Bóthar na mBó PowerPoint Presentation
LCVP Link Modules
Slide Number and Notes:
1. Bóthar: meaning a road or path, but deriving from a more ancient term
meaning a cow path. The word bó, of course, means a cow. In ancient
Ireland a path or track was called a bóthar if one cow could stand across it
and graze the margins while another passed behind at the same time. Cows
are symbols of wealth in many societies.
2. Bóthar can be studied under the following parts of the LCVP Syllabus:
Link Modules Unit 3: Local Voluntary Organisations/Community Enterprises or
Unit 4: An Enterprise Activity
3. NGO. Non-Governmental Organisation. Bóthar is somewhat like other
NGOs students will have heard of: Trócaire, Concern, Goal, Oxfam, etc.
They all do important and specialised work in many areas, such as providing
schools and teachers, hospitals and doctors, emergency food relief in places
with famine, and so on. Bóthar leaves this specialised work to those who
have the necessary expertise in it; instead, Bóthar concentrates on its own
area of expertise: using farm animals in international development.
Essentially, Bóthar supplies farm animals and training to poor people in
many countries and through this they are assisted to lift themselves out of
poverty.
4. Bóthar’s area of specialisation in development assistance.
5-10. Bóthar projects are located in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin
America and the Middle East. The detailed maps and countries are in the
following slides. This is not a complete list, but a representative sample.
Countries may vary slightly over time as individual projects are completed
and others begin. A quick comparison might be made to the size of Ireland
compared to other parts of the world. For example, Tanzania, one of
Bóthar’s main African project countries, has a land mass of over
886,000Km2, about 13 times the size of Ireland (68,890 Km2).
Uganda: this is where Bóthar started, in 1991 and there are hundreds of Irish
dairy cows in southern Uganda, as well as many pass-on offspring and
others resulting from the AI and crossbreeding programme.
Tanzania: this was the destination country of all Bóthar’s dairy goat airlifts
up to 2005, when a programme was begun in Zambia.
Malawi: this is another African country to which Bóthar heifers have been
airlifted.
With Eastern Europe, which looks very confusing, most students will be able
to identify Italy on the map, so this will help to locate the region.
11. Dairy heifers and dairy goats. Bóthar airlifts heifers, not cows. Do the
students know what a heifer is? (A young cow that has not had a calf.
When she has her first calf she will begin giving milk to feed the calf; then
she is a cow. Bóthar always sends in-calf heifers, so that shortly after they
arrive they will have the calf and then the family will have not one animal
but two.)
12. Why cows and goats?
animals.
The main reasons for working with these
The following few slides tell something about animals that Bóthar works
with which we do not usually find in Ireland, so they do not need to be
airlifted.
13 Camels. (Kenya) A camel will give c. 5 litres of milk per day. Camels
also pull the ploughs so the farmers can plant their seeds. The Bóthar camel
programme among the East Pokot tribe is run by an Irish Holy Ghost
Missionary. The East Pokot people are pastoralists who traditionally herded
native zebu cattle. However, climate change meant the animals could no
longer withstand the harsh conditions and these dairy camels provided a
viable alternative.
14 Bees. Bóthar supports bee projects in five African countries: Ghana,
Cameroon, Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia. This is Ghana. Families live in
forest areas in central Ghana. Three hives are distributed per family. Each
hive makes 15 litres of honey per annum. The honey is high quality and
organic. There are c.40,000 bees per hive. The bees also cross-pollinate the
fruit and nut trees in the forest, leading to up to 50% extra crop yield.
Beekeeping may seem exotic and unusual but it is a valuable source of
income here. Much training is involved.
15 Chicks. Sale of eggs enables the families to buy essentials such as food,
clothing and medicine; also to pay for education and sometimes build
improved housing.
Fish. A river trout project in Moldova - fish farming in mountain streams.
The young trout are called fingerlings. These projects are in state-run
orphanages. Many young people end up in these institutions because their
parents cannot afford to feed or educate their children, and feel they will
have a better chance in these facilities. These young people are known as
Economic Orphans. The fish farms are constructed in ponds fed by
mountain streams and provide a source of nutrition and income.
Pigs (Burkina Faso, Malawi, Uganda) Pigs have large litters (10-12+) twice
yearly. They are used for meat. In Africa, European breed such as these
must be kept in the shade as strong sunlight would cause diseases. They are
far more productive than the native pigs which wander around the villages.
Some 95% of water buffalo are to be found in parts of India, Nepal,
Bangladesh, Thailand and Pakistan, and are the main bovine species in that
region. The domesticated animals are multi purpose and can be used for
dairy, meat or draught purposes. They can weigh anything from 400-900kg.
