Stories of Hope: Vestine

Vestine hopes to turn a chicken into a cow.

After her mother passed away in 2004, fifteen year old Vestine became mother and father to her twelve year old brother Eric, seven year old sister Claudine, and five year old brother Jean Claude.

There was little hope for Vestine and her siblings.

With no safe shelter or income, hunger propelled them to beg for food. When Vestine was offered a chance to join ZOE Ministry’s empowerment program, she immediately began working hard and started a business of processing sorghum flour and selling it at the weekly market.

Through ZOE’s training and micro-finance resources, Vestine was able to secure a home for her family. Her next dream is to have a cow—to provide not only nourishment but also steady income for her family through the selling of milk and offspring.

Although Vestine now earns enough to feed her family, pay for school fees and buy decent clothing, she was a long way from being able to buy a cow. At approximately 120,000 Rwandan francs, it was simply out of reach. But through ZOE’s training, she learned about business and investments and hatched a plan to turn a chicken into a cow.

Vestine saved money from her flour processing business and invested in a chicken. Chickens are valuable because you can sell the eggs, and their waste helps fertilize the family garden. Vestine saved her egg money and reinvested it, ending up with three chickens.

Vestine continued to invest in animals by buying first one small goat and then growing her herd to three goats, which produce milk and offspring that can be sold.
With the proceeds from her eggs, milk and offspring sales, Vestine bought a piglet, which she then grew into a large pig now worth 35,000 francs. She can sell the goats for 15,000 francs each—so she now has 80,000 francs toward her 120,000 goal (the cost of a cow).

A ZOE team visited with Vestine in July of this year, and she told us with a gleam in her eyes, “I only have 40,000 francs to go. If you come back in December, you will find my cow!” Then she prayed with the team, and everyone thanked God for what God is doing in Vestine’s life and the lives of her family.