Category Archives: Africa

Our Work in Africa

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Heifer has worked in Africa since 1974 and has partnered with more than 1.4 million families in 15 different countries to end hunger and poverty in their lives.

Families in these communities, who once lived in poverty, now enjoy sustainable livelihoods.

Help support our work in Africa:

Subscribe to our Africa RSS feed.

Read more stories about our success in Africa below and on our Success Stories page.

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Climate Change and the Hungry

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In the last few years we’ve seen how the changing climate has affected vulnerable people and places. Famine was declared in Somalia last year after the annual rains failed. Millions more are on the brink of famine in the Sahel right now for similar reasons. Food prices jumped at the beginning of 2012 after an extremely cold winter in Europe drove up the price wheat and extreme heat in Southern Africa did the same for maize and other crops.

If these trends continue, it’s possible that the number of hungry will rise by 20% according to the World Health Organization. The numbers were announced at last week’s Rio+20 summit in Brazil. 

From the article: The WHO analysis shows that of the 495 million women and children under age 5 who are undernourished, 150 million live in Africa, 315 million in Asia and 30 million in Latin America and the Caribbean. It expects about 465 million more will live in developing countries by 2020, boosting food demand.

While it is important that those who need emergency aid receive it, news like this requires planning for the long term. Heifer International focuses on exactly that: long-term solutions that enable small farmers to be better prepared when crises hit.

Read our other posts on the Rio+20 Summit and why it is important to Heifer here.

 

 

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Coming To A Mailbox Near You

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It’s that time again. The latest edition of World Ark should be hitting mailboxes around the country.

The August issue is chock-full of interesting facts and figures, gorgeous photography and an article all about grasscutters. Don’t know what a grasscutter is? Check out the story about the new livestock that is making farmers in Ghana very successful.

Or dive into one of our Heifergraphics on water usage. You might be surprised to know that it takes A LOT more water to brew a gallon of coffee than it does to brew a gallon of tea, for example.

You can also visit the highlands of Peru through this issue. Writer Brooke Edwards tells how Heifer has helped diversify the alpaca population in the Andean mountains aided by some stunning photography by Dave Anderson.

So be on the lookout for your copy. If you don’t get World Ark in the mail, never fear! Our online page-turner edition can be accessed with the click of your mouse.

Happy reading!

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Malaria=Poverty=Malaria

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Today is World Malaria Day, which might have slipped your mind. That’s understandable. The United States eradicated malaria in 1951, and unless you’ve done much traveling it’s probably never topped your list of things to worry about. But for half the world’s population, the 3.3 billion people threatened by the deadly mosquito-borne illness every day, malaria isn’t so easy to forget.

Malaria symptoms include fever, headache, chills, vomiting, anemia and respiratory distress. Children infected with the disease are extremely vulnerable because they haven’t had time to develop any level of immunity.

Malaria is a mean disease that preys on the poor and the innocent. In 2010, 90 percent of all malaria deaths occurred in sub-Saharan Africa, the region of our planet that’s home to the highest proportion of undernourished people. Poor people with limited resources and limited access to health care often can’t afford housing with screened windows and doors to protect them from infected mosquitoes. And once infected, people suffering from malaria lose work days and the paychecks that go along with them, deepening their poverty. This is a handicap faced by countless Heifer project participants who can find themselves incapacitated by malaria multiple times each year.

Most deaths from malaria claim children under the age of 5. That means that every single minute of the day, a child dies of malaria. Pregnant women also face heightened risk.These numbers will knock the breath out of you, but luckily they’re better than they used to be. Malaria mortality rates have fallen by more than 25 percent since 2000. And with continued use of mosquito nets and insecticides, the hope is that the disease will continue to loosen its grasp.

The theme for World Malaria Day 2013 is “Invest in the future. Defeat malaria.” The disease still kills 660,000 people each year, according to the World Health Organization. But not everyone agrees on the numbers, and in fact, the Seattle-based Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation puts the death toll at 1.2 million per year. I know that number will be stuck in my head for a while.

Happily, we know that bed nets, insecticides and improved housing can slow or stop the spread of malaria. We also know how to treat it. It’s just a question of resources. If, after reading this, you’re having a hard time getting malaria off your mind, visit the WHO’s World Malaria Day 2013 website to learn more.

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From the Field: Partnerships Create New Opportunities

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This weekly post shines a light on a handful of stories from Heifer.org’s “From the Field”From the Field section.