In common with regular cattle their manure can be used as fertiliser or dried
and made into fuel. Unlike cattle or oxen, which have to be driven from
behind when carrying a load or ploughing, farmers can walk alongside or
ahead of water buffalo, they instinctively follow.
That is the end of the exotic or indigenous animals. The next few slides
return to the heifers and goats for some details on Bóthar’s airlifts.
16. This is Shannon airport from where most of the airlifts depart
17. Irish Dairy goats, having arrived at Kilimanjaro International Airport, in
N. Tanzania.
18. Stages in the journey. Bóthar uses a special, government-approved
facility called a lairage centre to gather all the animals together prior to
travelling. Vets examine the animals and certify them as fit to travel. They
check their testing papers to see that they are in test for TB and brucellosis.
The animals are inoculated against blackleg. They are fed and watered and
have a rest. We are lucky that these valuable animals are all donated free of
charge to Bóthar by generous farmers around the country, and great care is
taken to ensure that they are safe, healthy and comfortable. Also, donor
farmers go to the trouble of driving them to the lairage centre from all parts
of the country on the day of the collection.
From the lairage centre the heifers travel by road to Shannon airport. The
Bóthar transport vehicles have to be very modern and well equipped, again
for the safety and comfort of the animals. On this one, the floors are
hydraulic and go up and down, so you can put two floors of heifers or three
floors of goats aboard. Wherever the animal is standing she can have easy
access to feed and water; also the entire truck is air conditioned so they will
not be too warm. It is important to treat your animals well. Students might
be made aware of the concept of the unwritten social contract that has
existed between mankind and animals since they were first domesticated
thousands of years ago. This is the idea that, as these animals are not wild
and cannot survive by themselves as wild animals do, in return for the
services they give to us – milk, meat, eggs, hide, etc. etc. - humans provide
them with shelter, food and a good quality of life. Sadly, in recent times,
and all too often, economic factors have led to animals being mistreated
badly and used as a mere commodity. Bóthar’s animals are treated as one of
the family in their new homes, and will routinely live longer there than they
do here. The more benign climate and lack of stress from having to be
housed indoors in the winter are factors in this.
19. Here we are inside a DC8 cargo jet. Bóthar always sends Holstein
Friesian heifers, the familiar Irish black and white breed, because they adapt
well and give lots of good-quality milk.
20. This is how the animals are put onto the plane. Having walked up the
ramp, five or six of them go to the rear of the plane and then a special
penning gate is put across. Then another five or six follow and another gate
is put in place, and so on. This ensures and even distribution of weight
along the plane’s length. In the case of dairy goats, each pen will
comfortably accommodate about 30 animals.
21. Advantages of air transport. Bóthar animals travel by air as this is the
quickest and least stressful method, even though it is very expensive. If the
animals were transported by sea the journey would take many days and they
would be exhausted after it – this would not be fair or proper treatment.
22. On departure from the airport in Africa, the animals are first put into
another special facility called a quarantine. The animals will spend two
weeks here. It is like a farm, but they are separated from all other animals.
They have a rest and are checked again to see if they are all right after
journey. Their health status must by law also be checked once again as
receiving countries are naturally anxious to prevent disease from entering
the country. At this stage the families can come in and get used to them
without having to take them away.
23. Distribution. Photo from Tanzania – schoolboys on the way home from
school. A dairy goat being taken in the truck to her new family. Vehicles
must be strong and drivers must go slowly as there are very few proper roads
and there are many rocks and potholes on the track roads. Often animals
will be allocated by lottery among the group of recipients. This system is
transparent and fair to all.
24-25. Yield comparisons of Irish pure-bred dairy cows and goats in
comparison to local African animals. The indigenous animals are used for
meat and, in the case of cattle, for draught power – pulling ploughs and so
on. The hides are used for leather. They are not really dairy animals and a
comparison with the milk yields of the Irish animals will show why the Irish
cows and goats are so valuable and why the families will prize them highly
and look after them so well.
26. Training of recipients. Training is a very important part of the Bóthar
story. We never give an animal to a family unless they have been fully
trained first. When somebody makes a donation to Bóthar, about half of that
money goes to pay the cost of the airfare of the animal, in the case of heifers
or goats, or of purchasing the animal if it is one of the exotic ones; the other
half goes mostly towards the cost of training the farmer.
27. Passing on the Gift. This is another cornerstone of the Bóthar story.
The students may already be familiar with it.
