DR Congo: A vulnerable family sees its future transformed thanks to pig farming donated by World Vision

By Didier Nagifi, Communications Officer

Miradi, 19, and her little sister Elohim, 10, are sponsored children from the World Vision programme living in Mbala, in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Miradie is a pupil in the fourth year of the humanities pedagogy.

Thanks to the support of World Vision, they have had an interesting experience after receiving two pigs while their father was going through a difficult time in his life.

Miradi's father is an electrical engineer. Bandits kidnapped him on his way home from work. A month later he was found homeless in the street. His mental state was disturbed. He had wounds all over his body and blood on his clothes. This situation disrupted his home and, above all, the lives of his children.

‘When my father was working, we were happy. But one day, our father went to work and, on his way, home, he was kidnapped by bandits. We looked for him for a month but to no avail. But when we found him, he was seriously ill and completely deformed. Since that day, our life has changed completely, says Miradi, Our father became sickly. He couldn't work anymore and everything changed. We had to stop studying’, she adds.

Miradi and her sister were not the only ones affected by this unfortunate event. Their mother was shocked too.

‘Once my husband was found, his brothers took him to hospital for treatment. He was treated, but since then nothing has worked. It was a very difficult time for us because my husband was our only provider’, explains Miradi's mother, Bébé.

In response to the development problems in this region, World Vision has provided support to 297 of the most vulnerable households, who have been trained in small livestock and poultry rearing techniques and involved in sharecropping 125 pigs, 195 rabbits and 270 ducks, to increase livestock production in these households.

As a member of this community, Miradi's mother, Bébé, was selected and took part in the training that World Vision organised on pig rearing techniques. At the end of the training, World Vision supported her with a couple of pigs to raise to provide for her household.

Miradi's family was delighted to have this pair of pigs with which to start farming.

When Miradi's mother received this support from World Vision, she started breeding and after a few months, the pigs gave birth to 7 piglets. They were returned to World Vision for sharecropping and the others were sold to pay for the children's education. The money was also used to buy food and to start an income-generating activity, selling maize. This now enables her to support her family and her husband.

Thanks to the pig farm, Miradi and her brothers have returned to school and she is now completing her secondary education. She hopes to obtain her state diploma in general education.

‘I'm very happy to be back at school now.  I never expected that one day I'd have to finish secondary school, given everything that's happened to my father, who was our main provider. It's a blessing to have World Vision in our community, which has changed my life and that of my brothers and my parents through pig farming,’ says Miradi with a beaming smile.

Now, Miradi and her parents live with the hope that their pig farm will remain productive. They now have 7 piglets and two pigs, which are a treasure and a source of wealth for their family.

‘For the second time, we've just had seven pigs that my parents are continuing to raise. We hope that God will help us so that these pigs multiply even more to ensure our survival,’ says Miradi.