Baa Baa Black Sheep

Faith likes to run. I, Andrew, like to talk to her while she runs, so sometimes I go running with her just to talk. I will never be a hard-core runner because I can't get the breathing thing down. Instead of breathing I just talk. A while ago, we were running and talking when we came up with a great idea for Lalmba's children's programs. We call it the "sheep project". It really isn't that novel or new, but we're excited about it and want to tell you.

When I was young my Grandpa Damewood bought all of us cousins a cow of our own. He told us that it was our cow, but he would just take care of it for us. We each named our cow, helped feed it when we visited, sprayed it for flies, tagged its ear with a number. He let us be a part of everything. When our cow had a calf, Grandpa called us up and asked us what we wanted to do with it. We could sell it, or keep it. If we sold it, he mailed us a check. Through that I learned a lot about cows.

Animals are a big part of life here in rural Ethiopia. They are a savings account, an investment. All adults know the basics of animal husbandry. We want the orphans who grow up in Lalmba's children's home to learn these basics. The sheep project is basically the same thing that Grandpa Damewood did for me when he bought me a cow.

The idea is to buy a ewe (female sheep) for each orphan when they reach 10 years of age. The ewe will be their responsibility to take care of, take to the vet, tie up each night, etc... Any offspring from the sheep will be theirs. They can decide whether to keep the lambs or sell them in the market. If they sell a sheep, the money will be put into a savings account in the child's name to have when he/she graduates from our program. We hope this project will teach the children responsibility. If a child doesn't care for his sheep, it will get taken away, or die, or maybe be stolen. We hope that giving the children some real life experience will prepare them for the real world. We who grew up in families take for granted this kind of education.

If anyone is interested in donating to Lalmba to help this sheep project (and other great projects), visit Lalmba.org or email LalmbaUSA@gmail.com.