Photo courtesy of Heifer International
Dolores Delgado, from Peru’s Huachacay community, was recognized as a 2012 Heifer International Golden Talent Award winner for her exemplary work in guinea pig breeding. The association she formed now has 36 members, both men and women. Dolores’s “all or nothing” philosophy is an inspiration for many in her community.
Find out how you can help families in Peru improve their lives.
This weekly post shines a light on a handful of stories from Heifer.org’s “From the Field” section. 
The sustainability of Heifer International’s projects rely on expertise. Project participants, partner organizations, local authorities and veterinarians provide that expertise, ensuring the work’s long-term impact.
Pigs are the main livestock in Mountain Province in the Philippines. Between original and pass on families, 1,000 families have been affected by Heifer’s swine projects. Due to the number of people who have worked with Heifer in the area, the possibility of inbreeding is high, which results in low-quality piglets. Heifer Philippines staff in response to this threat contacted the Department of Agriculture-Cordillera Administrative Region (DA-CAR) regional office to request a new bloodline. Dr. Anthony Bantog, regional chief of the Livestock Division and also a member of Heifer Philippines Country Program Advisory Committee, facilitated the process. Five Community Animal Health Workers (CAHWs) received new boars and will receive training and artificial insemination (AI) equipment. The CAHWs have a deeper understanding of AI practices and bloodlines. They will lend their new-found expertise to others in their communities, guaranteeing the swine breeding will successfully continue.
Photo courtesy of Heifer International
Heifer collaborates with experienced partner organizations in its projects. Heifer Nepal and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), working together for the third time, are rehabilitating families affected by conflict. During the 10 years of civil unrest between the then Maoist Rebels and the government, many people disappeared. The livelihoods of these families were disrupted when the bread-winning relation went missing. Heifer’s development model and ICRC’s Psychosocial Support Framework combine to intervene and support the Nepalese as they manage their grief while simultaneously helping them improve their livelihoods. The prowess of the two organizations formed the groundwork for the favorable, long-lasting outcome of this intervention.
The Vayots Dzor region of Armenia remains a tourist attraction, noted for the landscape’s beauty and the quality of the honey produced there. Students have joined Heifer Armenia’s beekeeping project and are using the generated income to pay for their university educations. Beekeeping is a labor-intensive process; the bees require specific conditions to thrive. Lilit Khachatryan, an active project participant and fourth-year student at Giteliq University, attends all Heifer’s training on beekeeping practices. Knowledge and experience are necessary for prosperous hives. She has learned from her father, an experience beekeeper, the technicalities of beekeeping. By utilizing her father’s expertise and Heifer’s training, Lilit has become a successful beekeeper.
Help more families by donating now.
This weekly post shines a light on a handful of stories from Heifer.org’s “From the Field” section.
Because the Earth sustains us, environmental responsibility is of the utmost value to Heifer International. Improving the environment, one of Heifer’s 12 Cornerstones for Just and Sustainable Development, means that our projects do not contribute to soil erosion, increase pollution, or cause or worsen environmental problems. Rather, Heifer projects have a positive impact on biodiversity, local wildlife, watershed conditions, sanitation and soil fertility.
Photo courtesy of Heifer International
Heifer tailors its projects to work with the local environment, creating projects that enrich it and can thrive in that region’s conditions. In Central and South America, Heifer has organized its projects around regional conditions. In the Andes, for example, project participants raise camelids, using them as draft animals and harvesting their wool. These domesticated creatures thrive in the local conditions, and their padded feet don’t damage delicate mountainous foliage. Similarly, Heifer works with farmers in dry forest areas, teaching them to grow crops while avoiding soil erosion, increasing soil fertility and maximizing water resources. We also work with coffee, coca and cardamom farmers in our Americas-area programs. Working with a region’s environmental conditions ensures that the land will be productive for its future tenants.
