Author Archives: Heifer International

About Heifer International

Heifer International works with communities to end hunger and poverty and care for the Earth. With gifts of livestock and training, Heifer projects help families improve their nutrition and generate income in sustainable ways. We refer to the animals as "living loans," because in exchange for their livestock and training, families agree to give one of their animal's offspring to another family in need. It's called Passing on the Gift–a cornerstone of our mission that creates a lasting and sustainable impact.

A Volunteer’s Letter to Our Founder (part 3)

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Report to the Founder/ Part 3 of 3

To: Dan West — Prophet, gadfly, dreamer, youth leader, motivator, peacemaker, and founder of Heifers for Relief.

From: Tom Lyon — Heifer volunteer for 26 years

Subject: Armenia trip — November 2011

Dan,

As I’ve said in parts one and two of my letter, I’m certain you would be pleased, and excited by all that I recently witnessed during my study tour to Armenia.  Here some additional things I saw that kept me thinking of you…

Youth Development   
While serving as National Director of Youth programs for the Brethren Church you were working with, motivating and empowering young people. You dedicated much of your life to youth. In Armenia, youth development in underserved rural areas has become a major focus of many of Heifer’s partner  groups. We visited two of the programs, modeled after the U.S. 4-H program, where youth are receiving training in “life skills.” They provide hands-on education in areas such as agriculture, business, logical thinking, journalism, ecology, and health education, giving new opportunities for growth in small communities otherwise lacking such important  services. With an emphasis on proactive peacemaking, youth empowerment and education, the YES Youth Clubs are having  a tremendous impact by increasing “social capital” for the nation. What a joy it was for us to visit these children so full of pride and dreams for the future.


Peacemaking   
Your life was a constant journey to find practical ways to bring about world peace. You believed that ending hunger was the first essential element to bringing about lasting peace. Heifer Armenia has incorporated that vision as a major component of everything they do. Heifer’s country director, Dr. Anahit Ghazanchyan, reminded me of you when she expressed her strong belief  that “instead of just talking about peace, we need activities to bring people together to solve social problems,  and in the process get to know each other.”  Heifer Armenia’s practical activities include using the Heifer model  of conflict resolution through group decision making, “Peace in our Homes” programs targeting youth, addressing issues of domestic violence and gender equity, and cornerstones training that applies not just to raising livestock, but to virtually all phases of life development. 


I once received a Heifer T-shirt that said ”Peace begins with food and dignity for all.” That simple phrase, to me, became synonymous with your life’s work and Heifer’s long term vision. And on this trip I was privileged to see its practical, everyday application in a small, faraway country: 

  • Food: The result of honest hard work, teamwork, training, and careful stewardship of a fragile land. 
  • Dignity: Based upon pride of place, shared goals, hope for the future, and a humble desire for peace. 

We saw life-altering miracles evolving every day throughout rural Armenia. Miracles brought about by  a dedicated staff; a proud, determined and historic people; a proven process; and a set of universal values expressed in the 12 Cornerstones. This is what we shall always remember about Armenia.We all return to the US with new friends, new understanding and a renewed dedication to do all we can to create “a world of communities living in peace.”

Years ago, you wrote the following: “Nothing binds people closer than fellowship in a great adventure.” After this journey, I cannot think of a better way to explain the worldwide Heifer “family” that exists and is thriving in so many places today. Together we are ending hunger. There is no greater adventure than that!

Thank you Dan for your dream, your persistence and your founding of an organization that brought me to a place — both physically and in my heart — that I would never have gotten to alone!  


Editor’s Note: Dan West, a relief worker and dairy farmer, founded the organization that is today Heifer International. Though Dan passed away in 1971, his principles still guide Heifer and its work.

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On the Anniversary of the Haiti Earthquake, a Message from Heifer International

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Today marks the two-year anniversary of the catastrophic earthquake that hit the nation of Haiti. In this video, Heifer International president and CEO Pierre Ferrari and Heifer Haiti country director Hervil Cherubin discuss the progress our organization has made in the years since the quake and share Heifer’s vision for long-term programs to relieve hunger and poverty in Haiti.

