“To market, to market to get a fat pig. Home again, home again jiggity jig.” Somehow, I pulled this little song I sang as a child out of my deep memory as I was considering what this blog is about. This is not a blog of sadness, or what I am learning today, just one of hope and opportunity. Thank you for reading today and I will try to whip up some great adventure or profound thoughts for my next blog! Love my readers! On to the market…
The economy in Uganda is very poor. Most people cannot afford to attend school, therefore they do not finish even a high school education. Most people aim to start their own business which can be as simple as selling tomatoes and bananas and living solely on the income from that. There are small shops everywhere here and most people I meet have some sort of small business. Many people don’t make enough at their business for their kids to attend school. Their kids have to stop school after one or two years of secondary school. Then they go and start a similar small business. Then the cycle begins again.
One of the ministries that we are working with this month is a ministry to single mothers. We have heard stories of mothers who have lost their husbands to violence, mothers who have children whom the father never helped them raise, and some who have divorced and the father has taken no responsibility. Unlike America, many do not have any form of life insurance or child support to rely upon. They have very little to help them other than their family whom have many members of the cycle above.
When I heard the vision of the Pastor here, I felt like it was a genius idea and I wanted to support him fully in it. We went to visit one of the ladies, Doreen pictured above in the yellow shirt, who is helping to lead this ministry. She is also one of the first members of the single mothers’ ministry and is pioneering the pastor’s vision for all of the 80 registered members of this ministry. His vision is to provide them with a female pig. They maintain and take care of the pig then pay a farmer to help them impregnate the pig. When the pig has babies, they give half of them back to the ministry and keep half of them. The half that they give back to the ministry will be distributed to the next members of the ministry waiting for their pigs. This is a sustainable income model for these families and will provide them with an income and a business that can grow. Pork is in high demand in this country thus creating both a source of income and food. I have heard of programs like this before but never have witnessed them first hand and heard the vision first hand from someone who feels it is his responsibility to help these women. There are also plans in the works to begin a similar program for chickens, but they are not in as high demand. This portion will be phased in soon.
What is the price of hope for these women? You may think that buying a pig for someone would be too expensive, but the price for a piglet here is 60,000 Shillings which converted to American dollars is about $25. For only $25, you can provide hope for a single mother to have a sustainable income to send their children to school, have the things they need for their families, and break this cycle. There is nothing official set up to donate to this organization, but I feel that I am supposed to try to get at least EIGHT pigs sponsored while I am here. My team is going to sponsor the first one, but if you feel led to give and donate one, please donate through my campaign website https://www.wepay.com/donations/buy-a-pig-change-a-single-mother-s-life-forever. Thank you so much for considering helping.
“…I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.”
Matthew 25:45