Those who partner with Heifer International are crucial to its mission. Without the help of faith communities, corporations, partners, and countless volunteers, the vision would not reach its full potential. Heifer knows partnerships create the needed strength to make a tangible and lasting difference.  

In the Philippines, three development cooperatives conducted training for participants hit by Typhoon Bopha. The group learned about pig husbandry, dairy goats and feed mills. Participants said the workshop was fulfilling as they gained valuable lessons in a shorter period of time through hands-on learning. Trainings like these hope to engage communities and increase employment and income.

Ukraine Study Tour

Women leaders from Ukraine take part in a study tour established through partnership with Women’s Information Consultative Center. Photo courtesy of Heifer Ukraine

Between October 2012 and February 2013, women leaders from all corners of Ukraine participated in study tours funded by Heifer Ukraine and the Women’s Information Consultative Center. The trainings aimed to solve problems such as high unemployment, domestic violence and lack of medical care. These practical and educational trainings encouraged participants to develop their own projects and receive mini-grants, which help boost self-confidence and active determination.

In partnership with Syngenta Foundation and UAP insurance, Heifer’s East Africa Dairy Development (EADD) project participants received help to hedge their businesses against common risks. A newly introduced livestock insurance plan will help farmers to prevent disease and malnutrition and insure them against loss at a low monthly cost. The included care package also aims to reduce annual mortality rates. In addition, a call center is available to farmers, which will dispatch a veterinarian to confirm a cause of death so the cow can be replaced.

Insured dairy cows will protect farmers against the risk of losing their livelihoods to common cattle diseases. Photo courtesy of Heifer East Africa

Insured dairy cows will protect EADD farmers against the risk of losing their livelihoods to common cattle diseases. Photo courtesy of Heifer East Africa

Learn how you can get involved and make a world of difference

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Empowering Women to… Empower Women

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Editor’s note: Empowering women is at the core of Heifer International’s model for sustainable development. In honor of International Women’s Day on March 8, this week we are sharing stories of the women with whom Heifer works, who take the gifts of livestock and education to produce extraordinary results for themselves, their families and their communities.

Women are on the rise in Rwanda. The country’s constitution requires that 30% of its parliament be women, and Odette Uwamariya, governor of the Eastern Province of Rwanda says women now make up more than half the parliament. “Fifty-six point two percent,” Charles Kayumba, Heifer’s Rwanda country director, clarifies. Even better.

Rwanda

Photo courtesy of Heifer International.

This beautiful country, once so torn by civil war and later genocide, now knows almost no crime. Economic growth is at about 7%. Is it all due to women? Clearly, there are many factors at work here. But it’s significant that the genocide left the country 70% female. Women virtually had no choice but to step up to the work of re-building a nation.

Even with the development so evident in the capital city of Kigali, hunger and malnutrition are still the biggest problems in the provinces. Heifer has helped more than 40,000 families feed themselves and earn a living, most of them female-headed. The government of Rwanda has taken notice and started a program modeled on Heifer’s. The families who receive cows from the government are required to pass on the gift of the cow’s offspring to someone else in the community. Sound familiar? In many areas of the country, the government has turned to the experts– asking Heifer to oversee the program.

 

Uwamariya speaks about empowering women
Odette Uwamariya. Photo courtesy of Heifer International

“I want to acknowledge and recognize Heifer International for the good work they are doing here, and Dr. Kayumba for managing this program,” said Madame Uwamariya at our recent meeting in Rwamagana, the seat of the Eastern Province. Particularly among those affected by HIV, “we have seen tremendous changes after working with Heifer in terms of nutrition and income levels in the community,” Uwumariya reported.

A case in point is Nyirafaranga Liberathe, who lives in Rwinkavu Sector, Kayonza District. She is HIV positive, lost her husband during the genocide and now cares for three children and two grandchildren. When she first began taking medication for HIV in 2005, her antibody count (the bodies that fight infection) was around 96. Medication brought the number up to about 300. Since she began working with a Heifer goat project in 2010, she has been drinking goat’s milk regularly and eating more and better vegetables from her garden. Her antibody count now is at 926.

empowering women in Rwanda

Nyirafaranga Liberathe with grandchildren. Photo courtesy of Heifer International.