In the immediate aftermath of the quake, Heifer provided assistance to more than 2,000 victims. Since then, Heifer has created a long-term strategy that will rehabilitate rural communities and provide food security and income opportunities to more than 20,000 families. This is a monumental undertaking that will take the support of many partners and individuals. To learn more about how you can help, click here.

Please watch the video below and share your thoughts in the comments.

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A Volunteer’s Letter to Our Founder (part 2)

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Report to the Founder/ Part 2 of 3

To: Dan West — Prophet, gadfly, dreamer, youth leader, motivator, peacemaker, and founder of Heifers for Relief.

From: Tom Lyon — Heifer volunteer for 26 years

Subject: Armenia trip — November 2011

Dan,

As I said yesterday in the first part of my letter, I’m certain you would be pleased, and excited by all that I recently witnessed during my study tour to Armenia.  Here some additional things I saw that kept me thinking of you…


Strengthening Communities
Just as the animals were the tools that led to new opportunities for individual families, Heifer’s  cornerstones trainings have become  catalysts for empowering entire villages. During 70 years in the Soviet system, many Armenians were workers on collective farms or in factories. Heifer staff told us how this legacy left many Armenians feeling that they had little control of their own destiny or motivation to improve things. Cornerstones training and lessons about Passing on the Gift™, “full participation,” and “gender equity” have actually become important lessons in democratic participation and group decision making.

In the small, mountain village of Debed we learned some details. Initially, the Heifer families in the group had to agree on two animals that they would receive.  They selected cows and bees. Heifer Armenia staff did a feasibility study of conditions and markets to ensure a good chance for success.  With approval and an established community structure, animals (and beehives) were placed. They have multiplied, and their production has been shared, bringing a renewed sense of possibility. The community, with Heifer’s assistance, is now raising other animals and partnering with the Fuller Center for Housing to improve living conditions and sanitation throughout the village.

Volunteerism
Dan — although you founded Heifer, you were never a paid employee. You established a model of dedicated professional staff working with and through volunteers to achieve the most benefit and impact. And that model is alive and well throughout Armenia. In addition to Heifer’s incredible country staff, there is a network of volunteers at all levels — district project leaders, ethno-veterinarians, teachers, and peer educators ages 14 to 70. Many are past recipients who have long ago paid back any contractual obligation to Heifer.   

I was also privileged to share this study tour with, and learn from, more than a dozen amazing creative, dedicated volunteers from across the US. We talked often and late of how we would return to share stories, teach and preach, network, recruit, and motivate. We were learning that Heifer’s success is due to hundreds of dedicated volunteers in the US, but also due to a Heifer volunteer network in every country where we have programs. Today, our fellow Heifer volunteers worldwide must easily number in the tens of thousands.


I’ll share the third and final part of my report from Armenia this Friday.

Editor’s Note: Dan West, a relief worker and dairy farmer, founded the organization that is today Heifer International. Though Dan passed away in 1971, his principles still guide Heifer and its work.

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A Volunteer’s Letter to Our Founder

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Report to the Founder/ Part 1 of 3

To: Dan West — Prophet, gadfly, dreamer, youth leader, motivator, peacemaker, and founder of Heifers for Relief.

From: Tom Lyon — Heifer volunteer for 26 years

Subject: Armenia trip — November 2011

Dan,

Everything I have learned about you over the years convinces me that you would be proud, pleased, and excited by all that I recently witnessed in the new/old nation of Armenia.

This fall my wife, Barbara, and I were privileged to join 14 other Heifer area volunteer coordinators and three Heifer staff from across the US on a 10-day study tour to learn in person about Armenia and Heifer’s work there. We all came away profoundly moved.

When Barbara and I first discovered you and Heifer Project and became volunteers many years ago,  Armenia did not exist as an independent nation. But Armenia, the people, the culture and the proud heritage were already almost 3,000 years old. We, like most Americans, barely knew!

Armenians worldwide celebrated the “new” nation’s 20th anniversary this year. Yet these have been years of incredible hardship due to such factors as separation from the Soviet Union, a devastating earthquake, an unresolved border war, economic isolation, a stagnant economy, and major population shifts away from the countryside and out of the country.

Ironically,  these circumstances  have  become  fertile ground for a 10-year partnership between a determined people and the organization you created. A partnership that is bearing life-saving and life changing fruit in amazing abundance.

