Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Grab that Goat

So for those of you who do not know, farm animals are very important here in Rwanda. And unlike in America, it is not just farms that have them. If someone has the land/space they get them. Why? Well they provide food or money, both very important things here.
For instance, cows are still used as bride prices. Not to mention the milk they provide or the eventual meat they provide is very much needed. Same goes for goats and chickens. Many times when walking along a road one can see chickens roaming or goats tethered down.
Now when I had first thought about animals and such, many people might automatically think where are the horses? I know I thought this, and honestly only recently did I find out why they don't have horses here. And by not having horses I mean there are people here who do not even know what a horse is. Some of you can probably guess the reason why they don't have horses, but for those of you who can't I will let you in one the reason.
Can a horse produce something you can sell or eat?eggs, milk? No.
Can a horse be killed for good meat? Technically yes, but we will say no.
So add in that the terrain here is rough and you would have to feed them, it just is not worth it. In America we might use a horse to plow a field, sorry people do that here. And why would they go out riding when there is work to be done, so sorry no horses in Rwanda.(note I am aware there are some horses, but I am talking in general)

Now that I have done that little intro, lets get down to the real story.
Last Saturday I was walking home from town(about an hour walk). As I am coming down this hill I see this goat chilling on the side walk, and I think huh, interesting, never seen that one before. Next minute I know there are two little children trying to grab the goat and they are holding a rope, so they obviously want to take it back home somewhere. If you have never seen someone try to grab a farm animal, let me tell you, it is not easy. The kids tried to corner it, it did not work. The goat went running. Suddenly random people on the street are trying to help. One man in a full suit even came close, at first look I thought he got it, but he didn't. In the end the goat kept running up the hill, and I had to keep going down.. All I can assume is that they eventually got it, but man was it funny to watch. Yet at the same time, totally normal. As we all started to walk again(a group of us had stopped to watch) we sortof chuckled together... so I guess even for them its not every day that one has to chase a goat up the sidewalk.
To finish this up I would just like to give props to the man in the suit who tried to grab the goat.. how many american men in suits would have done the same?

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