In the Spirit of Fratelli Tutti encyclical and convinced that “development is the new name for peace” as was said by Pope Paul VI in his 1967 encyclical Populorum Progressio, Friars of Saint Francis of Assisi Parish, Karama in Kigali archdiocese gave 129 goats to 43 small Christian communities and Catholic movements on 23rd December 2024 so as to improve their livelihood, to enhance fraternity and social cohesion.
The Friars will continue to support these communities and movements with medical follow up for the goats for six months to make sure that the project achieves the desired results. This project was possible thanks to the support of MZF, Germany. We hope that sharing livestock will help to cement unity and collaboration among the members of the above mentioned groups and so lead to a more peaceful co-existence. These groups usually collect together some funds to support each other especially when a member is hospitalized, has lost a family a beloved, has given birth, or is in any other need that requires urgent help. Sometimes, they also identify vulnerable people for whom they pay health insurance or school fees for their children. It is this noble practice of mutual support that motivated us to mobilize help for them and it is our conviction that thanks to the produce of these goats, these people will be able to support each other in a more meaningful way.
As it is in the local culture, the first goat that will be born in each group will be given to the parish, and the parish in turn will give it to a vulnerable person that will have been identified. This means that within one year, these fourty three groups that received goats will have given a goat to the parish and so fourty three vulnerable people will have received.
And the first born of the goats given to these people will also be given to the parish which will in turn give it to another poor person and the same process will go on and on. One of the benefactors of the goats said: “by receiving these goats with such a vision, there will be an unbreakable chain of gift giving and gift receiving which will necessarily help us to bond together as a community united by mutual support. In other words, this will help us to rise above social conflicts which usually divide us.”
Br. Jean Eric Mutabazi, OFM
JPIC Animator