The transformation Liberathe has undergone is not just physical, though. Before she began working with Heifer, she felt separated from her community, guilty even. She kept her condition to herself. She lived in fear of poverty, of having nothing. Now, she says, “I feel stronger and am accepted by the community. I have food, I’m fine.” She realizes she now has hope, and a future. “I have helped another family [through POG], I am free from debt, I feel excitement and am happy to be able to assist someone else in need.”

Just as Liberathe has undergone a transformation, so has Rwanda, helped along by strong women… and Heifer International. You can see it in the landscape, in the city, in the countryside, and especially in the eyes of the Heifer project participants. Empowering women through development may not solve all the world’s problems, but after visiting Rwanda, it’s interesting to wonder just what might happen if more women in more places were given more tools and training. Imagine the transformation…

Make a difference by starting a women’s group today.

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The Face of Poverty in Rwanda

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Editor’s note: February 20 is the World Day of Social Justice. In honor of this day, we bring you a portrait of extreme poverty in Rwanda. 

His name is Frank. He’s 18 months old and near death. 

Poverty in Rwanda

Frank is one face of poverty in Rwanda. Photo by Bill Fitzgerald, courtesy of Heifer International.

Frank is severely malnourished, dehydrated, feverish and coughing. We discover later that the cough is most likely due to tonsillitis (a small relief, as pneumonia was first suspected). He lives in Bugusera District, Eastern Province of Rwanda. My co-worker Leigh Wood and I have met Frank and his parents on a trip to document the need for Heifer’s work in this beautiful, hopeful country. This is a slightly different trip for us: we are in areas of Rwanda where Heifer does not currently operate, but hopes to soon. We are here to capture images like Frank’s. And we realize that the few stories we will capture are but the tip of the iceberg.

There is no food in Frank’s house. In fact, there’s hardly anything at all in his house. It’s a mud-and-stick structure about as big as most Americans’ dining rooms. There’s a dirt floor, a low wooden bench and a straw mat for sleeping. The sun shines through the holes in the wall as lizards scamper along the framework. Rwanda is an incredibly green, lush place, and vegetables will grow where they are planted in Frank’s yard. But the land has been handed down and sub-divided to the point where the family’s only plot for growing is about as big as the tiny house itself. He has not eaten today. Yesterday? Maybe, maybe not. His father drinks what little money comes in, and his mother tends their few plants as well as she can.

Frank’s mom gets him the mile or so down the road to the Rango Health Station where he is examined. He receives some juice and antibiotics. When we return to his house to continue filming, the difference is amazing. He has perked up, is talking and even walking some, a tad unsteadily. The village children turn out in scores to watch the muzungus (white people) and their cameras. At one point, Leigh pulls away from us, and I see her wiping her eyes. At that moment, I realize that Frank is almost the exact same age as Leigh’s baby boy at home in the States. A lump forms in my throat as I watch Leigh regain her composure and proceed to gleefully entertain and distract the dozens of children. (She is amazing to watch in this occupation.) I think to myself “the lump in my throat will go away. I know this. The hunger Frank feels will not.”

I’m struck by how little it took to snatch Frank from death’s door. A little nutrition, some medication. And how little it would take to change this family… this village… this district… this country. That’s why Heifer is here. That’s why we’re here, Leigh and I, to give witness to this solvable problem. We have seen scores of families and villages like Frank’s. We talk to the parents, play ball with the kids, entertain them across a language barrier and ultimately realize they’re not that different from us.

Can we make a difference in poverty at this scale? After seeing what so little can do for such dire circumstances as Frank’s, I’m convinced we can. What slight discomfort we might feel allocating the resources to make a difference will go away. But unless we do, the hunger won’t.

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Your New Issue of World Ark is on the Way!

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WA-035_2013 February WA CoverHeifer’s East Africa Dairy Development project is changing the lives of 1 million people previously living in poverty. You’ve heard us talk about the importance of scaling up Heifer’s work to help more people in need, but how do we go about it?

In the February 2013 issue of World Ark, arriving in mailboxes this week, you’ll read about how we’re working with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, partners and private providers including village banks, to connect small dairy farmers with each other—and with their local economies—to lift up entire communities.

You’ll also hear directly from young girls in India, who with Heifer’s help are beginning to realize their own strength and potential through education and training. Also learn what challenges India’s elderly are facing as young families migrate to cities for better jobs.

Bonus features include everything from tips on how to patiently teach compassion to children to a deep dive into the world of aquaculture, or fish farming, throughout the world.

You can also read the World Ark features online here, with extra stories and videos. Let us know what you think; we look forward to hearing from you!