Heifer Armenia and the Center for Agriculture and Rural Development’s (CARD) joint program works with farmers to breed cattle in the Syunik region. The organizations choose to work in the Syunik region because high-quality grass for animal feed is abundant, while in other communities, such as Armavir, Lori, Ararat and Shirak, securing feed is a problem.
Heifer Armenia’s YES! Youth Club Student Avet Grigoryan decided to launch a garlic business. The 16 year-old surveyed the land available to him. He consulted his uncle, also a garlic producer, who advised him to find sandy soil to plant in. After learning about Heifer’s Cornerstones, Avet knew that finding a patch of sandy soil would mean that his plants would thrive and that he wouldn’t have to use large amounts of chemical fertilizer and pesticides. He found that the soil at his home was unsuitable for growing and used his grandfather’s plot to raise his crops.
Photo courtesy of Heifer International
Every week we feature a fun and/or educational activity you can try at home or in the classroom.
Rice Feeds the World
As one of the most widely consumed staple foods for many parts of the world, rice is incredibly important. The many varieties of this plant are grown all over the world and are vital to the food security of more than half of the world’s population. China and India account for nearly half the world’s rice production, according to a 2003 report from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Farmers in developing countries grow 95 percent of the world’s rice, and most rice is produced by smallholder farmers who own less than two and a half acres of land.
Water Buffaloes Help
Rice feeds the world, and water buffaloes help. These domesticated giants play a key role in families’ agricultural success. With the help of water buffaloes, farmers can plant up to five times more crops than they could by hand. These greater yields translate into more food, more income and more security.
In addition to working as draft animals, water buffaloes produce manure. A lot of it. The six tons a year that an adult water buffalo can create fertilize farm land. For families with a biogas stove, the methane gas can run stoves and eliminate the need for wood-burning stoves, which can lead to deforestation and smoke inhalation that can induce respiratory aliments.
If water buffaloes didn’t already help out farmers enough, the nutrient-rich milk they provide can improve children’s nutrition.
Rice can be used for a number of things around the house. In addition to the obvious use, as food, you can use it to a rice heating pad. The rice version is cord-free, low cost and reusable. You can heat these pads up in the microwave or alternatively cool them off in the freezer and apply them to soothe your aches.
Determine what will form your pad. You can use a tube sock, baby pillow or sew your own pattern. There should be one open side to your pad. Pour the uncooked rice into the pad. Drop in a few sprigs of dried lavender if you wish. This addition will release a relaxing smell when heated, adding a little aromatherapy to the mix.
Photo courtesy of Coffeebreakwithlizandkate.com
Make sure not to fill the pad to the brim. You want to leave some space in the bag for the rice to move around so the pad can comfortably contour around your body. Next, sew the open end shut. Make sure you create a strong seam. You want to make it sturdy enough that rice won’t be able to slip through.
When you use it as a heating pad, don’t leave it in the microwave for longer than three minutes, and stay in the room. You don’t want it to overheat and start to smoke.
For more details about how to make a rice heating pad, read this article.
Give the gift of a water buffalo today, or check out our entire Gift Catalog.
Heifer receives support from a variety of sources. Generous corporate support, grants and partnerships with development organizations help Heifer leverage its resources and positively impact the most people.
Through the World Bank-financed Community Agricultural Resource Management and Competitiveness (CARMAC) project in Armenia, the community established a 44-family cooperative of pasture-users and received various farm equipment. Their crop yields have improved more than 20 percent after they obtained more farming equipment. This increase improved their incomes and allowed the cooperative to save more money for future investments. Additionally, the cooperative rents 830 acres of pasture land from the community to support its 273 heads of cattle.
Photo courtesy of Heifer International
Through Heifer International and European Social Fund’s People‘s Skills Restoration project, 1,000 families will benefit from livestock gifts over three years. Members of the project received their firsts gifts—sheep and rabbits—in mid-December in their western Lithuanian village of Žlibinai.
