We will provide training and a pair of grown pigs to each of 10 youth who are raising AIDS orphans so they can start their own businesses. The pigs will be delivered to them, will be vaccinated, and will have proper housing to live in. With the training received prior to and after acquiring the pigs, these youth have a real chance to fend for themselves in the future and to become farmers.
AIDS orphans in Sub-Saharan Africa are in a precarious situation, especially when they live in a country where they have no one to care for them. With no income, they cannot purchase food nor pay for school fees, rent or clothes. This exacerbates their terrible situation, leaving them either dependent on others or with nothing with which to survive. This project will help children and youth become self-reliant, able to provide for their necessities, food and to return to school.
10 adolescent heads of households will receive husbandry, veterinary and gardening training, as well as marketing and budgeting trainings, along with 2 full-grown pigs and seeds for gardens. The pigs will give the youth manure for personal gardens. The pigs will reproduce and the youth can sell and barter animals in order to pay for their school fees, food, and other basic needs. They can eat the meat once their droves are large enough. Transportation, vaccine and ongoing support are included.
When youth are given the tools and training to break out of poverty, they rarely want to go back to life before the change. Our success rate has been high with this type of project and youth are moving forward, helping themselves and their communities. Trainings received are trickled down to other community members and to younger children, reviving once-dead communities and breaking the cycle of poverty and reliance on outside assistance.
