G.O.A.T.s 🐐 A Successful Sustainability Project!
G.O.A.T. —aka 'Greatest of all time' — is a catchy acronym people use to describe someone or something that is top tier. We would describe our furry friends, as exactly what they are, the G.O.A.T.
Redemption Song Foundation's goats are a part of the Kalehe Village "food forest," a sustainable, organic agricultural project that brings income and food for this indigenous community — we think it is a "greatest of all time" project!
Our goat project's "pass on the gift" ideology was inspired by our director's journalistic reporting on the Jane Goodall Institute in January 2014: The first two kids from each goat female are donated to families that do not have goats. In this way, the project is self-sustaining and we do not have to keep buying more goats, only medicine and the cost of building additional goat pens.
Not only that, but the goats (and our rabbits) create fertilizer and insect repellant! The goat poo becomes manure for their organic garden and we also harvest the urine to make a natural insect repellant and fungicide for the gardens and coffee plantations (it uses goat urine, nitrogen-fixing plants, and other items marinated for 30 days).
The project has been extremely successful: one goat has produced twins twice! We now have four Batwa families with goats, with two shared goat pens. Once they have given their "gift" goats, the family is free to eat a goat, or to sell them, as long as they keep a female for breeding. Owning goats allows not only provides a sustainable food sources but it gives the Batwa some level of financial independence.
sThis is Edgar with goat twins in his family's goat pen. 🐐
Several goats and a goat kid — fat and happy!
Please consider donating to support the construction of another goat pen. They cost around $200.
