My Livestock a Blessing…thanks to ActionAid
Empowering Women through Livestock.
Isatu Bongay 45, is one strong woman in the Matham Community, a village four and a half miles from main Kambia town. Isatu doubles as a farmer and a petty trader. “when I use to sell my wares, the profit is not much, so I can’t assist my husband” Isatu informs. As a mother of 5 (3 Girls and 2 Boys) she benefits from the support ActionAid has given in her community “ActionAid in the first place constructed a school, in our community, they later formed us into group and then train us, on our rights, which has helped reduced a lot of violence in our community. With the Livestock, I am more than happy” Isatu explains
I will stick to my farming and the livestock business, as I am seeing much improvement in our lives.....says Isatu.
Benefiting from the livestock, Isatu and her other family members devot their time in rearing the animals” with the pair of goats we had we try to take of them very well, for we know that goats are very expensive and with a sale of pair, that money can do a lot for us” Isatu says. Caring for the livestock involves taking them to a vet once every 3 months. When the first set of goats were born, that was a joy and relief to Isatu and the Family “It came in at a time when my son Dennis made it to class 6 and that was a huge responsibility, as he is going to another class, so when we sold a pair, we got enough to take care of his schooling” Isatu happily says.
Over two years, the livestock Isatu benefited from ActionAid, has increase “with this increase I am planning on building another pen for them so that the female ones that are currently pregnant will deliver safe” Isatu informs. Isatu is considering assisting other women in their group so that they too can benefited “the deal is to give them a pair and when the procreate I will have a pair and the rest can stay with them, which can enlarge my livestock collection and provide support for those other women” Isatu says.
With the help with livestock ActionAid have realized that, it is a productive investment, for community investment as this will provide for women to be help in their homes which will not only earn them respect but will also give them regular income “We were providing seeds but with our assessment we thought it fit to add the live stock package to the community empowerment as there is a lot of dividend yielded from it” Duramany Kamara, Project Officer, Kambia LRP. With this gesture, Isatu is now looking forward to investing more into the livestock business as there is a lot of profit in there. “I will stick to my farming and the livestock business, as I am seeing much improvement in our lives” Isatu says.
As her son Dennis the one closer to the animals more he is planning on becoming a vet, so he will be treating the animals in their community.
