By Heather Kathrens | U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer posted with NCIG
Happy St Patrick's Day from Cameroon? Sure, why not!
We at NCIG hope this finds you happy and healthy whatever you might be celebrating! Ourselves, we are currently celebrating the initial phases of a new round of piggeries for widows, thanks to you, one of our beloved donors, and friends. We wanted to take a minute and update you on the project of the project. Please feel free to email us with any questions or comments!
Last Wednesday, March 7th, I went out in the field with two of the NCIG staff, Gospel Anu who works in our Small Enterprise Development department and Aldous Lekeanyi who is our Agricultural Technician. We traveled about an hour north and east of Buea, to a small village called Ikata, where we know there is a high concentration of widows. The village of Ikata just got electricity last year, but there is still no clean water source. The women collect all water from a nearby stream. The main source of income in Ikata is subsistence farming--selling a few items that they don't eat themselves, such as a small amount of cocoa, plantains, cocoa yams, and cassava.
We spoke with a woman there a few weeks ago who is a beneficiary of our micro-credit program, Rose Mbe. Rose is a trusted and influential woman within the Ikata community and we asked her to contact several widows who might be good candidates for the new round of piggeries--this round is completely funded by Global Giving contributions by the way! Ikata was chosen as the site project for a few reasons. Firstly, it is an area where we have carried out micro-credit projects in the past and beneficiaries have responded well. Secondly, Rose's assistance will be crucial as a contact-she has a cell phone and most of the widows in Ikata don't. Thirdly, several women approached NCIG last year about establishing a piggery project there. This shows sincere interest and we knew we would have people who were interested in this project for the right reasons.
When we got to Ikata, there was a group of about 11 widows to meet with us. Our meeting lasted for about 4 hours. We discussed the logistics of the project, including materials and labor. We talked about the best ways to maintain healthy piglets. And we talked about how to keep the project sustainable. Wanting the beneficiaries' feedback on every aspect of the project, we asked them to help us create a better model for piggeries so that it will be able to flourish on its own someday without NCIG support. Aldous, Gospel and I also conducted a vulnerability survey, trying to gauge the conditions these women are living in.
Here are a few things we all decided together at the meeting:
1. We calculated that for each beneficiary, NCIG's cost is about $580. Our disbursements from Global Giving up to date allows us to fund about 7 widows right now, however, we are going to start with 5 and keep the rest of the funds as a reserve in case there are unforeseen expenses, such as a pig famine or natural disaster of some sort. Any unused funds will go into the next round of piggeries.
2. Beneficiaries decided that they should each 'buy-in' to the project, in order to keep it sustainable, and they decided that they should each contribute 50,000 CFA (approx $100 USD). Not all of them have access to this amount as cash, so it was decided that they could contribute material and labor for the pen as an alternative. We want to use as many local materials as possible, so this is a win-win choice. If the women choose to donate cash instead, NCIG will apply this amount to materials and if there is any money left over, it will be deposited into the piggery account in order to help fund another widow's piggery in the future. We also decided that there should be some kind of donation upon the first sale of pigs, either in the form of cash, or giving another widow a piglet to start a piggery with, to further ensure sustainability.
3. We weighed the choice of each woman having a pen built for their pigs or grouping the pigs together in one large group pen. The women decided that, given their house locations, the individual pens were better.
4. After many questions and some good conversation, we decided that NCIG should come back to Ikata in two weeks to see which of the women were still willing to go ahead with the project, subject to being able to produce the 50,000CFA buy-in via cash or materials. We are planning that trip to Ikata next week and will keep you updated.
I just want to add that NCIG has not had it's own Agricultural Technician before and the addition of Aldous Lekeanyi will be invaluable to the success of this project. He will be able to follow up with the widows on the care of the pigs ensuring a healthy return at the market. We are lucky to have him!
So, that is it for now. Be on the lookout for an update next week. We tried to attach some photos but had trouble uploading them ,so we will try to post them on our Global Giving page directly. Check it out! http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/pig-rearing-project-for-widows-in-cameroon/
In closing, thank you always for your support!
Warmest Regards, Heather Kathrens and the whole NCIG gang
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