A report from Will Carr, who volunteered out of the blue to come to Kagando and help out. A lot of work (over several months and many emails) went into the planning this successful project. It was an impressive effort by someone keen to give their time and money in such an inspirational way, and a reminder that many important projects are not medical.

A New building for Goats on the Farm 

“In February my partner Holly and I went out to Kagando. I managed the building of a goat shed for the farm, which supports the Hospital with income, while Holly got involved with hospital outreach and teaching. In the UK I am fortunate to to run a successful sculpture business as well as managing our family farm, and I was excited to donate a project which would give a continued income to the hospital. At full capacity of 50 goats we hope there will be an income of £1000 per year coming to the hospital.Communicating with the team on the ground meant I was able to order material to site prior to arriving and had a foreman and up to 10 guys working. I had to adapt constantly to changing requirements and local design intricacies, which kept it all very interesting. If it felt like we were behind schedule I could get more guys in and catch up, as labour was much cheaper than equipment. Concrete was mixed by hand, without a concrete mixer, and health and safety was minimal, using man power rather than the equipment that we would use here at home.

The language barrier was tricky to begin with, and I was sometimes unsure why things happened the way they did, but all seemed to work out in the end! I had such a great team and managed to get the project complete in 3 weeks with only a few finishing touches for them to do after I left.

It was a great experience to see another culture and different ways of doing things. I was reminded how lucky we are here, and how we live in such a throw away society. It was humbling to be welcomed in to the community and the appreciation for our help was heart-warming.“

We are now looking for funding to continue filling the shed with goats.