THE MONEY-BOX OF THE POOR
Carmen and Ramona are from Galindo
Adentro, a small village in the province of Azua, in the Dominican Republic.
Recently, they each received a piglet from the pig farming program of La Sagrada Familia Parish. One day, while
we were talking about the care and maintenance of the animal, they mentioned to
us that there is a typical saying in the Dominican culture that refers to pigs
as “the moneybox of the poor”.
Many people from the parish
territory, that comprises Sabana Yegua and its surroundings, do not have stable
work that generates regular income for their family’s support. Therefore, the
majority of the families cannot save for moments of crisis or scarcity.
Generally, people of the region live frugally from
one day to the next, earning their sustenance without being able to create any
savings for the future. The idea of initiating the pig project to help families
like that of Carmen and Ramona by giving them a pig was an attempt to answer to
that situation. We know that for many of these families it is difficult to save
and put money in a bank account for a future necessity. We also know that any
family of scarce means can have a pig on their backyard that can be fed with
leftovers or waste that they get from neighbors and their own home and crops.
The family receives the basic
investment, which are the pigs, raises them to later sell them, thus generating
a little income for the family. Thus, it fulfills the Dominican saying, and the
pigs become the money box of the poor. If they don’t have an emergency that
requires them to sell ahead of time, and everything goes well, the funds
produce a benefit that the family knows well how to use!
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