Visit to Nyandira+Ndugutu

I miss “my” village! I wish I could just go back and live there…I love my job and all, but still, so much simpler and nicer.

Last week, I went back to Mgeta for two days on the weekend to visit friends and, of course, the dairy goat project for orphans which I helped with last year. I’m happy and not-so-happy to report that while the project has progressed much since last year, it is still facing problems.

First, the good news. Due to a more coordinated management, the goats have had better care and they gave birth to 22 goat kids (although 4 died because of feeding problems), and they’re quite healthy. In the previous cycle, they also managed to give does to 5 orphans at a ceremony where they invited most of the stakeholders. There were 2 more does than predicted. They have also written very good lesson plans and have trained the 5 orphans that were given goats. Market demand for milk and yoghurt is still very high. The project always sells all the milk at market price. The two most committed project board members know what needs to be done and still thinks the plans we came up with last year can happen.

Then the not-so-good news. Milk production is still less than expected (at only 6-7 L per day, when they need about 10 L to break even; previously it was around 1 L). It’s because the project doesn’t have money to hire good staff and to buy feed. They have not paid the guard for 5 months and have lost one of the two workers because of inability to pay. The major problem is that the project board is not united (as with before). They have been trying to change that, but they can’t without the consent of the village council, which has not had a single meeting since being elected last year (rumours have it that the chairperson has used the money reserved for meetings). The election fever also has gripped the village (as with everywhere else in the country), and the politicians are too busy campaigning to push the project forward. Also, it seems like many in the village have come to view the project as a pet project of the two most committed members, hence not much support.

The happiest part for me is that when I talked with the two most committed board members, they articulated very clearly the political/human reasons why the project wasn’t moving forward faster. Last year, it took a lot of probing for me to understand these reasons because most of the time failure was only blamed on the apolitical reasons of not enough feed etc. I think that because of this new awareness, there is a large chance that they will be able to target the problems.

Also, although the project is in need of cash, I agree with Mahenge that the project shouldn’t need any funding from sources outside the village members. The project has to choose board members that are willing to raise funds (because it is possible). It’s a commitment issue, not really a financial one.

They will be trying to hold a large village meeting after the elections (which was this weekend) to gain more support from the village as a whole. The goals: 1) reiterate the fact that the project really belongs to the orphans and the village, 2) get more committed board members, and 3) decide as a village to how to raise funds for the project. If possible, I’ll try to attend the meeting.

Before I left, I also got a thermometer, a lactometer, and a big pot for them to start making yoghurt from the milk. Mahenge suggested that this was the best way try to increase the project income for now. I hope they will be able to at least break even soon.

(if the writing sounds a bit strange, it’s because it was originally intended for an email :P)