With your help, Sylvia is about to launch her business

Sylvia Salvatory knows that for rural families, a pig is a lot more than just a pet. It’s an investment in a brighter future. 

Pigs are a good source of meat, and they produce a relatively high number of offspring. Piglets can be sold in local markets for good prices, which is valuable income that families can use to meet other household needs. 

Sylvia knew all of this, and she wanted to raise pigs to help earn money for her family. She lives with her husband and five children in Tanzania’s Kasulu district. Like most families in the area, Sylvia’s relies on farming to put food on the table. Unfortunately, they didn’t earn enough through farming to afford to buy a pig. A three-month-old piglet costs about 60,000 Tanzanian Shillings ($22 US), which is money that they just don’t have.

Now, though, Sylvia’s dream is happening. She joined a CWS program in the area that is helping more than 1,000 farmers raise either pigs or chickens. She is focusing on pig production. She has participated in workshops about building a shelter for her pig and keeping it healthy. Her shelter is nearly finished, and soon she will receive her pig and officially start her business. 

“I am grateful to CWS for allowing me to join the program,” she says. “I am now ready to receive the pig. I sincerely request that CWS continues to support us and our community so that we can eliminate the poverty level in our family and community as well.”

Sylvia is a great example of something we see so often in our programs: the families and communities we work with know how to address the challenges that they are facing, but they don’t have the resources or information that they need to do it. Sylvia knew about how a pig would help her move her family out of poverty, but she didn’t have the resources for the initial purchase. Thank you to everyone who supported farmers like Sylvia through Giving Machines last Christmas, since you are investing in Sylvia’s business and hundreds like it.