The sun in Lapono beat down fiercely. Little rain has come to region, so dust swirled in the air with hot wind. Despite the heat, residents waited eagerly in the village center, talking and laughing with palpable excitement.
Following a long training on goat rearing earlier last month, Justice and Reconciliation Project staff returned to Lapono on Wednesday, October third. They presented thirty-eight goats to Women’s Advocacy Network group members there. The group was also given a cash box and fund, from which they can take small loans.
Distributing all thirty-eight goats was an exhilarating process. The animals were tried in a grassy field and labeled with numbers one through thirty-eight. Stubborn, they bleated and kicked at the ground. Residents were also assigned numbers and found the goats with corresponding digits. After picking their animals women cried out in ojili or jubilation and everyone posed for a picture.
Life in Lapono remains difficult, and the formerly abducted must surmount many obstacles. Stigma runs rampant. “Now people are trying to abuse us from the community. They are violating our rights to live in harmony,” a woman named Akello said. She has remained in Lapono for more than a decade; ever since she escaped the rebels. Furthermore, according to the Community Development Officer, Bena Sarah Ongom, domestic abuse, school dropouts and teenage pregnancy are also prevalent. Many women possess limited, if any, ownership over crucial resources.
Thus, the goats mark new opportunities. It is a signal of possibility. Now, the animals will aid in farming. As time passes, money raised from the goats can help send children to school, pay for medical bills, or be used to buy more nutritious food in the market place. “I know my life is going to change,” said Akello. She continued, “I am going to take good care of [the goats] to ensure they grow up very well and help me in paying for my children to go to school. I didn’t get the chance to study so I need my children to study.” She is currently a mother of four.
Ideally, effect of the project will reach beyond WAN group members, and influence people throughout the area. “They can act like role models in the community, so that other people can adopt their standard of life and their standard of saving culture. The goats that they have been supported with can multiply, and eradicate household poverty,” Ongom said.
Goat deliveries were not limited to Lapono. JRP staff gave thirty-six goats to residents of Namokora, near the border with South Sudan. In the coming weeks, they will journey to Adjumani and Soroti. The program is made possible due to the generous support of the Welfare Fund.
