UBUNTU GOATS

Community Operating Rules

The basic agreements for working, caring and growing together

1. Purpose

Each woman is responsible for her own female goats. At the same time, the women support one another and work together so that the project can grow to include new women from other families.

The four principles are:

• good care for every goat;
• personal responsibility;
• mutual help and equal participation;
• honesty about goats, money, materials and decisions.

2. When something happens

When something happens with a goat, the shelter, the materials, the money or the group, the women use the following simple approach:

1. Protect first. Prevent suffering, danger, loss or further damage.
2. Help one another. Tell the other women and decide what practical help is needed.
3. Ask for knowledgeable help when necessary. If the women cannot solve a health problem themselves, they contact an experienced goat keeper, animal-health worker or veterinarian.
4. Do not wait for the monthly meeting when the matter is urgent. Serious illness, a difficult birth, theft, disappearance, death, danger or suspected misuse of money must be communicated immediately.
5. Discuss what happened at the next monthly meeting. The event, the action taken, the result and any costs are included in the meeting report sent to Ubuntu Goats.

This approach also applies to births, sickness, injuries, damaged equipment, problems with the shelter and other ordinary situations. A separate procedure is not required for every possible event.

3. Monthly meeting and report

The women meet once every month. Every woman should be able to speak freely and provide honest information.

They discuss at least:

• the health and wellbeing of every goat;
• pregnancies, births and the sex of every kid;
• illness, treatment, vaccination, deworming, death, disappearance or theft;
• male goats that may be ready for sale and male goats already sold;
• new female goats that were purchased or transferred;
• food, water, the shared shelter and shared materials;
• all money received, withdrawn or spent and the available evidence;
• help needed by any woman;
• problems, disagreements and decisions;
• the possible selection and preparation of a new woman.

A simple report of the meeting is sent to Ubuntu Goats. Ubuntu Goats uses the information in that report to update the Central Community Goat Register and the separate financial overview.

4. Group decisions

Important group decisions are made by a majority of the participating women.

• Every woman may give her opinion without pressure, threats or intimidation.
• No woman is the boss of the others.
• No one may make a group decision alone.
• The decision and the main reason for it are included in the meeting report.

If no majority is reached, no decision is made. The matter is discussed again later, unless immediate action is necessary to protect an animal or prevent serious loss.

5. Female and male goats

Female goats. The first female goat and her female offspring belong to the individual woman, subject to the Community Agreement and these rules. She may use or sell permitted benefits such as milk and manure, provided that the wellbeing of the goats and their kids is protected.

The female goats may not be sold, given away, exchanged, pledged, used as payment or bride wealth, assigned to a family member, or slaughtered for food or sale. If a female goat must be killed to prevent serious suffering, the women seek knowledgeable help whenever this is reasonably possible. Immediate action is allowed when waiting would cause unnecessary suffering.

Male goats. Every male kid born from a participating woman’s female goats is part of the shared Ubuntu growth system. No woman or family may claim, sell, give away, exchange or slaughter him for personal benefit.

A male goat is sold when he is healthy and suitably developed and when the women consider the timing and market conditions appropriate. The sale is decided by a majority. The sale price, costs and evidence are discussed at the next monthly meeting and included in the report.

The complete net proceeds are transferred to the New Goat Fund administered by Ubuntu Goats. Where possible, the proceeds are paid directly into the account or wallet designated by Ubuntu Goats. If a woman first receives the money, she transfers it as soon as reasonably possible and keeps the available proof.

6. The two community funds

The two funds are community project money. They do not belong to any individual woman, family, leader, foster or Ubuntu Goats worker.

Daily Care Fund

This Fund may receive monthly contributions from Ubuntu Goats or a foster and other contributions accepted for this purpose. It may be used for agreed project needs, including:

• necessary goat health and welfare costs;
• vaccination, deworming, identification and necessary medication;
• urgent shelter repairs;
• necessary replacement or replenishment of shared care materials;
• necessary supplementary feed when goat welfare would otherwise be at risk;
• reasonable project costs for transport, purchases or sales;
• other project costs approved in advance by Ubuntu Goats.

The participating women manage this Fund locally. An expense requires a decision by a majority of the participating women. Two women together are designated to withdraw the required amount and carry out or arrange the agreed payment or purchase.

• Money is kept as safely as reasonably possible, preferably in a mobile wallet or suitable account.
• Only the amount needed for the agreed expense is withdrawn.
• Receipts, photographs, payment records or other available evidence are kept.
• Every amount received, withdrawn, spent, returned or still held is discussed at the next monthly meeting and included in the report.
• Unused money remains safely in the Fund or is returned to it and is clearly reported.

