Utete, TZ – Cow project suffers setback but still brings benefits – 14 Aug 2012

In summer 2011 Parmiters students donated a cow to Siasa Primary School. They named the cow “Ng’ombe” , which means cow in Swahili. Today, Ng’ombe is healthy and getting fatter by the day. However, she suffered a miscarriage and no attempts to re-impregnate her have been made. In cows, spontaneous miscarriages may be caused by contagious disease, but it is not clear why Ng’ombe suffered one (Encyclopedia of New Zealand). Also, it has come to light that Ng’ombe is actually a female meat cow and not a milk cow like initially thought. This means that when she has a calf, she will produce milk, but a lot less than her cousin the milk cow. Ways to overcome these challenges are currently being discussed with the head teacher, Mr. Mwakagali, and he remains positive that we can overcome. We will bring you more information in next quarter’s newsletter.

Additionally, the looming threat of wild animals has made the importance of maintenance to the shed paramount. The cow shed will give her a great shelter with shade, water, and a grass bed for her to relax in.

Ng’ombe will not only bring the school income with her milk, her manure has been used to fertilize the school’s sesame field, which has already yielded 90kg of sesame seeds. They were able to sell the sesame for 225,000 TZS (90 Brit Pnds or 150 USD) and they plan to purchase teaching materials with the funds raised.

The Chairwomen of the Parent Committee, Tatu Msumi, remains optimistic about the future of the cow project and looks forward to potential growth next year by adding another milk cow if funds are available. The success of this endeavor is vital so all revenue and expenses should be recorded and analyzed to ensure that the project can remain sustainable.