Goodness, Gracious, Gobs of Goats.

The Milawi goat project, though not widely supported, has proven to be a resounding success. Milwai is one of the world's poorest countries, with epidimic levels of malnutrition in both children and adults. AIDS has taken it's toll in Milawai, with estimates that 14-30% of the population is infected. One aspect of this travesty is what is reffered to as "AIDS orphans." These are the children left orphaned after their parents die from this horrible disease. In an area where finances are already almost non existant, this adds to the burden of their care takers.

So in late 2009, several anthropologists, including Dr. Anne Drew, instituted the goat project. They provided to the native women goats, who could thrive in such a sparse environment, and also provided not only a food source, but a source of milk, a valued and rare commodity in those parts.

The women raised and bred the goats, and used the fruits of their labor to better their living conditions, to provide much need nutrition for their families, and to stave off malnourishment.

It is good to see this type of beneficial interaction in a field such as this. We usually reserve thoughts of altruism for fields such as social work and missionaries, but in this case, the anthropologists came through.