Meet Olive and Nadine
In rural Rwanda it can be an extreme struggle for children with disabilities to get the care they need. Not only do they face the physical and logistical difficulties of travelling to medical appointments but also the isolation the stigma surrounding disability in communities brings. Parents with disabled children are often unsupported in their community. This is where our Big Pig Project steps in to provide the vital support families need to care for their children.
This is how just one little pig changed a little girl’s life, the lives of her family and others in her community.
Olive lives with her mum and brother at the top of a hill in a remote village in Rwanda.
She was born with ‘Knocked Knees’ – her knees touched together, but her ankles were apart, and as she grew up, she struggled to walk. She certainly couldn’t make it up and down the hill where her home was. By the time Olive was three, her mum Nadine knew that if Olive’s legs weren’t treated, she wouldn’t be able to go to school.
Nadine was alone looking after the family. Her husband had been the sole earner – but he died. So, they had little money – and it was impossible for Nadine to leave Olive alone to go to work. And with no husband and a child with disabilities to look after, there was little support from her community.
Well, Chance for Childhood is a charity that works to find families just like Olive and Nadine – and it did and recruited them into “The Big Pig Project.”
How does the big pig project work?
Nadine was given a pregnant sow, and we showed her how to look after it and provided a vet for check-ups. When the pig gave birth, Nadine sold the piglets. Finally, she could afford Olive’s treatment—leg braces and physio to fix her ‘Knocked Knees’. Within a few months, and now at age four, Olive began to learn to walk.
And soon, there was another litter of piglets on the way…more to sell, which this time, Nadine used to buy banana trees and chickens to help sustain her family. Nadine also gave piglets to other local families whose children also had a disability, and so began a cycle of support and self-reliance in the wider community.
Olive is now five – and she loves walking to school. When she’s at home she enjoys helping Nadine on their plot – they now have a cow, chickens, and a healthy banana tree plantation.
And to think, it all started with just one Pig.
Meet our Vet Jean Paul
How can you help?
It costs £80 to buy a pregnant pig. £46 pays for it to be immunised, helping it live a long, healthy life. Your donation today could help transform the life of a family in Rwanda.