Help Needed

Dear friends,

Voting starts on August 1!

One of the photos taken by the American Foundation for Children with AIDS (AFCA) has been selected as a finalist in a contest hosted by Global Giving!

Here is the link where you will vote: http://www.globalgiving.org/poll/vote/?pollOptionId=21.  I took this photo while in Zimbabwe during a goat distribution to grandmothers who are raising AIDS orphans. 

The photo which receives the most votes by noon on August 15^th will win $1000 for the organization, plus, $3000 from matching grants, AND it will be highlighted on the Global Giving home page, which opens us up to many more donations.  Voting starts at noon on August 1, so we please be ready to vote and to ask others to vote as well. 

Only one vote will be accepted per email address, so voting more than once from the same email address does not count. 

We ask you to please vote and to ask your friends, family and colleagues to vote for our photo, too.  Emails, facebook, twitter, list serves - all these are ways you can get the word out.

Think creatively, too.  You can take your laptop to a café and you can ask people to vote for us right then and there.  Or, take your smartphone to work and ask all of your colleagues to vote.

On behalf of the kids,

tanya

Vet Kits and Redistribution News

July 25, 2012 - Mayeze, Mapane, and somewhere or the other, Zimbabwe

Coordinator with Q

Today we distribute veterinary kits to communities where para-vets have been trained and where orphaned families have also learned about husbandry and basic veterinary skills.  Q reviews what is in each kit and it is plain to see the pride in the faces of the coordinators who receive the homemade, wooden kits.

AFCA provides these kits to the communities with refills for the first year of a program.  As families earn money from the sales of milk, manure and veggies from gardens, the community must cover the costs for the refilling of kits after the first year.

Just last week, we had 15 goats get sick with pneumonia.  As families noticed that their goats were not doing well, they ran to tell the para-vet, who checked them out.  Soon, medicine was dispensed to the owners of the goats and in no time, the animals were receiving antibiotics and now, they are doing well.  I was happy to be here to witness how the community worked together to put to use the available medicines and how quickly they were in touch with Q to keep him informed of the going ons and how they cared for their animals.  Every one of the families has told me how well they have been trained and how nice it is to be able to care for their animals as they are able to.





July 26, 2012 - Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

Juju going to school - in uniform

July 27, 2012 - Ntepe, Zimbabwe

Q and I hit the road again, this time heading south, towards South Africa.  We are going to the first area where AFCA/ZOE distributed goats.  It is time to visit the families with a spot check.  They don't expect us, so we feel we'll get a good read at how things are going.

It is a gorgeous day, with blue skies that make me want to reach out to see if it is real.  While needed, rain is not even a possibility today and the day feels perfect.  We arrive at the coordinator's house and Q hands me the truck keys, as four of us won't fit in the cab.  He and a beneficiary sit in the back while the coordinator and I sit in the cab, with him giving me directions and me driving over bumps, rocks, bits of wood, holes, and sand.  We arrive at the first house and meet with a grandma who just this morning lost her daughter and was put in charge of her grandson. 

This boy and his mother had received goats three years ago because she was very ill and we needed to help the boy become able to care for himself at her demise.  He is still young and grandma will take care of him now.  Their goats have gone from 3 pregnant ones to 23!!!  Their flock is amazing and they are all healthy goats.  Since three years have passed, it is time to redistribute and to bless another orphan family with three goats.  The redistribution celebration will happen in November and I couldn't be happier.  There will be 15 goats redistributed in total this year!  Seems like a small number, but this is a sure sign that what we've begun here is working. 

Since there has been a death in the community, most of the families are making their way to the church and we aren't able to meet too many families.  We met with one woman who has raised 3 children and has one more at home.  They've had goats for two years and their flock now totals 8, due to the death of two kids (drought).  Another family lost two goats to cobra snake bites.  One other family, represented by a 13 year old boy, has 9 goats, with another kid ready to be born any day now.  This boy was so sweet and made my day by smiling as he talked to us.  It is so hopeful to see these families and to have them tell us about the program and how they attend trainings and to hear how the flocks are growing.  To everyone who has donated towards this work - well done and thank you!

On the Road Again

June 29, 2012 - Mahwanke, Zimbabwe

While Juju convinces Aiden that she can carry him like African women carry their babies, I prepare for a day in the field:

Water bottle.
Snack.
Sunglasses.
Paper and pen.
Camera.
Toilet paper

I am on the road again.

This time, I am on my way to Mahwanke with Shungu (monitoring and evaluation guy) and Q to distribute 32 goats to some elderly Go-gos (grandmothers) in the middle of nowhere.  We talk easily as now-familiar scenery flashes by the side windows of the car.  I don't lift up my camera when a troop of baboons cross my path or when impala jump in front of the car startling the three of us.  Now, if a rhino or a giraffe were to make their presence known, I'll be all over that!

As we drive, we talk easily about ideas, about development, about hunger, about food security, about goats, rabbits, and chickes.  Shungu tells me that what AFCA does here is life-changing.  He is passionate as he tells me of the goat babies born in programs we've supported in the past and how the children are getting plumper due to good milk.  He is so excited to monitor the activity of various sites because he sees real change. Of all people, he should know.  He has worked all around the country and can easily tell you where villages are located, where the driest areas are, where the biggest hunger lurks.  He will also tell you with a broad smile about the places where hope lives and where grandmas dance at the birth of a new baby goat. 

