Today is Goat Pass-On day; one of the most hectic and exciting day of our placement! We have been working tirelessly with our partners in Uganda over the past few weeks to provide medical care to their livestock.
In this photo our supervisor Dr. Clair Card and partner Vivian Namale are preparing medical supplies for the day. Each goat is vaccinated, dewormed, tagged, blood tested, and recorded into our system.
Prior to the pass-on day, we take blood from the goats to make sure they are Brucella negative. Once they are confirmed to be disease free we get them ready for transport for pass-on day. (Photo above of Vivian Namale and Nikki Sheedy)
As well as handing out goats, pass-on day is also the day when all the new paravets graduate. These individuals provide basic medical care for the goats in the communities to ensure the success of the program and develop their own business. In the image above, Ibrahim Nuwabaine, one of the superparavets helps train the new paravets and pass out the goats.
Two goats are ready to go to their new home. Once they have kids (baby goats) two will be passed on to another woman in the community to help start more farms. All other kids will be kept to grow the farm.
At the end of the day a total of 55 goats were passed on to 31 women and families and 6 new paravets graduated to begin serving their communities.