Pigs for the Peope

Action of a different Kind in Medan, Sumatra, Indonesia

Most parents of the children of MANNA SCHOOL, Medan, for the underprivileged are pig farmers of a sort, with the income from one or two pigs being an essential part of their livelihood. But they had lots of trouble, with the swine flu killing their pigs 6 months ago and then “loan sharks” making use of their plight and trying to sell them new pigs at exorbitant interest rates. Now Covid-19! What next? So now we made a start by buying 20 pigs (one pig each) for some of the neediest and, importantly, most reliable and trustworthy families, many of them represented on the photo by these women. MANNA SCHOOL retains ownership of these pigs although the benefit goes to the families with this exception: three of the litter of piglets being produced in six months from now – maybe around 8 in number – will go back to Manna School which will then give them to other needy families. In charge is Hotlin Sitorus (principal of the school, in black-and-white skirt on the photo) with her staff. The deals are chiefly made with women who tend to be more reliable. Even Mrs Swine on the photo seems quite satisfied with the deal as you can see. This took place last Wednesday (21 May).