Over the next couple of days, I’ll share some things that we observed that kept me thinking of you. In the interest of brevity, I’m sharing just the first one today.

Life-Changing Livestock

As a family dairy farmer, you would have been thrilled by the stories we heard from these small farm families. So many of them talked about the difference in their lives since receiving  Heifer livestock and training. The animals have been a catalyst for moving them from subsistence levels of farming to the creation of small, efficient family farm enterprises. Families, after completing their “pass-on” requirement, are reinvesting income from Heifer animals, expanding their holdings, adding new animals, rebuilding their homes, and planning for the future with new-found optimism.

Dan — I’ll share more of my observations from Armenia over the coming days, and I hope this blog’s readers will come back tomorrow to hear more of the exciting things happening with Heifer Armenia.

Editor’s Note: Dan West, a relief worker and dairy farmer, founded the organization that is today Heifer International. Though Dan passed away in 1971, his principles still guide Heifer and its work.

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After the Quake: Chang Julan’s New Life in China

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Chang Julan and members of the Heifer China self-help group in Fuxing Village help rebuild homes after the Sichuan earthquake.  

by Heifer China 

Chang Julan, with four other family members, lives in Fuxing Village, Longtan Township, Lizhou District, China — one of the Sichuan earthquake disaster areas. In the process of rehabilitation, they reconstructed the family’s swine facility and rebuilt their house. The family was in debt. Her husband, Yang Yongguang, did odd jobs to support his family, and that’s the only income the family had. What’s worse, poor health had been a perennial problem for his parents. Poverty hit the family.

After joining a Heifer project, Chang Julan became a part of a self-help group and received four sows and some farming materials. Through the self-help group, Chang participated in activities, and learned Heifer’s concept and 12 Cornerstones. In the meantime, she joined Fuxing Village Pig Breeding Association, in which she acquired skills of pig breeding and upgraded her pig facility through trainings she received. In the past three months, she received 13,000 Yuan income through selling more than 20 piglets. Moreover, by growing seeds provided by Heifer China, she grew corn, rice, peanut, sweet potato on 6 mu land. She made a harvest of 1,000 kg of corn and 2,500 kg of rice in September this year. She also educated children to be self-reliant and sent her care to elders as required by Heifer’s 12 Cornerstones.

With the help of other group members, Chang built a new house in early 2011. In addition, the local agricultural bureau granted allowance to build a biogas unit, and the government funded a drinking water project to solve human and livestock water issue. This Heifer project not only raised her family’s income, but also provided her opportunities to take part in the self-help groups’ cultural activities. The community is getting more harmonious than before and her family is living a better life. Speaking of the future, Chang wishes her son would study harder and her parents would become healthier. She also looks forward to getting a better harvest, more pigs and income to pass on the gift to other farmers.

In the video below, Chang harvests sweet potatoes, walks us through her upgraded swine facility and demonstrates her new rice milling machine.

Editor’s note: This post is part of a new series that follows the progress of specific families, starting at the beginning of their work with Heifer. Initially, this series will focus on our programs in Asia/South Pacific, where our colleagues have chosen one family in each region in the countries where we work and will bring us quarterly updates. 

Chang Julan in her newly-rebuilt home in Lizhou District, China.
Chang Julan’s family worked with a self-help group to build this new swine facility.  
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Jariya’s Dream for Self Sufficiency

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Front row, left to right: Thanapon, Jariya and Sunisa. Standing: Satian. 
by Heifer Thailand 

Jariya Saerum is 31 years old.  She is married to Satian Buajarn, and the couple has two children: one girl, Sunisa Buajarn (age 13; in 7th grade) and one boy, Thanapon Buajarn (age 8; in 2nd grade). Her family is living at Nongjan village, Chumpae district in Khon Kaen province in northeastern Thailand. She is a self-help group member of Heifer Thailand’s Community Capacity Enhancement for Sustainable Self-Reliance project.

Jariya’s family earns a living from farming corn and cassava. In the off season they do daily labor.   They also grow rice for their family as well as other vegetables and herbs. Her family received 14 ducks and 10 fruit tree saplings from Heifer Thailand.
 
