Token ‘cow’ Patch gets a ‘well done’ from St Brigid’s parish priest, Fr John Madden, teacher Samantha Vella and Margaret Fyfe of Caritas Australia.By Kath Gannaway
IT WAS a cow of a job, but someone had to do it!
“It was quite funny to see a large crowd of people waiting around for a cow to poo,” said Samantha Vella, the organiser of a very unusual and very successful fundraiser aimed at improving the lives of villagers in Uganda.
Ms Vella, grade 5/6 teacher at St Brigid’s Catholic School in Healesville, took the bull by the horns when the school decided to raise funds to buy cows for Ugandan villagers. The Cows For Uganda is a project of Caritas Australia.
Ms Vella and members of the students’ Social Justice Committee came up with the idea of selling squares on a grid on the school oval for $10 each.
The winner of the $200 prize money would be decided by a cow pat.
“Whichever square the cow poos in is the winner,” Ms Vella explained as Patch (actually a Friesian bullock standing in for the rest of the herd which is currently on maternity leave) grazed his way around the oval on Sunday, 9 October, under the intensely expectant gaze of the crowd.
It was a winning idea, which raised $3650, enough to buy six cows.
Ms Vella explained that the cows are given to individual villagers for milk to help improve their diet. Excess milk is sold or traded for other necessities.
Margaret Fyfe of Caritas was at St Brigid’s on Sunday to receive the funds.
She said the efforts of people in Healesville would make a big difference to the families in Uganda.
Ms Vella said The Cows for Uganda project had not only raised money but had raised awareness in the students and the wider community of the plight of Ugandan families.
She said the response from the community, including many Healesville businesses who donated prizes, had been amazing.
Patch finally did his thing, to the cheers and clapping of the crowd, strategically declaring St Brigid’s teachers’ syndicate the winners.
“They donated the money back giving us enough money to buy six cows,” Ms Vella said.
“It was the best possible outcome.”
