We have quite a few animals around. We have three large sows and each one gave birth to about 10 piglets.
I must admit that I am not so sure about the pigs. In this photo, Philemon and Daudi are patting them and keeping close to them. I am not so sure that I would want to do that!
It is amazing how fast they grow. This sow had 11 piglets. I am glad that I am not a sow!
Last year we had about 30 piglets who had grown to the point where we might slaughter them for food. However, during the summer of 2025, all the young pigs died of pneumonia. It turns out that this happened for all the households around us. Everyone lost their young pigs. Hopefully, this year we will have better luck.
The truth is, we love the pork that we get from this source of food. We will usually butcher the pigs for our celebrations. The word for pig in Swahili is nguruwe. However, if you order in a restaurant, it is called “kitimoto.” Why? It translates literally to “hot seat” in Swahili. The origin of this name comes from the historical taboo of eating pork in local Muslim-majority areas. Patrons originally ate it quickly and nervously—as if sitting on a “hot seat”—to avoid being caught by family or neighbors.
This Easter, we had two goats who were with us as new additions “temporarily.” I just try not to think so much about these things! Of course, the guys absolutely love “mbuzi,” or goat. Truthfully, it tastes more like beef than lamb, which I found surprising.
The guys actually argue over who will be able to slaughter the goats. Most of the guys have done this all their lives. A few are willing to learn. I usually try to stay in my room. Nothing comes wrapped in plastic wrap.
Another new addition is our cat…in Swahili “paka.” We don’t know where he came from. We have a cat, who now is getting a bit old. But, it was not clear where this young kitten came from. We think someone threw him over the wall of our property. In any case, we decided—without much thought—of letting him stay. However, a few days later, another kitten appeared. We decided that one new cat was enough so we put the other one back outside.
We don’t let the older cat into the dining room; he knows that he is not allowed in this space. But, we are indulgent with this kitten for now.
We also have been buying young chicks so that we can reduce our costs of buying chickens. We usually buy 44 chickens a week that we cut into quarters. This is about 350,000 Tanzanian Shillings = $135.00 US or $185.00 CD. Truthfully, the chickens are not very big, so a quarter chicken is not what you would get at a restaurant in Canada or the U.S.A. In Canadian terms, 1/4 chicken would be 1/8 chicken at the Swiss Chalet.
These chickens are ready for slaughtering. We had 200 of them, but we are down to about 50 right now. It takes a lot of work to care for them. They must be fed, vaccinated, and the environment must be kept clean, but we save a lot of money by doing this. I think it also is a great “teaching” exercise for the seminarians to learn how to care for chickens. Many parishes have chickens to help discount the cost of the rectory living, so it is good for the seminarians to learn about what they need to do to be successful in raising them.
There are 200 new chicks here. These are “layers.” We usually eat about 120 eggs per week, so this will help us with costs each week. I increased our consumption of eggs because they are high in protein. We have 32 people here and we usually have eggs every second day now. Of course, this is a healthy food source for our seminarians. I want to make sure that people remain healthy.
More to come on www.resurrectionists.ca
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