Helping Pakistan's flood-afflicted families -- one goat at a time

Some of the thousands of goats the IRC is distributing to flood-impacted families in Pakistan's Sindh province this summer.

Pi James/IRC

It's hard to place a value on a goat in a place like Sindh, but it's no surprise that at a recent distribution of thousands of goats, thousands of flood-affected families waited patiently in line. Residents of the Pakistani province are still recovering from last year's devastating floods, which killed livestock and wiped out crops. I was in Sindh recently, for one of the distributions.   

It’s the first week of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, and I’m standing in a swimming pool-sized, dirt corral surrounded by hundreds of multicolored and extremely curious goats. As herders shepherd them around the pen, the heaving patchwork of coats creates a kaleidoscope of browns, creams, blacks and henna-dyed burnt orange. Thankfully, today it is overcast and the cloud-cover provides my hairy companions, fasting colleagues, and me, a welcome break from Sindh’s notoriously searing heat.   
 
A yellow curtain hanging over the entrance moves, and a 32-year-old villager named Shenaz comes in. An International Rescue Committee staff member checks the number on her coupon, and finding the goat with the corresponding tag, hands it over.
 
“I’m going to use the goat to provide milk for my family,” Shenaz explains, as she poses for a photo gripping her goat proudly. “Before the floods we had livestock.  Now nothing remains,” she tells me, shaking her head.  “Everything was damaged.  This goat will be the only animal we have now.”
 
As Shenaz leads her goat off, a steady stream of women and children continues to arrive. They clutch their registration numbers and ID cards close; families give their names to clipboard-carrying IRC staff,  identities are confirmed,  then they depart, tugging their new goat behind.
 
It’s obvious how important this program is. When our IRC team arrived this morning, there was already line of people already waiting for their goats. In total, 4,000 families will receive a goat; the distribution will be staggered as the goats are bought, vaccinated and de-wormed and then quarantined to avoid the possible spread of disease.  
 
A few weeks from now, each family will receive a cash voucher valued at $120, which they can use to purchase another goat, or to support the rearing of the first one.
 
This is part of a wider program the IRC is coordinating, as part of a consortium of six international aid agencies, to help communities recover from the devastating floods of 2010.
 
A woman named Arbab enters the paddock wearing the traditional long flowing top with billowy pants. Arbab has seven children. “We had a cow, a goat and a buffalo” she tells me, “but that was before the flood.  I will use the goat’s milk to feed my children.”  I notice her daughter nestled in her arms.  She’s one-year-old, but unable to hold her head up; she looks more like a newborn.
 
Malnutrition is the underreported crisis in Sindh. A recent UNICEF report revealed malnutrition rates of more than 23 per cent in northern Sindh, well above the World Health Organization’s emergency threshold of 15 per cent.  And rates were high even before the floods destroyed millions of acres of arable land.
 
The IRC livelihoods teams have worked closely with health staff to get the first goats to families with malnourished children.
 
So this goat distribution is about improved nutrition, but is also designed to help stoke the local economy. Some women tell me they intend to raise their goats for breeding.
 
In the afternoon, as I drive back home, a bright orange Qinqi – a local rickshaw taxi – passes, and I see one of our goats wedged tightly between two women perched on the back seat.  We laugh and wave to each other as I snap their photo. 
 
For communities that have been through so much recently, there has been a lot of joy today. It gives me hope.  For families who have lost everything each goat represents a step towards getting their lives back on track and providing a healthier and more hopeful future for their children.

Pi James is the IRC’s communications coordinator for our Pakistan programs.