The first few days of Mama Bella’s milk were for Ferdinand
exclusively: yellowish colostrum, rich in antibodies critically important to
build Ferdinand’s immune system. But then we shared: half for Ferdinand, half
for his biped friends. Bella
is milked twice each day: 6 am and 6 pm. Yep, I can now milk a cow. (Please just accept my word, for it is impossible take a photograph of yourself milking a cow.) But my
Rwandan mentors smile encouragingly and tell me that my technique and efficiency
“needs improvement.”
Bella is a Jersey girl, known for having the richest
(highest fat content) milk of all bovine breeds.
There is nothing quite like Jersey milk, sipped from the rim of the tipped milking
bucket,…warm and frothy, leaving a white milk mustache to lick from your upper
lip. This milk is so fresh, Bella doesn't even know it's missing. A Starbucks “Steamed Milk” is a very poor, distant second.
We do not drink all of the fresh milk at the time of
milking. And yet we have no refrigeration (or electricity or plumbing). So we
pour the fresh milk into a clean plastic bucket inside a mud hut, where it
sits,… and ferments and curdles, soon to be relished as “ikivuguto.” We drink
ikivuguto from a dried gourd or a cup, but one should be prepared to chew. Think plain, tart (sour!), chunky kefir (yogurt).
At the base of the pyramid in Rwanda, ikivuguto is
considered a very special treat and a very good source of nutrition, but for many it
is unaffordable and therefore unavailable. For that reason, the Government of
Rwanda and Rwandans “with means" (and with cows) are proudly committed to
Girinka, Rwanda’s “One Cow Per
Family” initiative, inspired by Rwandan culture and proclaimed by President
Kagame in 2006. Girinka strongly encourages those who are able to give a milk cow
to a poor family, which beneficiary family will later give any new calf to a
neighboring poor family,… a beautiful and joy-filled “pay it forward” program.
Posts
