneliness after the genocide even said she didn’t feel alone after she received a goat and could share her problems with it!
Make an online donation to this project.
Recipients
of goats at Mugina.
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.
Recipients
of goats at Remera.
A goat costs between £12-15 and any funds you
donate for goats will be used
100% for the purchase of goats for widows and
orphans groups.
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 Rwandans like to name their cattle. This lady is called Igisubiza which means "the answer".
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.
Newly completed cattle shed at Kabuga with new occupants.
The first calves born to the cattle project.
2 day old calf born to the cattle project.
Cattle given to the widows at Nyanza
One of the widows presents a plaque that says “You gave us milk to drink – may God bless you!