Like other project participants, she received Values-Based Holistic Community Development, cornerstones, leadership, and financial management training in addition to training in basic animal care. This is in keeping with the Heifer International practice of training a community to not just care for animals, but to empower its members to better their lives and the lives of future generations.
 
This family’s diet is mainly home-grown, seasonal vegetables and wild products such as bamboo shoots and mushrooms. Before becoming project participants, they rarely consumed meat, and their source of protein was eggs, which were the cheapest they could effort. After becoming project participants, their nutrition has improved because the ducks lay eggs everyday, and they can save the money to buy meat and other necessities.
 
The two children of the family help their parents to do some home chores such as feeding ducks, cleaning house, tending fires for cooking, washing dishes and washing their own clothes.
 
In terms of their living conditions, their house was made from bamboo with a metal sheet roof. There is one bedroom for all family members. Their bathroom door was made from a plastic sheet, and is built separately from the house. The kitchen was built from bamboo and the roof was made from grass. There is no electricity in their village, but solar power; however, the solar system generates electricity for only a few hours so the children have to rush to do their homework as soon as they return from school, otherwise they have to use candle light.
 
The family’s house and their rice paddies are located in the area of a national park — which is the case for many other villagers in Nongjan village — so they don’t know how long they are allowed to live here. But Jariya hopes that with the new government, there will be new policies to distribute unused land for the poor to live. She also dreams that their children will have a good education to guarantee secure jobs. But deep down in her heart, she still wishes them to live their lives with the philosophy of sufficiency and economy, and to continue her sustainable agriculture plan.


Editor’s note: This post is part of a new series that follows the progress of specific families, starting at the beginning of their work with Heifer. Initially, this series will focus on our programs in Asia/South Pacific, where our colleagues have chosen one family in each region in the countries where we work and will bring us quarterly updates. 


Jariya cooks in her family’s kitchen.

Thanapon (age 8) feeds his family’s ducks.
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In Cambodia, a Reduced Dependency on the Forest

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Sophea’sfamily members have lunch together.

by Heifer Cambodia

Mrs. Lang Sophea, 35, and her husband Ein Dok, 39, are poor farmers living in a small and tiny house with leaked thatch and plastic roofs in Thmei village, Kampong Sela commune and district, Preah Sihanouk province. Located between highland and plain area in southeastern of the country, the village is inhabited by 340 families in which poor households make their living by poaching wildlife, logging, making charcoal and firewood, and collecting non-timber products to earn income for feeding their family because current rice cultivation is not sufficient for their family’s consumption.

Lang Sophea had dropped out of her study at grade 3 to help generate income to support her family. In 1995, Mr. Ein Dok who is also from poor family married her when she was 19 years old. They establish a new family, and now have four children – three boys and one girl. Her family has one hectare of land for rice cultivation. But rice yield can support the household for food only for five months after harvest. Like other poor families, Sophea and her husband have to enter into the jungle to trap wildlife and cut trees for making firewood for sale to earn money to buy food for their children. However, the money got from this job was not enough for family life. She had to borrow money from middlemen at a high interest rate (30% per month) to meet her family’s needs, especially in rainy season when the family could not enter into the jungle or climb up the hill. Sometimes she had to sell her labor in the rice harvest of other villagers for additional income. Because her family did not have enough money to support the schooling of her four children, her elder son Dok Saruot (now 17) decided to drop out of his study at grade 3 to help his father cut trees at the jungle for income.

In 2010, Rural Children Saving Association (RCSA) supported by Heifer expanded its development activities to the village by encouraging the farmers to form an inclusive self help group. Sophea and her family decided to join the group, which has conducted regular monthly meetings that brought her family closer to the society. She received a series of technical trainings, including animal husbandry and management, vegetable planting, compost development, and Heifer’s 12 Cornerstones training — guidelines which Heifer views as essential for effective, sustainable development. These Cornerstones also form the basis of the organization’s accountability process.

By applying simple techniques gained from training, Sophea started raising three pigs – two fattened and one sow. With her diligent care, the fattened pigs are very healthy while the sow is pregnant now. She hopes to have more piglets in future. Her family also received 15 chickens, horticultural and vegetable seeds, and other agriculture equipment as a tool to improve their food security.

