Small Goat - Great Impact

A few weeks ago there was a wedding ceremony in one of the villages in which we work. After the service, a girl greeted Pastor Azindow one of our church leaders. She asked him, ‘Do you remember me?’ Azindow gave her a long look but had no idea who she was. She told him that years ago Azindow came to her village and that she was given a goat by the church. At that time, the girl called Agnes had just started the first year of Junior High School (JHS). She told Azindow what had happened since then. Just before she received the goat she had stopped going to school because her parents had no money to continue to pay for her education. When Agnes received the goat, she was also given a uniform, books, a school bag and shoes. This meant she could go back to school. After a few months the goat gave birth to another two goats and later these goats also reproduced. So the one goat Agnes received became a ‘cash pot’ to which has funded most of her schooling ever since. It has been about seven years since Agnes received the goat and she finished Senior High School last year. She temporarily teaches at a private school in Yendi and hopes to continue her education in the near future.

Agnes now working as a teacher

Agnes says that it is her aspiration and motivation to offer help and love to the little ones she is teaching just as the Church through the ‘Goats Project’ helped and encouraged her. Do you know this song? ‘The Father gave the Son, the Son gave the Spirit, the Spirit gave us life and the gift goes on and the gift goes on.....’ The little efforts we undertake together with you in touching the lives of people can have a great impact and do multiply.

Agnes and her class

The ‘She Goats Project’
Children in Dagbon dream of becoming future leaders, however, this is not without challenge. Most of the children’s parents main occupation is subsistence farming and trading. The poverty rate among the people is high, likewise the illiteracy rate, which is about 80%. All these factors have affected the Dagomba and Konkomba children’s education, health, nutrition, basic rights and dignity. In trying to improve the situation of the children we are involved in the ‘She Goats Project’. The primary goal of this project is to help orphans and children from extremely poor families to go to school. The project also helps to promote children’s education in the rural parts of Dagbon. The project is administered by buying female goats and a one-time supply of school uniforms, shoes and books for the children. The female goat is often given to the parents or guardians of the needy children to rear them for the children in the hope that the goats will multiply and the offspring will be sold to increase the income level of the family. As a result we can also speak freely with the parents of those children about the need to send their children to school and practically show God’s love and compassion for the people around us. If you would like to contribute to this project, please let us know. Currently, a goat costs about 30 euro.

A recent beneficiary of our Goats Project

Thank God for:

• The way He uses you and us to impact the lives of others

• The many children that have benefitted from the project so far

Please pray for:

• Agnes and for many other children who received goats, that they will be able to continue their education and in turn impact the lives of others

• Ways and means to testify about God’s love

• Rain – the rainy season has somehow started but so far the rain has not been enough to plough and sow