GOT GOAT?
Can some goats and pigs make a difference in the lives of children who are orphaned in Uganda? You bet they can! I know of such a village, 17 miles outside the capital city of Uganda. Jjokolero is an AIDS & Orphans Village where most of the children are either being raised by older siblings or an elderly grandparent. Food is scarce and education is not available to all the childen because of expensive school fees. The children are the ones who suffer when their beloved mother and father die because they were infected with the deadly AIDS disease. Many of the children themselves have contacted the disease. The day I visited the village, I watched with tears in my eyes, as a nine year old girl's lifeless body wrapped in cloth was being carried from the trunk of the car - she had died the night before of AIDS. The picture of the dugged out grave is for her. She wasn't the first in her family and probably won't be the last in her family to die of AIDS. Uganda leading the way with great success with experimental drugs for AIDS is available if you can afford it. But not for children who don't have enough money for food each day. By purchasing exotic goats and pigs, this village of over 150 people would be able to be self sufficient. The villagers could sell the goat milk and the offspring of the animals. By starting a co-op business, the village could be self sufficient. There is an old saying: "you can give a man a fish, he eats for a day - but if you teach a man to fish he eats for a lifetime". Giving out handouts, doesn't help anyone, evidentially the money runs dry and besides the people would rather work for their own livelihood. By purchasing animals for a village, they would be able to have the gratification that with a little help, they are taking care of themselves and their fellow villagers. What have you done in your life to make a difference in someone else's life. Are you willing to possibly give up your coffee latte each day for a month to purchase a goat, so a toddler can know what it's like not to go to bed hungry each night? Or are you willing to give up movies for a few months, so that a young child can attend school to better themselves? Or maybe you don't even have to give up anything - maybe you have money you are stockpiling away for that rainy day! Do you ever wonder that if you were to die today, what you would be remembered for? Your love of coffee, your knowledge of the most recent movies or your bank account. Did you make a difference in the life of someone outside your family. At my church, our motto is: "Loving People Into God's Kingdom". Loving is Great - don't get me wrong, but loving without actions, isn't real love. My pastor always says: "You are blessed to be a blessing". Have you blessed someone lately?