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From the Field: Making Modest Dreams Come True

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This weekly post shines a light on a handful of stories from Heifer.org’s “From the Field”From the Field section.

Heifer International is in the business of ending hunger and poverty and caring for the Earth. The dreams that come true for so many families as a result of this work are a pleasant and quite natural byproduct. The dreams of our project participants, considered modest by many, include things like running water, sending children to school, having decent shelter and enough to eat. Opportunities provided by Heifer combine with determination of families around the world to make modest dreams come true every day.

Jennifer Moyo with her chickens in Zimbabwe

Jennifer Moyo with her chickens in Zimbabwe

Jennifer Moyo raises chickens in the Makhulela ward of Zimbabwe, a business she got into when she joined Heifer’s Hope for the San People project. She works hard to improve her livestock’s housing and helps her neighbors with their livestock, thanks to her training as a Community Animal Health Worker. The money Jennifer earns with her small farm allows her to buy basic necessities for her family and send her children to school.

For farmers in China’s mountainous Mingle village, running water is a challenge. The local government attempted to assist with a large irrigation project, but all improvements were ruined when a landslide collapsed the diversion canal a year after construction. Fortunately the China Merchants Charitable Foundation, a Heifer partner, stepped in and replaced the canal with a steel pipe. Now, the lofty village enjoys proper irrigation, giving the farmers water, a luxury many take for granted.

Hasmik Papyan’s family has been living in a small wagon-house since an earthquake devastated their Armenian community of Stepanavan in 1988. When Hasmik received Olya, a pregnant cow from Heifer Armenia, the future started looking bright. Olya gives the family two to three gallons of milk a day, which goes a long way to support the family’s nutritional and financial needs.

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From the Field: Training and Education Empowers Women Worldwide

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This weekly post shines a light on a handful of stories from Heifer.org’s “From the Field”From the Field section.

Using available resources is not always simple. Training and education is needed for many people to effectively improve their lives. For women around the world, Heifer International and its partners are providing that knowledge. When South Africa’s government provided water tanks to Mabheleni Village, many residents lacked the skills to use the new resource. Participation in Heifer’s Sukuma Poultry Project helped village woman Ntombizethu gain knowledge to manage and improve her two and half acre garden. Ntombizethu said Heifer’s training has brought positive change to her family.

Cusco woman learns to spin alpaca fiber into thread.

Photo by Bryan Clifton, courtesy of Heifer International

Heifer Research Assistant Jessica Ford recently experienced firsthand the philosophy of Heifer’s 12 Cornerstones for Just and Sustainable Development. Ford met with eight southern Peru women’s groups as they learned how to spin alpaca fiber into thread. After the workshop, Heifer presented each group with a new spinning machine. This training in the Cusco community empowers women and their families, moving them toward a more sustainable future.

In Cambodia’s Ampao Prey village, Ouk Sam On lives with her husband and two children. When their rice yield did not supply enough food for the year, she and her husband had to leave their village to labor for a small income in Phnom Penh City. After partnering with Heifer-funded Cambodia Farmer Economic Development (CFED), Sam On attended workshops and trainings for leadership and project management. Because of her education, Sam On was able to enhance her farm’s productivity and authorities selected her as a Community Facilitator in charge of children and women’s affairs.

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Happy Global Family Day 2013

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As many of us spend time home with our families today to celebrate New Year’s Day, we at Heifer would also like to celebrate Global Family Day. I hope you’ll enjoy this slideshow of some of our project participant families from around the world.

Global Family Day 2013

Photo by Christian DeVries, courtesy of Heifer International.

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Biogas Powers Homes in Uganda

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Ten-year-old Biasa works the family stove, which operates on biogas.

Ten-year-old Biasa works the family stove, which operates on biogas.

Participants in Heifer Uganda’s biogas project turn animal waste into energy, which lights homes and powers stoves. The benefits of biogas are many, including improved family health, less cutting of trees for firewood and faster cooking times. The connection between our work with livestock and this technology is complimentary: farmers can use what might otherwise be a source of pollution as a fuel for cooking and lighting. The byproduct of the process is an already composted material perfect for fertilizing home vegetable and fruit gardens.

In the video below, Elizabeth Bintliff, Vice President for Heifer International’s Africa Area Program, shares more about this sustainable energy alternative.

Give the Gift of Biogas Today.

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Water: One of the Basic Human Rights

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Nine-year-old Rahim pumps water in Kilulu village.

