Children of the Sahara Foundation

In the Sahara Desert, owning a herd of goats, sheep, or camels is the livelihood of nomads. On January 1, Sahara Children helped a young nomad couple in Erg Chegaga in south-eastern Morocco get a kick start to their new life together. Abelhamid and Khadija, around 20 years of age, have nothing and no means of acquiring a herd of their own. Abelhamid, only earns some subsistence income taking care of the animals of another nomad group.

With the financial help of our donors and the assistance of the experienced desert man Mohammed, Sahara Children were able to provide four goats—three females and one male—to the young couple. Abelhamid and Khadija are the first recipients of the animal banking initiative which lends a start-up group of goats to needy nomad families to help them create their own herd. Of the three female goats, two were already pregnant, a good sign that the goats will soon reproduce and multiply. When the herd has grown and become self-sustainable, the young couple will return four goats to Sahara Children who will in turn forward them to another needy family.

Liz Williams reports that the goats were purchased from a herder in the region. Next to a small camp, with a few blankets on the desert sand, a tea pot bubbled on some embers while Mohammed and the other men negotiated the price. By handshake, the deal was done. Mohammed inspected the animals and chose the four goats. They had been getting fat on the flowering dessert rocket/arugula. The young couple smiled proudly at the sight of their goats and were very grateful.

$260 can make a significant change to the lives of a nomad family. Please consider a small donation.

Photos by Liz Williams