Heifer Cambodia worked especially hard. Its dedication to seeking out local partners and grants, in addition to the generous contributions of donors, allowed the lives of many Cambodians to be changed. One of the projects that Heifer will implement in partnership with the United Nations Development Program is the upcoming Small Grant Project on Climate Change. This project will assist families who lack a sufficient supply of water for farming or household use due to climate change.
The support received through these partnerships allow Heifer to expand, use its resources efficiently and work toward its mission to end hunger and poverty.
Every week we feature a fun and/or educational activity you can try at home or in the classroom.
Photo courtesy of Heifer International
Food coloring can dye protein-based fibers like alpaca and llama wool. Dying bare yarn is a great way to customize your yarn for knitting and crafting projects. Food coloring is a relatively inexpensive and non-toxic way to color your yarn.
More about Llamas and Alpacas
Llamas and alpacas serve a myriad of purposes for South American families. These domesticated animals are suited for conditions in the Andes and provide a sustainable source of income for their owners. Their wool, prized for its thickness and warmth, is woven into an array of handicrafts, such as scarves, ropes, hats, bags and blankets.These hardy creatures work as pack animals, carrying up to 30 percent of their body weight. Their feet, which have thickly padded undersides like a dog’s foot, don’t damage the delicate high-altitude topsoil and vegetation of the Andes, and their droppings enrich the soil.
Photo courtesy of Knitpicks.com
Materials:
Begin by creating a water-vinegar dye bath by adding 1/4 cup of vinegar to the mix for every quart of water. Soak the yarn in the mixture for half an hour.
Remove the yarn from the mixture and place in a plastic bowl. Next, heat the water-vinegar mixture until it begins to boil. Pour in dye. You will use more than you think you need because it will be dispersed through the water.
Add the yarn to pot again. Let it simmer until the yarn has absorbed the color in the dye bath. When this happens, turn off the heat and let the water return to room temperature. After the bath has cooled, remove the yarn. Wring out the extra water and rinse the yarn with cool water, letting the extra dye run off.
Hang your yarn to dry. A sweater or a clothesline works great, just make sure the yarn isn’t bunched up.
Heifer Peru is improving lives by working on a biodiversity project with alpacas. Heifer’s Alpaca Biodiversity in High Andean Communities project participants are working to improve and reestablish the value and breeding of colored alpacas. Read how the biodiversity project is helping Lucio’s family in Peru. For more project details, see this World Ark article.
For more details about dying yarn, read this article.
Give the gift of a llama and provide a Peruvian family with a sustainable income.
Photo courtesy of Heifer International
Every week we feature a fun and/or educational activity you can try at home or in the classroom. We have begun mailing our Gift Catalog for this year’s holiday season and will be featuring activities that highlight the items available.
In addition to making honey and beeswax, honeybees, a major pollinator in ecosystems that contain flowering plants, play a critical role in the human food supply. A third of the human diet comes from insect-pollinated plants. And these little creatures do an estimated 80 percent of that pollination, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. They are found on every continent with the exception of Antarctica.
Heifer has projects using bees to increase yields for coffee farmers in Guatemala. They pollinate the coffee, meaning more profits for the farmers, who sell the honey too.
The brisk winter weather removes moisture from everything leading to chapped lips and hands. Don’t let winter get the best of your skin. This homemade beeswax hand cream will moisturize skin and provide a fun activity to do with children during their holiday break.
Photo courtesy of eveoutofthegarden.com
Materials
Place the beeswax in the glass bowl and put the bowl in the pot. Pour water into the pot, filling until it reaches about half way up the bowl. Don’t let the water get into the glass bowl; you just want there to be enough to warm up the wax. Turn the temperature on to medium. Add the almond oil.
Remove from heat and add 2 ounces of water and remaining ingredients, slowly stirring continuously. Pour into a small glass container. It’s important to pour the mixture out before it cools enough to where it’s too thick to pour.
For more beeswax recipes, read this article.
To learn more about how Heifer families are using bees to increase their yields, click here.
