FATUMA ABDI

My name is Fatuma Abdi. I am the mother of six children and we live in Moyale. I lost my husband a year ago after he had suffered from cancer for several years. The bill for the hospital and medication was so high that we had to sell the few cattle we had to settle it. In order to provide for my children, I fetched water from the village water point, carried it on my back, searched for buyers, walking long distances searching for buyers at homes and also at building sites. The money I got was always too little to buy meal or clothes for all my children, or to take them to hospital when they were ill. Every day I woke up drained physically and emotionally as I saw my children weaker, with sunken eyes, protruding bellies, and frequently with boils on their bodies. Even with all my demanding work, I could not meet their needs. The older children were laughed at by their age mates because of their tattered clothes.

Hope finally came back into my heart when I received two goats free of charge from the Goat Project. Together with my children, we received them with great excitement. The children quickly built a shed for them, gathered leaves, fed them and gave them all the water we had fetched for our meal that evening. When the goats give birth in a month’s time, my sickly children will drink its nutritious milk to strengthen their immunity. I will use the proceeds from selling some of the milk to buy other basic needs like salt, flour, and sugar, among other items. I will also save some money to buy clothes and pay the school fees of my children, who attend the nearby school. Thank you so much for the goats. I have great hope for the future and now have the courage to lead my family into it. With the guidance of the community leaders, I will give the first kid of each goat to another beneficiary who is waiting.