Goats and Donkeys Transform Lives in Darfur

I thought you would be fascinated – and delighted – to hear of yet more evidence that giving goats makes a massive difference to the deprived families in Darfur.

Our team in Darfur recently visited Matway, a village which we adopted in 2018, which is the most successful of the 5 villages adopted that year. 

Hana lives in Matway. She is 32 years old, married, with 3 girls and 4 boys, 3 of whom are at school.

In November 2018, Hana was chosen by the village to receive 5 goats to provide protein-rich milk to her malnourished children and one cross-bred donkey to help carry heavy loads.

Hana and her children helped care for the goats, grazing them around the village and taking them to the village hand pump to drink water. The donkey would help carry the water back home for the family and their animals.

Hana followed the local Paravet's advice, using worm drugs for the goats every 2 or 3 weeks and collecting groundnuts, hay and leaves from her farm to feed her goats.

In the first year, her little flock increased to 15 goats and in the second year, the flock became 25 goats.

After two years, in 2020, the village of Matway was ready to revolve the goat loan so each family that had benefitted from the goat loan should have passed on 5 goats to the second generation of beneficiaries.

By this time, Hana had 35 goats.

But sadly Covid hit.

In Darfur there is no diagnosis and no treatment – no ventilators in rural hospital and little oxygen which has to be brought from Khartoum and fuel is scarce. With Covid rife, the villagers had no option but to close and prevent gatherings.

So, sadly, the goat rotation had to be postponed for two years.

Unbelievably, by 2022 Hana's little flock grew to a staggering 95 goats!! This is the largest number of goats any one of our beneficiary families has owned!

Not only could she support her own family with better meals, but she also gave surplus milk to her neighbours' famillies and the village school teacher.

It was agreed within the village that, whilst the goat rotation couldn't take place, the beneficiaries could benefit by selling some of their billy goats, whilst keeping the nanny goats for the postponed rotation.

By selling two of her billy goats, Hana was able to prepare her farm by purchasing seeds and renting a tractor for her farm plough.

Another two billy goats helped treat her son Ahmed, who had suffered a compound fracture in his left hand, at El Fasher hospital.

The sale of two more billy goats helped Hana buy school uniform and books for her children and yet another two billy goats allowed Hana to purchase three iron beds, mattresses, sheets and curtains for her home.

The local breed donkey that Hana was given has also changed her life. The donkey helps carry water from the village hand pumps 7km away, is loaded up with hay and the harvest to take home, ploughs a part of the farm, helps carry things which Hana can sell at the local market, takes her to the neighbouring village to participate in events, and also acts as an ambulance to take patients to the nearest health unit.  

It just goes to show how our Goats and Donkeys really do transform lives!

And it's all thanks to YOU!! We are so grateful for all your support!  Thankfully Covid is now contained and rotations are all happening as planned. 

The time has almost come for us to select the villages we can support this year - an exciting prospect but heart-breaking for those we have to turn down.

Could you help us by donating Goats and Donkeys for us to give to the poorest families? Just think how many lives you can help us change, just like Hana's...

We do everything we can to show people how, if looked after properly, goats are life savers for the poorest families in the world.   Over in the UK, on Saturday 8th October we held our annual Fly Fishing Event: Fishing for Goats! And what an extraordinary day it was at Park Lake, Albury, in Surrey.   It is such a privilege to be allowed sole use of this magical place - thanks to the Duke of Northumberland.

We were blessed with summer conditions, still waters, blue skies, and absolutely beautiful sunshine. Although this did not make the fishing very easy, everyone had a fantastic time and have said they want to come again next year!

"It is so wonderful to see people really enjoying themselves!"   said Patricia Parker OBE, Founder of Kids for Kids. "Fishing is one of my joys but I have virtually no time away from my desk so our Fishing Day is a special treat for me too!. We raised enough money to provide 38 Goats! That's FIVE GOATS each for SEVEN families.  Think of that!"

These Goats will provide vital protein-rich milk for starving chidren and as the flock grows provide a desperately needed income for their mothers.   But there are many more families in need of goats.  This is why we are so grateful to you for your help. This has been one of the worst year's to date, without our wonderful supporters we would be powerless to help. People across Sudan are suffering from the worst food shortage for years.  

We are not an emergency organisation, but when no one else is helping families in rural Darfur villages we have had no choice - we cannot let people or animals starve.  This is why we are asking not only for your support, but to tell others too how much even the smallest help will make a difference.  Perhaps you can plan a fun event though it may not be a Fishing Day! 

We did well with our Fishing Day in England, but need many more life-saving Goats for families to help them nourish their starving chidren and give them hope for the future.   

We would be so incredibly grateful!