Since joining the project, Sophea spends most of her time to take care of her poultry and pigs. She did not go regularly to jungle with her husband like before. She gets up at 4:00 a.m., preparing and packing food for her husband and elder son to take with them to the jungle (located about 4 km from the village) where they cut firewood for sale. They return home at about 5 p.m. Her family has two buffaloes for daft power and one oxcart as a transport for loading firewood. They can make firewood for sale only three months per year, especially, in dry season, and could earn 2,100,000 Riels (about US $525). However, this income did not balance the household’s whole expenses.

“We cannot depend on forest products as now forest law and forest conservation has been reinforced,” Sophea says. She added, “Therefore, we plan to enhance our livestock production including pig and poultry productions as it is a stable job for our family to earn income.”

After her husband and son drive the oxcart to the jungle, Sophea cleans her house, animal pens and pigs with help from her daughter Dok Thearom, 14, who attends afternoon class at grade 6. Sophea feeds the chicken and pigs and then does other household chores. She has 10 hens and 12 chickens. She feeds pigs three times a day – morning, afternoon and evening. She expects to sell her two fattened pigs within the next few months. However, she is facing challenges in developing her home garden because there is no water during the dry season. So she has to spend money for buying vegetables for consumption from the market. The household has insufficient nutrition as they have small fish, vegetable and eggs in their typical meals. They rarely have meat and pork as it is expensive for her family to afford.

“We have worked very hard to earn money to invest in our three children’s education,” said her husband Ein Dok. “We want our children better than us. Our efforts inspire them to study harder.”

“I want to be a nurse when finishing my study at schools,” said their daughter, Dok Thearom. “I want to provide good healthcare to my family and other villagers. I promise to learn harder to make my dream come true. I also help my family do household chores after school time.”

Sophea’s other two sons, Dok Theara (14) and Dok Theary (7) are studying at grade 4 and grade 1 at Kampong Sela Primary School, which is located about 500 meters from their house. They attend morning class. After school time, Dok Theara helps graze the buffaloes at the field and sometimes, cuts grass as supplementary feed.

Sophea also attends literacy classes that help her better understand the Cornerstones concept. She practices it in her daily life and builds good relations with her neighbors. She fully participates in group saving by putting 2,000 Riels (about US $0.5) in mandatory savings every two weeks and 3,000-10,000 Riels as voluntary savings. Since she has joined the group, Sophea no longer borrows money from middlemen. She borrows from her group with 5% interest per month when she needs money. Now the savings fund of her group keeps increasing. The group members make group business decisions with the group fund to increase their resource base for family and community development.

When talking about community change, we start thinking about family change as family is a fabric of community. Even poor rural families need not only physical inputs, but also education to transform their lives and develop strong communities in a sustainable way.

Editor’s note: This post is part of a new series that follows the progress of specific families, starting at the beginning of their work with Heifer. Initially, this series will focus on our programs in Asia/South Pacific, where our colleagues have chosen one family in each region in the countries where we work and will bring us quarterly updates. 

Lang Sophea and her husband Ein Dok feed pigs. They plan to enhance their pig production.    

Sophea takes care of her hen laying eggs.
Sophea and her buffalo, which is used as draft power, plowing rice land and pulling an oxcart.

Her family rides on oxcart to the field.

Sophea’s house


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Capacity Development in Development – Means or End?

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A group level training in Heifer Cornerstones being held in the village of Khayarmara in Mohattari district of Nepal.  Photo by Puja Singh

by Puja Singh — Heifer Nepal 

The more one keeps up with the news and tries to understand the world’s poverty situation, the more it feels like unfortunate incidents are recurring. Natural disasters, famine and environment exploitations reoccur in the same areas where development goals were said to have been achieved. The 2010 famine in the Horn of Africa seemed all too familiar to the non-governmental organizations who rushed to the rescue. This brings about the question – What is missing?

Maybe a crucial component of development is addressed and accredited far less than it deserves. Let me introduce you to a new term: Capacity Development. Although a pertinent part of development work, capacity development as a term and a process seems to be lost in all the other big words and processes. It creeps up here and there, but is never a focus. A recent blog, Capacity building – isn’t that what development is all about? by Jonathan Glennie reminds us of the important role that capacity development plays in sustainable development. The World Bank defines sustainable development as “Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” There is no way this can happen without capacity development.

