SWRI Raise Over £17,000 for Fund a Farm Project in Africa

SWRI Raise Over £17,000 for Fund a Farm Project in Africa

Members, Institutes and Federations
of Scottish Women’s Rural Institute (SWRI) have generously raised over £17,000 for
the organisation’s Fund a Farm project.  The aim of the project, which has been running since 2005, is to
allow some of the most vulnerable people in Africa, including children orphaned
by war, families affected by AIDS, and disabled people, the opportunity to
become more self reliant.

The money raised will go towards the
purchase of livestock for village communities in South West Tanzania which
remains one of the poorest countries in the world, with many living below the
poverty line and a life expectancy of just 46 years.

International Committee Convenor of
SWRI, Marion Davidson says, “The SWRI is about showing kindness to others, and
the Fund a Farm project has been a very rewarding way of demonstrating kindness
on an international scale.  The
Committee had aimed to raise £6000 for the appeal but this amount has nearly
tripled, which has been an outstanding achievement.”

The Fund a Farm project assists
Tanzanian communities by not only funding the purchase of livestock in the form
of fish, bees, dairy cows or goats, but by providing preparatory training
courses which equip members of the community with the necessary skills required
to sustain and care for the livestock appropriately.

Marion Davidson adds, “It is great
to be making a positive difference in the lives of these vulnerable communities
in Africa, and providing them with the opportunity to become self-sufficient is
crucial.  As the Chinese proverb says, ‘Give
a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you feed him
for a lifetime’, and that is the philosophy behind the Fund a Farm project.”

To find out more about becoming a
member of SWRI or about an institute in your area, call
the National Headquarters in Edinburgh on 0131 225 1724 or email [email protected].