Buggs and friends
Thursday, August 18, 2005 at 08:50AM It could be argued that I'm beginning to lose my civility. Take for
example, last week during In Service Training (a week long reunion /
training session with the volunteers in my stage) when I slaughtered an
innocent, furry, white bunny rabbit. I bludgeoned him over the head with
a small stick, made an incision on his thigh and then proceeded to turn
him inside out, separating the clean white fur from the slimy carcass.
I did this because I'm thinking of starting a rabbit raising project at
site. Rabbits are an excellent source of protein and income. A fully
grown rabbit (they mature in 4 months) can fetch up to 5,000 Ariary
(2.50 USD) in the market, which is the equivalent of 2 days work for a
healthy adult male. I'm particularly interested in teaching the
families, whose sole occupation is cutting the forest for charcoal
production, how to raise rabbits. I figure that the more income they
generate the more flexible they will become with trying new occupations
and weaning off charcoal. Also, there are days when my friends in the
village have nothing to eat but rice because the men didn't catch any
fish that day. Having some tasty rabbits to eat would certainly
alleviate this problem. Certainly it's better to murder Buggs and
Thumper than to have families go to bed without supper.
Only problem is that no one seems to be selling rabbits in Majunga. The
thought of a 12 hour bush taxi ride with a two rabbits on my lap does
not appeal to me. After all, what if I get attached to the cute little
guys. I suppose I can always have a neighbor do the killing for me. 
Reader Comments (1)
That must have been traumatizing to kill a rabbit. But it seems in the big scheme of things killing a rabbit to feed a starving person or family is obviously justified.
Keep up your dedication and passion for the people and environment. You are admired for your efforts!
Love,
JoLynn and Ben