The Wakulima Self-Help Dairy - How it Helps the Community
Submitted by Joanne MacNevin
Global Classroom Teacher Team
March 12, 2006
It is amazing how much a little can do. I arrived in Kenya three days ago and since then I have heard a great deal about the Wakulima Self-Help Dairy Group. The thing is, I'm hearing about the Dairy and all the people it is helping in the most unexpected places. Today, for example, while visiting a school, the local teachers happened to mention how the Wakulima Dairy had helped some families with students at the school pay their fees by providing them with some income from the sale of their milk.
The Wakulima Dairy started out very small and has grown into a force that is helping many in the community. The other night, by chance, two people from the dairy stopped by the house, and then one of them said something that stuck with me. He said that when one farmer has a cow, he employs at least one other person to help him look after the cow. In context, he was talking about how the Wakulima Dairy had set up a credit union, which loans money for cattle to farmers. I believe this quote stuck with me because I feel it illustrates how a community can grow and prosper, if given the right tools and resources for sustainability. In this case, the Wakulima Dairy, which is located in a community of farmers, loans money for cows, and then in turn buys the milk from the farmers so they can earn money to pay back the loan and then continue to make a living.
The Wakulima Dairy is a self-sufficient business, which continues
to expand with the help of Farmers Helping Farmers. According to Gerald, the project coordinator for the Wakulima Dairy, the assistance provided by Farmers Helping Farmers has enabled the Dairy to double its production and the employment provided by the Dairy has changed the standard of living in the community for the better.
Everything I have learned about the Wakulima Dairy since I arrived in Kenya has really opened my eyes to what is important in an international development project: make sure it is something that can be sustained by the local community members for a long time after the project itself has been initiated. My continued exposure to the Wakulima Dairy, and my continuous discoveries about how the Dairy is helping out in the community, is also helping change and reform my philosophy of international development. What would happen, for example, if you set up an initiative that would help solve one of the millennium goals in a particular community? For instance, what would the consequence be of starting a sustainable project aimed at ending hunger? What other millennium goals would be affected, either directly or indirectly?
For me, it is difficult to answer these questions with certainty. However, the Wakulima Self-Help Dairy Group, in the community of Mukurewe-ini, Kenya, has helped do everything from employ farmers to keep students in school.
Global Classroom Teacher Team
March 12, 2006
It is amazing how much a little can do. I arrived in Kenya three days ago and since then I have heard a great deal about the Wakulima Self-Help Dairy Group. The thing is, I'm hearing about the Dairy and all the people it is helping in the most unexpected places. Today, for example, while visiting a school, the local teachers happened to mention how the Wakulima Dairy had helped some families with students at the school pay their fees by providing them with some income from the sale of their milk.
The Wakulima Dairy started out very small and has grown into a force that is helping many in the community. The other night, by chance, two people from the dairy stopped by the house, and then one of them said something that stuck with me. He said that when one farmer has a cow, he employs at least one other person to help him look after the cow. In context, he was talking about how the Wakulima Dairy had set up a credit union, which loans money for cattle to farmers. I believe this quote stuck with me because I feel it illustrates how a community can grow and prosper, if given the right tools and resources for sustainability. In this case, the Wakulima Dairy, which is located in a community of farmers, loans money for cows, and then in turn buys the milk from the farmers so they can earn money to pay back the loan and then continue to make a living.The Wakulima Dairy is a self-sufficient business, which continues
to expand with the help of Farmers Helping Farmers. According to Gerald, the project coordinator for the Wakulima Dairy, the assistance provided by Farmers Helping Farmers has enabled the Dairy to double its production and the employment provided by the Dairy has changed the standard of living in the community for the better.Everything I have learned about the Wakulima Dairy since I arrived in Kenya has really opened my eyes to what is important in an international development project: make sure it is something that can be sustained by the local community members for a long time after the project itself has been initiated. My continued exposure to the Wakulima Dairy, and my continuous discoveries about how the Dairy is helping out in the community, is also helping change and reform my philosophy of international development. What would happen, for example, if you set up an initiative that would help solve one of the millennium goals in a particular community? For instance, what would the consequence be of starting a sustainable project aimed at ending hunger? What other millennium goals would be affected, either directly or indirectly?
For me, it is difficult to answer these questions with certainty. However, the Wakulima Self-Help Dairy Group, in the community of Mukurewe-ini, Kenya, has helped do everything from employ farmers to keep students in school.
posted by Admin at 7:29 AM
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