Goats for children affected by HIV/AIDS

Christine and her husband, Simon, are both HIV positive. They have 7 children and 5 are enrolled in a nearby primary school.  Their main occupation is peasant farming and sometimes hiring out labor in other people’s farms.  Taking care of this big family, including meeting their education as well medical bills, hasn’t been easy. They struggle to make ends meet on a daily basis since there isn’t any stable source of income.

Christine and Simon send their thanks and prayers for choosing them to benefit from this program and they promise to work hard to bring up their family.  Your support of our livestock and agricultural project means so much to this dear family.  You have made it possible for them to start making a life for themselves and to send their children to school.  It may seem like just a start, but it's an incredible blessing for Christine and Simon.

Thank you for your support as we help families like this one and so many more.  You give them hope!  If you have questions or are interested in learning more about this program or others, please contact Tanya Weaver at tweaver@afcaids.org.

Our partner in Uganda recently held a training session for families on improved agricultural productivity and animals to improve household incomes and address malnutrition. The trainings included a question and answer time, sharing of testimonies, self-reflections and interactions, role plays, lectures and demonstrations. Both in class and field sessions were carried out on the different crops and animal both practical and theories.

Field trainings were conducted to have hands-on knowledge in the identification of different diseases and pests for crops and animal diseases, how to treat and manage them locally, to practice crop spacing and animals housing construction and hygiene.

Thanks to your donations to support this livestock and agricultural project, these families are learning how to properly care for their crops and their animals.  Please know that your generosity is truly making a difference in the lives of these families and many more in our program. With our partners on the ground, the children and their families receive the support and monitoring they need to make this a very successful project. We are changing lives day after day. These families feel your love, and so do we at the American Foundation for Children with AIDS.

If you have questions or are interested in learning more about this program or others, please contact Tanya Weaver at tweaver@afcaids.org.

What an amazing year it has been for AFCA's children, thanks to YOU! Because of YOU, thousands of children are thriving and hopeful. Because of YOU, hundreds of children had good food to eat this year. Because of YOU, hundreds of children have livestock and seeds with which to start small businesses. We don't have enough words to thank you for what you've done because it is huge...it is life changing.

Let me introduce you to 22 year-old Moyo. He is one of the gardening beneficiaries, and is the head of his family. During a recent support visit, he already had a thriving cabbage vegetable plantation which he was harvesting a bit by bit for his young siblings for relish. The secret behind the young man’s success is simply following the basic gardening skills AFCA has taught him during our workshops. For instance, the young man transplanted his cabbage simultaneously with the other beneficiaries and he is already harvesting. These days the sun is so hot in this country, and Moyo's most reliable weapon is mulch. He does not need to water every day as the mulching will preserve the much needed moisture.

As this year comes to a close, we want to thank you for the donations you've made to support our work. If you are making your end of the year giving decisions, please keep us in mind so we can continue helping children in 2016 and beyond. Please share what we do with others, so they, too, can help our children. Together, we CAN make a difference.

We wish you the best year ever, full of every blessing and happiness imaginable, knowing you are a hope-giver. If you would like to learn more about AFCA and our programs, please contact Tanya Weaver at tweaver@AFCAids.org.

We love to share our success stories of transformation with the donors who make it all possible.  Last week we received this beautiful photo and words of appreciation.

Mrs. Ndlovu is a widow who had 10 biological children consisting of 5 boys and 5 girls who all died. In her words, her children died because of "umkhuhlane lo bantwabami" a local reference to HIV &AIDS. She buried her last child in 2010. Because of the trauma associated with the loss of all her children, she decided to relocate from one village to another within her area.

Mrs. Ndlovu had no assets (cattle or goats) but was taking care of 4 orphans. In 2012, she was identified as one of the beneficiaries for our livelihood project. She was then trained in small livestock management and was given 3 female goats.  She currently has 21 goats and she has passed on 3 goats to another needy family, per our agreement. The goats provide a source of milk and protein for the orphans while she uses goat manure for her nutritional garden. The livestock has boosted her self-worth within the community and she is able to sustain herself in an area affected by recurrent droughts.

Mrs. Ndlovu says that because she has her own livestock she is now "financially stable" as she knows that she can sell one goat and manage to get food supplies for two to three months. The local price of one goat is $85 and this is sufficient to pay school fees for three of her grandchildren for one school term.

When we visited her home, one of her female goats had given birth to triplets a day before the visit. In the photo, she holds the new members of the family with great pride and emotion. She says, “I do not know how to thank these people who have shown me such love. I truly believe angels are there and I thank God for his angels who have transformed our lives for the better.”

Do you ever ask yourself if you are actually making a difference?  Perhaps you feel so small in this great big world?  Do you wonder if the donation you made ever touches the life of a child affected by HIV/AIDS?

Take a moment to look at the attached photos and really enjoy the smiles on the faces of the families YOU have directly touched.  You donation made it possible for the American Foundation for Children with AIDS to distribute goats to families in Metopos, Zimbabwe.  Families where widows and grandmothers are raising children affected by HIV/AIDS.

So today you can be sure that you DID made a difference in the life of a child.  Many children!  Now they can dream because they have goats.  Life has so many more possibilities now!  Thank you for making a difference.

Are you interested in hearing more about our livestock projects or other projects by the American Foundation for Children with AIDS?  Go to www.afcaids.org or contact Tanya Weaver at tweaver@afcaids.org for more information.