Author Archives: Heifer Nepal

Progress Moves from Family to Community

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Ganga Ale is fast on her way to becoming a leader in her community. As the only educated member of her women’s group, Ganga feels that it is her responsibility to lead her community towards a better life. She received five goats from Heifer and trainings that boosted her
confidence.

In the past three months her family’s potato farm has raked in two quintals of produce, almost twice what she produced last year. She now was 14 goats, and she bought some more with a loan from the group fund. They need a new pen, which she and her husband will build later this month. This pen will be improved as she was taught in Heifer’s animal management trainings. Her eldest daughter, Yamuna, will be graduating from school this year. Ganga is excited about her daughter going to college. She wants her to study business so she can also learn a few things from her to implement in her farm.

There are plans to build a road connecting the village to the main highway. Ganga plans to be involved in negotiating the maximum budget from the village development committee. “This road will improve the market linkage for our produces. We have high hopes for the future,” she
said. 
Editor’s note: This post is part of a series that follows the progress of specific families, starting at the beginning of their work with Heifer. Today’s post is the second in a series of  quarterly updates on the progress of Ganga Ale and her family. You can read the first post about this family here.
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Family Leads Community Towards Sustainability

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Durga Koirala has been very busy in the past 3 months. She received a buffalo from Heifer and only had oxen for draft power. The income from selling buffalo’s milk this quarter helped pay the school tuition for her two sons Sushil (17) and Sudip (16). Durga’s husband is very impressed with the things she has learned from the project. He is so impressed with the group fund that the members have started and how the members of Durga’s group have been using small loans from it to invest in income generating activities, that he too formed a men’s group with his friends and started a group savings of his own. “It has been difficult to get funds when we need them. I didn’t realize that saving a few rupees every month would solve the problem,” Padam said.

Durga’s sons have been pretty busy too. Sushil and Sudip have formed a youth group. Their plan is to engage the youth in the community in creative and community building activities. Durga seems to have communicated the essence of the trainings she received through the project very well to her family.

Editor’s note: This post is part of a 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.

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A piece of land to live in

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Laxmi’s family is landless. The small house she and her family live on is on government land. When she received two goats from Heifer it seems like she and her husband would no longer have to struggle to put food on the table for her son Bishal (8) and daughter Trishala (1). Things were so bad for the family that Bishal had to go live with his maternal uncle as Laxmi could not feed him. But things have been better than they expected.

A steady income from goats has enabled the family to lease a plot of land and grow crops. Half of this goes to the land owners but the half that remains gives the family something to rely on. Laxmi and her husband have planted mustard and lentils. The burms of the land have fodder growing in them for the goats. In the next few months the goat kids will be old enough to sell. The family lives comfortably for now, but there is much to do. Laxmi’s dream is to buy a plot of land in the same village. With Heifer’s inputs and training, Laxmi feels she can live her dream.

Editor’s note: This post is part of a 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.

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A Step Closer

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Maya Rani Thau is landless. She and her husband, Gopi work day and night on a small piece of leased land for half the land’s yield. She received two goats from Heifer and trainings that taught her to get the maximum benefit out of the land and animals. Her dream is for her three sons to go to college and get reputed jobs.

Maya Rani's oxen

There is good news Maya Rani wants to share. They bought a pair of oxen with the profit from the goats and a small loan from the group fund. Now ploughing the land will not be so hard. The oxen will also produce manure that will be used to fertilize. She hopes that the next crop will be profitable enough to lease some more land.

Her husband, who used  to be an alcoholic, is now better. He helps her out a lot with the animals and the farm. Maya feels she is step closer to the life she dreams for her sons.

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Buffalo 1, Buffalo 2, Buffalo 3

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Durga Koirala’s family are farm laborers. The family owns a set ofoxen for draft power. They are her only livestock. Owning oxen makes them alikely choice when landowners are looking for farm hands. Durga became a partof a Heifer project in 2011 and received a lactating buffalo. She has made agood income from the milk in the past couple of months. Durga also received improvedanimal management training from the project. She learned scientific ways ofhousing and feeding the buffalo to maximize milk production. The localCommunity Animal Health Worker (CAHW) also comes by often to check on itshealth and vaccinate. This support structure formed by the project, which alsotrains CAHW‘s and equips them to provide technical and medical support to beneficiariesand their communities.


Durga’s confidence has soared with the knowledge and support shehas received through the project. “I did not have any buffalos. But I am nowaiming to keep three buffalos and make the sale of milk my primary income,”Durga says, beaming. Her buffalo will soon have a calf making the number two.With the savings from the milk sale and a loan from the group fund, Durga hopesto make the number three.

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.

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Ganga – A Leader in the Making

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Ganga Ale, 41 is an active member of a Heifer project in Tanahu, Nepal. She received 5 goats from Heifer along with training on Heifer’s Cornerstones, group management, improved animal management, gender and commercial vegetable production. Ganga was specially touched by the Cornerstones. Her confidence increased after the training, having found a new sense of purpose.


Ganga is one of the few fortunate women in this rural community to have had the opportunity to go to school. She has completed the 8th grade, making her the most educated women in the group and perhaps in the community. “I felt like I had a greater responsibility towards my group members and the village. I have education as a tool to help them excel,” says Ganga explaining her sense of purpose. She has been very active in her community speaking for women and for small farmers. She hopes to do more in the future.


Ganga’s daughter, Yamuna (18), says, “I am proud of my mother. She is very active socially.” Ganga’s husband Kesh Bahadur, 42, also supports Ganga’s new purpose in life. “She has always fulfilled her responsibility towards her family. I encourage her to do the same for her community.”


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.

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Mother Dreams of Better Education

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Maya Rani Tharu is a mother of three: Aravin (10), Jetu (7) and Ashish (4). When she started making a profit from the goats she received from Heifer in 2010, she started dreaming of better education for her children. You see all three children currently go to a government school. The infrastructure is weak, teachers are not skilled and books are hard to get. The teaching medium is Nepali, less preferred than that of private schools which teach in English. Learning English is synonymous with better job opportunities and parents pull all the spare cash they can to send their children to private schools. Maya Rani’s journey with Heifer has just begun. Stay tuned as we bring you more of her and her family’s life with Heifer.   

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