Main points: the sponsored animals are given to the families not as a gift but
as an in-kind loan – just like you or I would go to the Credit Union and get a
loan to buy a new bicycle. The CU wants its money back and we must repay
the loan before we own the bike. It is the same with the animals. How do
the families repay the loan? Do they give us the animal back? Do they pay
us in money? No. When the cow has a calf or the goat has a kid, if it is a
female, they pass it on to another poor family. They also pass on the
training. In this way they have given on the same things that they received
themselves – an animal and training. Then, and only then, do they legally
own the first animal, and they have papers to prove it. How will the second
family repay their loan? They will pass on to a third family, and so on. So,
you are not only helping one family but a whole line of them into the future.
Why is it the females that are passed on? Because they give the milk and
have the offspring. What happens if it is a male – do they kill it for meat?
No, they can keep it if they want, but usually another farmer who has more
money will give them a good price for it. He will use it to cross-breed with
his own African animals and the calves or kids that are born will be better
than he had before and give more milk, so the males are valuable too.
Pass-on ceremonies. Often several families in a village will pass on at the
same time. Everyone has a big celebration – singing and dancing etc. We
can understand the families receiving the pass on animals being happy, but
why would the families having to pass on a valuable animal to someone else
also feel happy? Partly because they are helping their neighbours, but there
is something else very important: they will gain dignity from giving this gift
so that they no longer feel like dependants, but rather have the sense of
becoming donors themselves. The idea of human dignity is possibly the
most important part of the whole Bóthar system.
A little more detail about how the cows and goats are cared for in an
African project:
28. Housing for cows and goats. All families must construct a proper
shelter for their animal before it will be handed over. These shelters are
called zero-grazing units and are made from locally-available materials –
sticks and grass. The Irish animals are not allowed to wander around with
the native African goats and cows – not because we want to be unfriendly,
but because they would catch diseases they would not be used to and would
die. Particularly a disease called East Coast Fever that they get from a little
tick, an insect that lives in the grass and would jump up on the animal and
bite its skin and suck the blood, giving them the disease. Instead they live in
the zero-grazing units, as they are doing no grazing. Also, if they were left
out they might get lost or stolen and they need to be protected from the
strong sunlight.
29. This zero-grazing unit is for a goat. They are always raised up from the
ground for a couple of reasons: firstly so that the animal will be able to lie
down without getting wet in the rainy season – this could cause pneumonia;
secondly, so that any manure or droppings will fall through the floor where
they may be collected by the family; just like in Ireland they are then spread
on the land to help fertilise the crops and vegetables. In some places, such
as Uganda, many families have been able to invest in a domestic biogas
plant, where cows’ manure is fed into a special biomass digester, which,
through a process of fermentation produces methane. This is piped into the
house where it provides a very good gas flame, used both for cooking on
specially made ring stoves, and for lighting by means of a gas mantle. One
cow can provide an adequate supply for the family and this in turn gives a
much healthier way of cooking and saves many trees from being felled for
firewood. Once it is finished, the spent manure then passes into another
chamber and is taken out for use on the land. It then breaks down more
efficiently than if it had not had the methane extracted.
The importance of manure from these animals is often not fully appreciated
by us in this part of the world, where application of artificial fertilisers is
widespread. In developing countries much of the land becomes exhausted
from constant sowing of heavy crops such as maize, without any access to
fertiliser of any kind. Cow manure is a very rich source of nutrition and can
restore a domestic vegetable plot to a high level of productivity. Families
are also taught the importance and practice of composting using a variety of
methods.
A note about families: look at the lady in this picture. How many children
has she got? Five young children – a lot of people to feed every day. You
can see why the animals are so important to them – they feel as if they have
won the lottery! Who is missing from the photo? Very often the families
we help will be missing either the mother or the father, for a couple of
reasons: if there had been a war, e.g. in Rwanda, the father might have been
killed. More often, the cause is disease. What are the two main diseases
that kill people in Africa? (Often students will know HIV/AIDS and
malaria.) Sometimes both parents are dead and you can have large families
being looked after by a grandparent or by uncles or aunts who may have
many children themselves. Sometimes it is even the eldest child who has to
try and care for all their siblings by themselves – the phenomenon known as
Child-Headed Households, which is all too common in Africa. The animal
will make a huge difference to them, perhaps even the difference between
life and death, as, indeed, many goats made that very difference to Irish
people during the Famine. Contrast this to our own situation – if we
received a goat we might find it a nice addition to the family, but it would
not radically alter our lives.
30. Fodder. In many dairy cow or dairy goat programmes, Elephant grass
or Napier grass is often grown beside the family home and next to the zerograzing unit. This grows very well and quickly in Africa. If allowed, it
grows to the size of a small tree, 5-7 metres. It is usually cut at about 2
metres. They will also grow legumes, etc. for protein, depending on the
area.
31. Benefits to the family.
32. What will your support do? Students will be able to list most of these
off.
33. Website address.
Ends.
Sep 2010