New Goat Fund

Ubuntu Goats administers this Fund and keeps a separate balance for each community. The money remains reserved for the growth of the community that generated it. The participating women do not hold, withdraw or spend this money themselves, except when Ubuntu Goats has approved a strictly earmarked amount for the complete start of a named new woman and temporarily transfers that amount through the Daily Care Fund for the approved payment or purchase.

The net proceeds from male-goat sales go to this Fund. The money may be used only for the complete start of a new woman, including:

• a suitable young female goat;
• her individual start package;
• the goat’s first health care and identification;
• the new woman’s training and support;
• reasonable purchase and transport costs.

After the women have selected an eligible new woman by majority, they discuss the available goat and all expected start-up costs at their monthly meeting. This information is included in the report to Ubuntu Goats.

Ubuntu Goats then checks whether:

• the new woman meets the participation conditions;
• the selection was made by a majority;
• the proposed female goat is suitable;
• the expected costs are reasonable;
• the community’s Growth Fund contains enough money for the complete start.

If all conditions are met, Ubuntu Goats approves the start-up budget and transfers only the approved amount temporarily through the Daily Care Fund, clearly marked for the complete start of the named new woman. This amount remains New Goat Fund money for bookkeeping and may not be included in or used as part of the available Daily Care Fund balance. Ubuntu Goats may instead pay a seller or service provider directly when this is safer or more practical.

Once an approved amount has been transferred temporarily through the Daily Care Fund, two women together are designated to make the withdrawal and purchase. The amount remains strictly restricted to the approved start. The purchase and all evidence are discussed at the next monthly meeting and included in the report. The actual approved costs are deducted from the New Goat Fund balance, and any unused part is returned to the New Goat Fund unless Ubuntu Goats gives written permission for another growth-related project use.

Protection of both Funds

Neither Fund may be used for personal loans, household expenses, clothing, school fees, private medical costs, celebrations, gifts or other private purposes.

Ubuntu Goats or the foster may temporarily stop new contributions to the Daily Care Fund when money or evidence is missing, information is intentionally false, money was used for an unauthorised purpose, or the group refuses to clarify or correct a serious problem. Ubuntu Goats does not release New Goat Fund money until the conditions for a complete and properly documented new start are met.

7. Choosing and starting a new woman

The participating women choose a new woman by majority. Ubuntu Goats confirms whether the participation conditions are met and whether the New Goat Fund contains enough money for her complete start.

The new woman must:

• come from the same community but not be a family member of any participating woman;
• join voluntarily;
• have the time, space and practical ability to care for a goat;
• be willing to work with the other women;
• understand and accept the Community Agreement and these rules.

Family members of participating women are not eligible. This protects the growth of the project across different families.

The selection, the reasons for it, the proposed goat and all expected start-up costs are discussed at the monthly meeting and included in the report to Ubuntu Goats. The new woman starts only after Ubuntu Goats has confirmed the conditions and approved the complete start-up budget. Before receiving her goat, she signs her own Community Agreement.

8. When a woman cannot continue

If a woman is temporarily unable to care for her goats, the women arrange temporary help together.

If she wants to stop, dies, becomes permanently unable to provide care or has more female goats than she can care for well:

• animal welfare comes first;
• the goats may not be sold or transferred outside the project;
• the situation is discussed by the participating women;
• a majority decides on a suitable transfer within the project;
• the receiving woman must be eligible, accept all conditions and sign her own Community Agreement;
• a family member of a participating woman cannot take over as a new participant;
• the decision is included in the meeting report and applied in accordance with local law.

9. Problems and broken agreements

A mistake or problem is first discussed openly. The woman concerned should normally have an opportunity to explain what happened and to correct it.

Possible corrective actions include:

• providing missing information or evidence;
• correcting the meeting report;
• repaying missing or wrongly used money;
• repairing damage or making a clear improvement agreement;
• receiving additional help or guidance.

Deliberate neglect or abuse, hidden sale or slaughter, theft or misuse of project money, intentionally false information, personal appropriation of a male goat, threats or repeated refusal to follow the agreements are serious breaches.

The group discusses the matter and reports it to Ubuntu Goats. Depending on the seriousness and applicable law, Ubuntu Goats may require corrective action, suspend new contributions or end a woman’s participation and arrange the transfer of project goats.

10. Changes to these rules

These rules are read together with each woman’s Community Agreement.

An important change must:

• be written down by Ubuntu Goats;
• be explained to all participating women in a language they understand;
• be discussed at a meeting;
• be accepted voluntarily where it changes an individual woman’s agreement.

No secret oral promise or private agreement may override the written Community Agreement or these rules.