Good Sh*t...

 

4 flights and 31 hours later we arrived in Kigali.
What an amazing and remarkable 2 days we've had!
We are back in Ruhegeri, now  called Musanze.
Our meeting today with the various leaders of the porter/farmers cooperative was so reassuring.
Any doubts we had about the success of the project and the motivation of the cooperative dissipated as we listened to their stories, frustrations, successes and their hopes for the future.

This past year has been a growing curve for all of us and while mistakes were made, we are all happy to report that more than 170 sheep have been born since September (plus the 220 we gave them!)
Some ewes have already had as many as 3 babies, which is a wonderful surprise as we were hoping, at best, for 2.
And already we are hearing about the positive results of sheep manure in the soil.
One farmer told us that last year his potato crop yielded roughly 300lbs whereas this year, using the sheep manure, his yield was over 1000lbs. That's half a ton of potatoes! And a 300% increase in just one year.
Some of the porters expressed pride in being able to offer excess manure to their neighbours.
They also pointed out that finally understanding the numerous long-term values of raising sheep elevates their pride in sheep ownership to that of owning a cow, traditionally considered culturally superior.

Our numbers could have been even higher but sadly, there were a few still births, and some died, along with the mothers, of complications during the birthing.
Some of the sheep also turned out to be sterile.
Illnesses among the sheep, including foot rot and worms, were dealt with using antibiotics. 
A significant number of newborns also died because of exposure to the cold climate of winter.
Just for the record, cold winters here mean temperatures of 9 degrees celcius. Ha!
And yes, a few sheep died or were mysteriously stolen (impossible as they were tagged and therefore recognizable) just in time for Christmas dinner!
It was decided by the cooperative that these sheep would be replaced by the owners or they would have to leave the cooperative.
No sheep have disappeared since.
A great sign that the cooperative is finally working together with eyes on the future, a huge step forward!

So what's next?

To avoid a repeat of deaths due to cold weather, and to prevent having to keep the sheep in the already crowded little houses the families live, we are working with a Rwandan bank to help provide sheep pens to all the porter/farmers, using sheep as collateral. 
Fabulous!
The cooperative has determined that the ideal number of sheep per family is 4, specifically  3 females and 1 male. 
That provides the farm with the necessary fertilizer. 
Any more than that becomes income for them when the excess sheep are sold. 
Add to this the additional income generated by increased crop yield!
That income buys a better diet, improves health care and guarantees education for the children. And it's on-going and self-sustaining as the sheep continue to reproduce.
Amazingly, in just a little over one year, these subsistence farmers are elevating themselves to being professional farmers.

And we've all learned the number of sheep born last year could have been higher if we had had more rams (males), so 27 additional males will be sourced from those born in the last year, in exchange for new females. 
Our reproduction ratio will now be 1 male to every 5 females. 
Party on boys!