Nine-year-old Rahim pumps water in Kilulu village.

Water is a natural resource that I use regularly and never have to think much about. It’s a given that the clean, safe and refreshing liquid will flow freely from any of the several faucets in my house at any time I choose.

Not everyone is so fortunate. An estimated 780 million people don’t have access to clean water. That’s equal to two and a half times the population of the United States.

Through Resolution 64/292, the United Nations General Assembly recognized the human right to water and sanitation on July 28, 2010, calling this human right “essential for the full enjoyment of life and all human rights.” It further “calls upon States and international organizations to provide financial resources, capacity-building and technology transfer, through international assistance and cooperation, in particular to developing countries, in order to scale up efforts to provide safe, clean, accessible and affordable drinking water and sanitation for all.”

Source: http://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/human_right_to_water.shtml

Water shortage packs a powerful punch. Compromised access to water, let alone clean water, leads to undernourished communities and even famine. Residents of developing countries around the world face this life and death challenge every single day.

Heifer International understands the necessity of clean, safe water for hygiene and home consumption, as well as raising healthy livestock and gardens. That’s why we work with families all over the world to ensure reliable access to an abundance of water that is free from dangerous, disease-causing microorganisms, pollution and chemicals.

Cisterns installed in Maniche, Haiti, make it possible for residents like Louis Desira, a tailor, to spend more time and energy on his profession than walking four kilometers each day to fetch water.

Members of Heifer’s Improving Farm Households’ Capacity in Long Phu District, Soc Trang Province in Vietnam have saved money to build hand-pumped wells. Thanks to this project, residents no longer carry unsafe water from the local river to their village every day because the wells provide clean water for drinking, cooking and bathing.

When communities have wells full of clean water at their disposal, they can implement innovations that contribute to good hygiene. Check out the highly affordable tippy tap hand-washing system Heifer project participants are using in African countries like Uganda and Zambia.

We live in a world of plenty, yet there are so many who struggle every day to survive without sufficient access to water – one of the most fundamental needs and basic human rights. The good news is there are solutions. Heifer International works diligently with partner organizations and families all over the world to end hunger, poverty, water shortages and related issues through methods that are innovative, effective and proven.

This Human Rights Day, give the gift of clean drinking water.

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Goat Project in Uganda Improves Lives of Families Affected by HIV/AIDS

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Editor’s note: Last Saturday was World AIDS Day. Today we share with you another story of how Heifer’s work goes a long way to benefit families affected by HIV/AIDS. Original story by Christian DeVries.

Women's Goat Project Addresses HIV/AIDS in Mbale, Uganda

Photo by Russell Powell, courtesy of Heifer International.

During the past few years we have witnessed many great breakthroughs in the fight against HIV and AIDS. Awareness campaigns have been launched, dozens of new medicines were approved, and in Thailand in 2009 a clinical trial provided the first clear evidence of a vaccine for humans.

Sub-Saharan Africa has been one of the hardest hit areas. “More than 68 percent (approximately 22.5 million people) of those infected are in sub-Saharan Africa.”

One country that has made a lot of progress through stakeholder cooperation, effective awareness campaigns, and free access to antiretroviral treatment (ARVs) is Uganda. In the late 1980s Uganda’s urban infection rate was around 29 percent, with a countrywide rate of 15 percent. Today the prevalence rate has dropped to 6.5 percent.

“Although the country has been able to dramatically reduce the incidence of HIV/AIDS among the population, the pandemic has caused the death of large numbers of young adults and orphaned approximately 1 million children.” An additional 1.2 million people are living with HIV in Uganda.

Mrs. Lovisa Wamukota (70) lives in Wokukiri village, in Mbale district, in Uganda’s Eastern region. Although she is not HIV positive, her life has been forever changed by this terrible disease.

Lovisa is the sole caregiver for 12 of her grandchildren between 5-18 years old. These children were orphaned by this deadly virus and unfortunately they are all HIV positive. I had the opportunity to meet four of the children: two boys, Simon Wamukota Waswa (15) and his twin brother, Fred Wamukota Kato (15); and two girls, Tereza Wabuyaka (10) and Gladys Wakoli (5). Lovisa’s husband, Mr. Justin Wamukota, passed away at 75-years-old. Together they had nine children; four are still alive and the other five have died.

