World Ark Magazine - November/December 2007 - (Page 23)

ar y for Rwandans, she names her heifer I ny uba h i ro, wh ich in the K inyarwanda language means “the respected one.” Of the three gallons of milk produced per day, one is kept for personal consumption, providing the protein that her growing children need. Mukarubibi sells the remaining two gallons at market, earning 45,000 Rwandan francs (about $85) a month. Mukarubibi explains that she used to have to buy milk, but often could not afford the cost. Today she feeds herself, nourishes her children, and gives Hamad Mukarubibi, 12, is HIV-positive. He relies on medicine and the milk from his some of the surplus to Heifer cow to stay in good health. others in her village. “The neighbors are happy with the cow too, because they are sharing in the benefit,” she says. “They in turn help me out. So there is a level of solidarity that has come to this community. Today I am happy to note that I have a nice calf in my shed, and in the next few months, I will be able to pass it on and continue this project.” E sperance Mukagatsinzi, 45, breaks off a healthy branch from her avocado tree. Using the leaves as a tasty incentive, she lures her Jersey cow from the covered concrete floor of her shed out into the wooden rail fenced pen for some exercise. A fuzzy, one-week-old calf lifts its head to watch the action, but remains curled up on a bed of straw. Mukagatsinzi narrowly survived the 1994 genocide. During the war, her children were scattered about in different families for protection and eventually landed into safe custody with her mother, who was Hutu. Mukagatsinzi, however, held a governmentissued Tutsi card and consequently had to live in hiding. Ironically, she credits one of the chief “hunters” of the Interahamwe in her village for sparing her life. Though he was not a Tutsi, he had a Tutsi wife, who also happened to be Mukagatsinzi’s childhood friend. Because of the women’s relationship, the militia man took them both into his custody during the springtime of 1994. This is only one of the traumatic events that Mukagatsinzi had to endure. She was also raped when she was a young girl. In 2000, she and her husband, Hamdun Mutsinzi, a veteran soldier of the RPF, both tested positive for HIV/AIDS. The couple was severely debilitated by the disease when they received their pregnant cow from Heifer. The November/December 2007 | WORLD ARK www.heifer.org 23 http://www.heifer.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of World Ark Magazine - November/December 2007

World Ark - November/December 2007 Contents Letters For the Record The Good Life Asked & Answered Pursuing Happiness (PRODUCT) RED: Consumer Power Fights AIDS in Africa Rwanda Reconciles End Hunger Now Protecting the Poor from Climate Change Mixed Media Heifer Bulletin Heifer Spirit Heifer Calendar Reflection

World Ark Magazine - November/December 2007

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