Widow Uses AERI Trainings to Better Provide for Her Family

Soa’ad Abdel Rahim Abu Daif is a 49-year-old widow who lives in Tunis, a village in the Sohag District in Egypt. Before participating in ACDI/VOCA’s Agricultural Exports and Rural Incomes (AERI) Project, Soa’ad faced severe financial problems following the death of her husband. She has nine children, two of whom are disabled, requiring additional care and constant medication. Before her training with AERI, most of her family income consisted of a small pension from the death of her husband and income from her son who works in Cairo, who is able to send a little money to help with family expenses.

When AERI began working in Tunis three years ago, Soa’ad joined the project through a local group and benefited from the technical assistance provided by AERI to smallholders. She was particularly interested in the AERI-Livestock trainings on water buffalo’s daily milk production, with hoping to increase production and sell the excess milk for cash. After each training session, she applied the new techniques to her farm. Her diligent practice of ACDI/VOCA’s suggestions for raising livestock resulted in an increased milk production of one kg per day for her to sell. Soa’ad was overjoyed that she was able to add to her daily income.

In addition to providing training on day-to-day livestock management, Soa’ad also received help when the time came for her cow to give birth. While it seemed to go smoothly at first, complications arose when the animal experienced a prolapsed uterine. Neighbors gathered to help Soa’ad in her situation and many recommended her to sell the cow before it died, but selling would have netted her at most 1,000 LE, a vast reduction from the cow’s 5,000 LE value as a milk provider. Soa’ad was distraught over the seemingly impending lost of a source of her family’s income.

However, the village business promoter of Soa’ad’s group, Manal Abdel-Hamid, arrived on the scene and immediately contacted the secretary of Tunis Animal Wealth and Society Development Association, of which Soa’ad is a member. The association secretary contacted the contracted veterinary doctor, Dr. Ali Mustafa—an AERI-trained veterinarian—to come and see the water buffalo. The doctor arrived and after checking the animal, he treated the water buffalo, assuring Soa’ad that it would not die. Tears turned to joy once again in the house, where Soa’ad thanked Dr. Ali and said to him “You returned to us the main source of our income.” Dr. Ali followed-up on the cow for a period of two weeks, and then he gave Soa’ad specific recommendations on how to get the water buffalo ready to calve again within six months.