Life was unimaginably difficult for a widowed elderly woman trying to care for so many young children. She did basic agricultural work for others and sold some of her own crops, but it was never enough. She was never sure where their next meal would come from. “Life was hard. I struggled to find enough food to feed the orphans,” said Lovisa. “I could work very hard, but the production was not enough.”

She desperately wanted to send her grandchildren to school. “It helps a child to learn to look after themselves when they grow up,” said Lovisa. “My parents told me, ‘You need an education so you can read life’s signposts so you won’t get lost.’” However, it was a choice between eating and buying books. “I did not have enough money to send the children to school,” Lovisa said. Whenever she was able to scrap some money together it was spent to meet her family’s basic immediate needs.

The Wamukota family’s life began to change on August 3, 2007, when Lovisa received a Saanen dairy goat from Heifer International. Tereza immediately fell in love with the pure white goat, so Lovisa named the goat “Tereza” also. “She always goes and plays with her goat. She feeds it and cares for it. She will go and get water for her when there is no water,” said Lovisa. “She produces good milk,” said Tereza. “It gives me energy to sweep the house.” “I also drink the milk and get energy,” said Lovisa.

Milk also gives Tereza the energy to play her favorite sport, netball, a fast-paced game similar to basketball. She plays netball at Wochili Primary School where she is in Primary grade 3. Her favorite subject in school is English.

Tereza (the goat) is a fantastic mother. She has kidded six times and each birth has been twins. The gift of one goat to Lovisa has multiplied into 18 goats. Lovisa also received a mineral block and tick medications as part of this project.

The trainings she received provided to be important as she expanded her herd. She has participated in several trainings, including: goat management, disease control, housing, feed, collect and manage manure, fodder, environmental conservation (energy saving stove), milking and handling, and Heifer’s Cornerstones.

Her favorite Cornerstone is Full Participation because, “This Cornerstone encourages people to come together and when we are together I don’t feel lonely,” said Lovisa. “As a family, Full Participation encourages collective action. We do our work together.” She added, “When we are together, we learn from each other and the children learn from me. This will help them sustain their lives.” Lovisa is happy because she knows that her grandchildren will have a skill that they can rely on if school isn’t for them or if they can’t find work after school.

Currently they are milking four does and receive an average of 2 liters per goat. From this 8 liters, 2 liters are used for home consumption and 6 liters are sold. Each liter sells for $0.42, so they earn $2.54 per day or $928 per year.

The manure from so many goats has dramatically improved Lovisa’s crop production. Before the project she was harvesting 200 kg of maize from 1 acre. Now she gets 800 kg or more per acre. Her banana plantation has seen similar improvements. “Ever since I started using the manure I haven’t been able to lift up the bunches because they are too heavy,” said Lovisa.

More food to eat and fresh milk to drink has helped the Wamukota family recover from many of their health problems. “I have noticed a very great change. Without this milk some of the children would be dead now. It is the difference life and death,” said Lovisa. Tereza was the sickest of all the children. Not only is she HIV positive, but her parents died when she was only nine-months-old.

A proper diet with good nutrition helps boost the body’s immune system and in turn increases the effectiveness of HIV medications. Thankfully, all of her grandchildren are now on antiretroviral (ARV) medication. Once a month, Lovisa or one of the older children travels to Mbale to pick up the medicines.

In Lovisa’s opinion, the biggest impact of this project is she now sends all of the children to school. She sells milk to buy school supplies: uniforms, pens, etc., and she sells goats to pay school fees for the children in secondary school. With four children in secondary school, Lovisa pays $153 per year per child,  for a total of $610 per year. For the five children in primary school, she spends an additional $127 per year.

Lovisa is certain that without Heifer’s assistance she would never have been able to spend $737 to send her grandchildren to school. “I am grateful to God that I am alive,” she said. “Many have died, but I am glad I have been alive to see this change.”

Many other families have benefited from this project. Heifer provided 180 families with good dairy goats. An additional 450 families have now received pass on animals. “We thank Heifer Project for working with us and giving us these goats,” said Martha Nekesa (42), another Heifer recipient and Chairwoman of Lovisa’s group.

“Heifer is special, because it gets the donations and delivers it to the families. They have people who check to make sure it arrived to the intended beneficiary,” said Lovisa. “I trust Heifer because they promised me a goat and they fulfilled their promise.”

This simple promise has reduced hunger, improved health, and given 12 children a future that just four years ago seemed impossible. Heifer will continue to fulfill its promises, but we need your help. No donation is too small. Remember that even a small promise has the power to change someone’s life.

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