Heifer understands the importance of capacity development and has incorporated it as a major component of its projects. Most of the project’s budget and time is dedicated to capacity building trainings and discussions. Participants are trained in animal management, values-based management, financial management, etc. This has been credited by many evaluators including Western Michigan University as the reason behind Heifer’s success at the grassroots level. Heifer’s signature mechanism of Passing on the Gift™ assures that capacity continues to be developed within the community even without external intervention. Heifer’s trainings like the Cornerstones and gender equity continue to be transferred informally long after the funding stops. Isn’t this the ultimate goal of all our development work — that the work continues even after aid has stopped? Capacity development assures that this will happen.    

Puja Singh is Heifer’s Nepal-based communications officer. You can follow her on Twitter here. 
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A New Beginning for Pite and Azhe

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Pite Niuniu and his wife, Azhe Zuotu, in Zhaojue County, Sichuan Province China

by Heifer China 

Pite Niuniu and his wife are living in Zhaojue County, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province. The county is threatened by AIDS and abuse of drugs. The whole family is depending on farming potatoes, rice and buckwheat, plus pig breeding. They have three children who are all at school, a 15-year old daughter and 2 younger sons. The low production and larger expenditure lead the family to poverty.

After Heifer China came to the village, his wife Azhe Zuotu joined a Self-Help Group. Heifer China gave this family a sow, 4 pigs and some other resources. She learned the 12 Cornerstones, animal breeding management, disease prevention, prevention of AIDS and drugs, crop planting techniques, sapling planting techniques and principals of cooperatives. With the consultation of technicians, they built a new shelter with bricks and cement. In the past few months, the sow passed on 11 offspring, which made the family a 3,500 Yuan income. What’s more, thanks to the seeds provided by Heifer and the couple’s hard work, they had a great harvest consisting of 3,500 kg potatoes, 500 kg rice, 200 kg buckwheat and 1000 kg corns, plus some vegetables.

Azhe Zuotu has received a profound understanding about the mutual support offered in self-help groups; as a result, she started caring for people who need support and love. When the project began, the family received a donation of 4,200 Yuan; so far, they are going to pass 2,200 Yuan to the pass-on candidate family this month. They are planning to pass on an additional 2,000 Yuan in March of next year.

At present, with the help of the Heifer program and the family’s hard work, the household had more income, a better quality and a more harmonious life. They had a repaired shelter, a new biogas pit and a self-owned toilet. Speaking of the future, Pite Niuniu said, “Thanks to Heifer program, I could learn skills and be confident to our future. Thanks for the donors’ help. We are going to be all right.” He would like to redecorate the house; well breed the sow, and make his kids happy.

Editor’s note: This post is the first in a new series that follows the progress of specific families, starting at the beginning of their work with Heifer. Initially, this series will focus on our programs in Asia/South Pacific, where our colleagues have chosen one family in each region in the countries where we work and will bring us quarterly updates. 

The newly-constructed animal shelter Pite Niuniu and his fmaily built with help from Heifer China.

 

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Telling Stories Through Nakshi Kantha

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story by Puja Singh
photographs by Geoff Oliver Bugbee for Heifer International

For centuries, women have been telling stories through art and music. In Bengal, these stories are told through Nakshi Kantha, a type of folk art where colorful patterns and designs are embroidered into a quilt with a running stitch called “kantha stitch”. Nakshi Kantha tells the story of life in rural Bangladesh. It tells the story of the joys, sorrows and the dreams of the future. Originally produced for the use of the family Nakshi Kantha has seen a revival and is now produced commercially.

Heifer’s projects in Bangladesh incorporate the making of these intricate quilts as an income generating activity. Project participants work on one or many of these quilts at a time. A medium sized quilt will
take 2-3 months to complete and will sell for around 5000 takka. With growing demands in the national and international market, Nakshi Kantha is becoming a good source of income for many rural families.

The women of a Heifer group in the Johari village in Natore are gathered in the porch of a house to work on Naksha Katha. Each woman works on a portion of the quilt. A usual banter hangs in the air as the women share their secrets with each other. ‘We will work on this at least an hour a day,’ says Mousammad Sabina Begam. “It’s a good way to relax and catch up with the women.”

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