Spring 2005 : Margaret Namirembe gives it a try!
Margaret Namirembe, a beautiful softly spoken lady of the Lugazi Diocese dairy cow project in Uganda, was one of the pioneers of that project group. Before Margaret got her heifer, her only source of income was charcoal burning and general crop production. She used to work tirelessly but at the end of the day she never had enough to feed and educate her children. She had to rely on her relatives for assistance.
 When the project started Margaret was very anxious because she had never reared a cow. However, her feeling was if the women of the Kirinya Woman's dairy cow project managed, why not her. Margaret attended all the training sessions. This was not easy because it was a new project in the area and most of Margaret's friends were sceptical and kept discouraging her. But Margaret was not going to let go that easily. She was willing to give it a go. Fortunately, on October 6th 2003 Margaret received her cow. She was so happy, she made sure that all she learned was put into practice in case the cow died and she became a laughing stock. Neighbours asked her discouraging questions like "will you be able to manage this animal Margaret" and "how are going to manage this animal because you are poor". However, Margaret was determined and she was encouraged by the continuing training and today Margaret says that she would not have managed without this. One of Margaret's neighbours, Mr. Kakembo, had received an animal at the same time as Margaret and the cow was already milking 30 litres of milk a day. This all sounded unreal for Margaret. All she longed for was 5 litres of milk per day.
One day Margaret saw that her cow was getting ready to calve. She alerted some neighbours that she might call on them to help. She prayed hard that nothing bad would happen to her cow. Luckily enough the following night her cow calved down without difficulty while Margaret was asleep. When she woke up she heard a lot of noise near the cow shed. She immediately got up and opened her window only to see a number of people gathering around her shed and looking at the newly born heifer calf.
Margaret got so excited that she went outside screaming. She then sent somebody to get Dr. Abbey, the project vet. Dr. Abbey examined the cow and its calf and assured her that everything was fine. He asked her whether she was well versed with milking and milk handling techniques and her only answer was "yes". He gave her the go ahead to milk the animal and feed the calf.
Margaret was overwhelmed when her cow milked 10 litres that day. Later on the production increased to 15 litres and finally went to 19 litres. This made her friends develop an interest in the Lugazi Diocese dairy cow project and stop gossiping. Today Margaret is very happy with the improvement in her home. She has been able to improve her family's nutrition significantly. She no longer has to beg for school fees for the children. She is able to buy the children proper clothing and she is looking forward to a brighter future.
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