Reaching out to rural Uganda
Faculty members involved in milk goat project to help AIDS-orphaned children

October 3, 2008

By Colleen MacPherson

The lowly milk goat is at the centre of a new initiative undertaken by U of S faculty members that holds great hope for AIDS-orphaned children in Uganda, but also creates important opportunities for the institution and its students. 

Adil Nazarali, head of the pharmacy division in the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, Dr. Claire Card from large animal clinical sciences in the Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM) and Carol Henry, professor of nutrition in the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, traveled to Uganda this past summer on a project funded by Vets Without Borders. Their goal was to assess a micro-credit project involving goats set up by the Foundation for AIDS Orphaned Children, a local non-governmental organization.

Card describes it as a "goat pyramid scheme" whereby elderly family members, many of them grandmothers, raising children orphaned by AIDS receive one or two goats and later, pass back to the program two to three goats. What became apparent is that introducing milk goats into the scheme has enormous potential benefits, particularly for women and children in an area with pressing social and health issues.

Solving such problems requires rural agricultural projects, said Card, "and the goat is the quintessential metaphor for African survival – they're docile, they eat anything and their milk is so nutritious. Goats are one of the keys in terms of meeting people's needs."

This summer's trip was Card's third to Africa, and a presentation she did on campus inspired Nazarali: "I heard Claire's talk and I got excited. I grew up in Uganda and felt my interest in drug therapy gave me something to offer." Henry brings to the group extensive expertise in child nutrition, he said.

After visiting rural Uganda as well as spending time in the capital Kampala meeting with various interest groups, "what we have to do now is work on a process to see how we can help them," he said. Over the winter, the group will be seeking additional funding, including support for interdisciplinary research projects in areas like health, nutrition and micro-financing. Card said she expects the milk goat scheme could be a major Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) project within five years.

Both Card and Nazarali stress that the intention is to always work with in-country expertise to avoid duplicating efforts already underway. "It doesn't matter who starts … as long and you can come in with an open mind, and respect and cultivate those in-country partnerships that share a common view of a better future. We don't want to replicate anything that's already being done. The goal is to work our way out of our jobs as facilitators by training the trainers and plugging the knowledge gap."

The two also share the conviction that the benefits of the goat project, and others like it, are shared by everyone involved. "I've got student lined up down the hall" looking for opportunities to become involved, said Card. Nazarali added pharmacy and nutrition students at both the undergraduate and graduate level are also keen.

"It's a win-win situation for them," he said. "They help others, but they're also transformed into better human beings because of this kind of international exposure."

"And this is what universities are supposed to do," Card added, "join the international community. It's the whole thing about knowledge without context. Our life experiences as faculty are what bring that context to our students."