Go-go Judith

After what seems like half the day, we arrive dusty and a bit parched.  It is a hovel of round huts, a space where dust and greenish-brown skinny trees meet under an intense blue sky.  There, waiting for us, are the grandmas.  They shake my hand in the funny three-part African handshake and some hug me.  Introductions are made and short speeches are called for.  It is obvious, though, that no one came for speeches.  They came for GOATS and we are going to give them some!

Now accustomed to the routine, I write out ear tags and hand them out to each woman as Q explains the details of what we'll be doing in the beautiful clicking sounds of N'debele.  They clap and smile, eager to get the party going.  Beautiful, colorful head coverings stand out against the blue of the sky and the heads bob up and down as they nod in agreement to Q's words.

Q readies the syringe and I get the tagging gun ready.  With a quick nod, goat by goat are brought out of the pen, are vaccinated, tagged and handed to the Go-gos. 

Go-go Judith is about 90 years old and she breaks out in a dance of joy right there, in front of us, missing teeth and all.  She is about six inches shorter than me (imagine that!) and dances ferociously. Her feet work up a pattern in the sand and dust. She grabs my hand and says "thank you" with such intensity that the sky cannot compete with her smile.  She is radiant. 

She is all any donor would ever need to see to feel that their work is valuable.   Please understand that you are a hero to many in a dusty land far from your own. 

You are a hero to me.

More importantly, you are a hero to Go-go Judith and the children she is raising as her own.

Masvingo Bound

tran June 19, 2012 – Masvingo, Zimbabwe



Juju's lemon eyes

The morning starts at 5:30am, getting ready for a new adventure to give out sixty goats to children and their guardians.  We pluck the kids out of bed while it is still dark and join Ncube, who is driving us.  Boiled eggs, peanut butter sandwiches and water accompany us for the long trip ahead.  Eric, Ncube and I are in charge of delivering, vaccinating and tagging the goats and I can’t wait.

We arrive at a dusty, dry, forlorn, tiny grouping of houses and hear signing in the distance. Up ahead just a little bit, we see colorful figures swaying and dancing as they sing a welcome song to our little truck as we whip up dust all around us.  Before I know it, I am swaddled in hugs and kisses and pats and “welcomes!”.  It is a beautiful welcome and I am so happy my family is with me.  Eric has not seen a distribution of goats before and I am excited for him to see this joyous welcome and to see the joy that is to come.

Aiden drumming

We are ushered into a tiny church, complete with four hand-hewn benches and a small table on the front.  There, more singing washes over us, with clapping added in and the beating of drums.  Aiden boldly walks up to one of the drums and adds his piece alongside the drummer.  He concentrates on what he is doing and enjoys every minute of it.  After a short speech from the village goat project coordinator, we hand out the ear tags to each guardian in preparation for the distribution.  We traipse back outdoors into the dust in order to meet the goats and more singing follows and envelopes us.

Eric tagging ears

A para-vet does the vaccinations while Eric and then, I, do the tagging of the ears.  This group is incredibly organized and we are done with the tagging in no time.  Contracts are signed and we are invited back to the little church for a lunch of rice, sadza and some yummy sauce.  We eat with our hands and quickly get full as the sadza hits our bellies.  It is so sweet to sit with these brothers and sisters who are so grateful for the goats given to them.  When I tell them that I’ve prayed for them and won’t stop doing so, they clap and smile.  I love their huge smiles!

Juju and Morgan

One thing they repeat over and over again, in different ways, is their gratitude for the porridge AFCA sent in the past.  They are hungry and they miss it.  Their children walk 20 kilometers to school (each way) and it is hard for them to do this with no food in their bellies.  They can’t concentrate and they fall sick often.  The porridge was a life-saver, they say.  They even act out a drama about the porridge and how it helps them.  I tell them I’ll try to get them more, but I can’t promise.  I don’t know if I can provide it or if it is even available for me to send.  Shipping costs are extraordinary.  Yet, I, like them, pray for a miracle and hold on to hope that we will be able to send porridge once again.

Aiden learning

I am so proud of my children and of Morgan!  They integrate so well with all the folks we meet.  They share stories. They eat the food given to them. They smile, they clap, they sway to the music.  Aiden is so curious – he leans into the man who holds the goats while they are tagged because he doesn’t want to miss anything.  Everyone is patient with him and they give him room and allow his little eyes to see all they want to see.   As I turn around after tagging a goat, I spy Juju telling a young lady a story of some sort.  The girl is laughing and Juju is in her glory.  They swap stories and I turn back to tag another goat.

Jodi teaching and Q translating

He has a future!!

Throughout the day, we think of Jodi, who is conducting a workshop in another village, where we delivered goats last week.  She is surprised to meet not only the families who received goats last week, but to have sixty five people show up for the training.  Apparently, the entire village is out to listen to Jodi!  The talk goes really well, with Q translating and people asking many questions and taking notes. They are hungry for knowledge and as Jodi teaches in one village, our own folks ask for more training and workshops.  Everyone wants their goats to do well, for their milk to help the children and the elderly, for baby goats to be born safely and to grow up strong and well.

So do I.

Matching Grant Awarded to AFCA

We write grant requests all the time and from time to time, we receive great news of having been given one.  Grants are hard to come by!  But, the One Days Wages grant comes at a perfect time for us.  It is a matching grant, which means that ODW will give $12,035 to AFCA if people donate the same amount to us. 

With that in mind, please consider making a donation today at our project page on ODW's website. 100% of donations will be given to AFCA, so everything about this grant is excellent.  And, of course, we will use 100% of the funds we receive directly for the kids.  We will do what we said we will do.  No questions asked. 

Please support this initiative so that we can receive the matching grant!  And, share with many, please.