We spent the first part of the day getting our running legs used to the 5000 feet elevation gain in Kigeme. As usual, we felt like the "pied piper" with all the Rwandan children running with us. They sure have grit! They always ask us the same question- "where are you going?" and sadly, we cannot answer them as we are too out of breath.
After recovering from our morning "sports", we met with the Food Security Team to discuss our itinerary for the week. As usual, many changes were made in order to accommodate our tight schedule in Rwanda this year. But, ever the gracious hosts, our Rwandan friends were patient with our requests.
After recovering from our morning "sports", we met with the Food Security Team to discuss our itinerary for the week. As usual, many changes were made in order to accommodate our tight schedule in Rwanda this year. But, ever the gracious hosts, our Rwandan friends were patient with our requests.
Chrysostome, our 'right hand man' when we are here in Rwanda. Coming from the community works day. Dad - check out those gum rubber boots!!
Our new friend, Kennedy, showing us his skipping talent. The kids use a vine growing in the grass and it seems to work quite well!
After lunch (a deliciously fresh meal made by our friend Josephine), we travelled to Tare, an area about 10 minutes from Kigeme where we got to see the Milk Collection Centre first hand. The centre was given to the Food Security Program by World Vision and the government due to the positive changes being implemented by the program. The goal is to be able to supply all the neighbouring towns with safer milk to drink. The Centre has been open for two months now and they are seeming to get the hang of the milk business. Currently they are bringing in 400-500 litres of milk per day to be processed. Their capacity is 1000 L/day and so there is room to grow.
Here are three pictures of the centre. The cow and calf pictured above are from one of the farmers who bring their milk to the centre.
The centre is facing some challenges, however. There is a lack of water to the area during the dry season (July and August) making water a challenge to access. They are also finding it challenging to reach further areas to collect milk from due to lack of vehicles to access these areas and the local cows are still only producing, on average 4-5 L milk/day. They are attempting to overcome these challenges as they can. They have trained 43 paravet assistants to go into the area and teach the farmers about disease prevention in their cows as well as general animal husbandry. These paravets will also be able to get more farmers to bring their milk to the collection centre. This will allow for safer milk to be distributed throughout the area as well as a good source of revenue for the Milk Collection Centre who can then use the profits to help sustain the Food Security Program.
We are going to visit the Centre again on Monday so more pictures are to come!!
The centre is facing some challenges, however. There is a lack of water to the area during the dry season (July and August) making water a challenge to access. They are also finding it challenging to reach further areas to collect milk from due to lack of vehicles to access these areas and the local cows are still only producing, on average 4-5 L milk/day. They are attempting to overcome these challenges as they can. They have trained 43 paravet assistants to go into the area and teach the farmers about disease prevention in their cows as well as general animal husbandry. These paravets will also be able to get more farmers to bring their milk to the collection centre. This will allow for safer milk to be distributed throughout the area as well as a good source of revenue for the Milk Collection Centre who can then use the profits to help sustain the Food Security Program.
We are going to visit the Centre again on Monday so more pictures are to come!!
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