When my sister Margaret Adhiambo passed on, I was so sad because she was a single mother to a three month little girl. My other sister, Lillian took the baby and was keen to bring her up. Unfortunately she and her husband also passed on. Little Elizabeth was now on her own. I had to step in and bring up my niece. With five children of my own and no reliable source of income, this was going to be a daunting challenge.
Elizabeth was performing well in school and scored 313 marks in her final examination in primary school. I was devastated since I had only enough money to take her to the nearest day school and not the Girls’ boarding school she had been admitted to. The local leaders and community knew my struggles and the Child’s case and forwarded it to the project. I blessed God when my niece was registered as a beneficiary. The project supported me and I took Elizabeth to the school she was admitted to. Currently she is in form 3 and will be completing high school next year.
North Gem further trained us on income generating activities. Together with twenty nine other guardians we formed a group named Lundha guardians group. We know that it is very hard to find fresh milk in our sub location. We did table banking and requested the project to help us purchase a diary cow. The project brought a veterinary officer who advised us on how to build a cow shed and take care of a dairy animal. They further assisted us put up the structure.
In December 2013, the project purchased us a Fresian cow whom we christened “Anita”. This is a dream come true. Group members have shifts bringing the animal food and water. As a group we have identified land where we want to grow enough Napier grass. When the animal calves, we will sell the milk to the local cooperative society and save the money so that in future we purchase more animals. It is our vision that in years to come everyone in this group will have a dairy cow. God bless North Gem project.