Give the gift of honeybees to families in need.
Still don’t know what to give someone this holiday season? Browse our catalog and find out how you can help.
Every week we feature a fun and/or educational activity you can try at home or in the classroom. We have begun mailing our Gift Catalog for this year’s holiday season and will be featuring activities that highlight the items available.
For many people around the world, rabbits are a vital source of nutrition. Loved for being fluffy and social, rabbits are a popular pet in the United States. Do you have a pet rabbit?This holiday season, make rabbit treats for your pet.
Photo courtesy of Heifer International
Materials:
Grind the oats and rabbit pellets into a powder. A coffee grinder works great for this. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
Next puree carrot, banana, parsley and add water. The mixture should be liquified, but not too watery. Place the powder into a large bowl and pour the liquified mixture into the bowl, stirring the ingredients together. This will form a stiff dough. Roll out the dough to one fourth of an inch thick. Cut it into small shapes. Place the treat on either a baking stone or a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
Photo courtesy of Heifer International
Bake the treats for about half an hour, but don’t let them burn. Let the treats stay on the warm baking sheet for an hour. Do not give your bunny more than one treat per day.
For more details about making rabbit treats, read this article.
See how rabbits are changing lives in Georgia.
As one of the most popular pets in America, rabbits fill many roles here—pet, cartoon character, Easter egg porter.
But for many families rabbits are more than just cute animals; they create a vital source of income.
Photo by Russell Powell, courtesy of Heifer International.
The small animals rely on simple foods, such as grass and vegetables, to eat, and they do not require large areas of land to thrive. Moreover, the manure they produce fertilizes the land and enhances its productivity, a hugely valuable asset for a smallholder farmer.
These sturdy animals reproduce swiftly; they can have six litters of four to 12 babies, or kits, each year. Additionally, the offspring mature quickly, which means Heifer participants can Pass on the Gift in a few months, compared to the year or two it takes to share the offspring of a larger animal, such as a cow.
A gift of a rabbit transforms a family’s life, providing extra income for to buy more and better food, access health care and pay children’s school fees.
Anthonio Louis Fritznel organized a group of peers to raise rabbits to improve the La Sucrerie community in southern Haiti. Watch this video and see the impact rabbits can make on a community.
This post is part of our What to Give series, where we’re helping you choose the best Heifer gift for your loved ones. Read previous What to Give posts here, and subscribe to the What to Give series here.
Still don’t know what to give? Visit our full catalog page here.
This weekly post shines a light on a handful of stories from Heifer.org’s “From the Field” section.
Involvement in Heifer’s Self-Help Groups produces leaders. The process of people advocating for themselves and participating in improving their lives transforms disenfranchised groups into powerful community leaders.
Volunteer trainers of Igorota Foundation, Inc. (IFI) projects in the Northern Philippines belong to various Self-Help Groups. They are the original, first and second-generation pass-on families of two Heifer subprojects.
Photo courtesy of Heifer International
“They were all reserved at first,” Jun Dom-oguen, a Heifer program officer, said. “You really had to ask them to speak their minds. Seldom would they volunteer. But soon after they understood the Cornerstones, they began to share, discuss among themselves and volunteer to share their ideas.”
These Self-Help Group members now conduct workshops on Heifer’s 12 Cornerstones for Just and Sustainable Development. Through their participation in these Self-Help Groups, they have transformed into trainers for their neighbors.
In Cambodia, Phuong Nen, from O’Nornorng village, had lost hope in the future of his village, believing it couldn’t be saved because of its extreme poverty. Nen became involved with Heifer and joined a Self-Help Group.
“Now I understand that a poor community can be saved,” Nen said. He is the leader of his Self-Help Group and an innovator, looking for ways to further improve his community. He plans to apply a new micro-finance management system in 2013 to further the Self-Help Group’s savings.
Advocating for themselves through Self-Help Groups creates change in individuals and the communities that they are a part of.
