Category Archives: Field Stories

Heifer increases goat productivity in Nepal

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In January Heifer launched its dream project for Nepal, Strengthening Livestock Value Chain (SLVC). Its goals are to increase meat and milk production to substitute current imports and create a unique value chain for meat and milk that incorporates smallholder farmers not only in the production phase but also in marketing it. But there was a glitch. Over the years degradation of genetic merit in goats resulted in lower levels of productivity. In layman’s terms, they had fewer babies who did not grow as well and farmers could not sell them for good prices.

Farmers of Ladavir in the Sindhuli district in eastern foothills of Nepal are a part of a unique classroom under the Community Initiative for Genetic Improvement in Goats (CIGIG). Here they learn about how to improve production of goats through selective breeding. These farmers are not new to rearing goats but what they learn in this classroom will teach them to do so in a more scientific way through observation and intervention. To put it simply, it’s the Mendel’s Law in action. A pool of healthy genetically superior does and bucks will be produced by the end of the project and will be marketed across communities around the country to in-turn increase their production. Ladavir will be a training ground and resource village for genetically superior high productivity goats.

Heifer’s work around the world is not just limited giving animals and agricultural inputs if farmers but also extends to doing what needs to be done to bridge the gaps between the present that the future that Heifer envisioned together with the families it works with. CIGIG is one such initiative.

Participants of the first CIGIG class mull over a poster that depicts how to select a good male and female goat from physical traits for breeding.

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Heifer India Leads Rukkhi to a Better Life

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Rukkhi Devi with her goats.

A Heifer India project participant stands in front of her new concrete house, which was made possible through the organization's sustainable agriculture development program.

Rukkhi Devi stands in front of her new concrete house.

 

“In the last six months, the biggest change has been that from a thatched house. I have been able to build a concrete house.”  —Rukkhi Devi

Life is getting better for Rukkhi Devi. She looks at the two goats she received from Heifer India. These now have four kids. The two to be passed on are ready for the big ceremony. The goats changed her life. She got three liters of milk every day: she kept one for her family’s consumption and sold the rest at about $1 per liter to the local merchant. The family has sold two bucks for 5,000 Rupees (about US $ 100) this month. About 10 months ago, they sold a male kid male for $40. The family has earned a total of $140 that has increased their family income.

But in order to get this result, Rukkhi had to learn how to keep her livestock. She learned the benefits of keeping the goats in a shed so the hot summer sun would not burn their skin. She learned how to stall-feed them too. The fodder seeds Heifer provided also helped.

Rukkhi is also seeing the benefits of the vegetable seeds she received. Now the family has eaten green vegetables every day for the last three months. These positive results encouraged them to plant eight more trees this year.

The highlight of the project were the three import trainings Rukkhi received:

  • The nutrition & hygiene training has been very informative. Rukkhi says it has helped her learn and understand how to maintain personal hygiene and to keep the house and its surroundings clean. She understands the importance of a toilet in the house. She also understands the strong emphasis on good nutrition for good health.
  • The training on smokeless stoves has helped her understand the hazardous implications of smoke on health, especially on the health of women in the house. She says she understood how the smoke would affect her vision, her eyes and her respiratory tract. She is glad that these problems, which were deemed to be eventualities, will not affect her or her family now. She also understands that it will save on fuel and fuel costs, and also reduce the ill effects caused to the environment. She is happy that she will be able to cook twice as quickly, the utensils and dishes will not turn black from charcoal and the kitchen will not be covered with soot.
  • The training on rain water harvesting systems helped Rukkhi realize the importance of water management. She says her family would save a total of about $57 annually on water because of collecting rainwater. Given the scarcity of water and negligible amount of rain in the region, the rainwater harvesting system would help them maintain an unrestricted supply of water throughout the year. This would impact the lives of the women positively because they are the ones who travel long distances to fetch water, she adds.

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. In Asia/South Pacific, our colleagues have chosen one family in each region in the countries where we work and will bring us quarterly updates. You can read the first story about Rukkhi Devi and her family here. 

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Heifer Honduras Helping Women-led Small Business

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Falguni Vyas is traveling with Heifer CEO Pierre Ferrari this week visiting projects in Honduras and Guatemala.

Belen-Ocotepeque in Santa Rosa-Belen, Honduras, sits just off a winding, bumpy road high in the Honduran hills. This small, rural community is home to 10 women entrepreneurs who, two years ago, started a small business canning vegetables and preserving jellies to sell at market to supplement their income. These women come together about once a month to prepare their Pitillo brand products for the market. They sell locally and will sometimes take the early morning, two-and-a-half-hour-long bus ride to San Pedro Sula, one of Honduras’ largest cities, to sell at a larger market.

The group of 10 women who started a business canning vegetables and preserving jellies.

The group of  women who started a business canning vegetables and preserving jellies with Heifer CEO Pierre Ferrari and Vice President of the Americans Oscar Castaneda.

On the outside, it looks as though the conditions are perfect for a such a venture. Pickled vegetables are a popular condiment in Honduras, and there are no other competitors in Belen. However, there is not enough demand for each of the women in the co-op to make a significant contribution to their household’s monthly income. The co-op was founded to serve as a means to augment the families’ main source of income, which comes from coffee laboring during the harvest season—from October to January. But with low demand combined with low profit (each jar costs about $2.50 to produce and sells for $3) the co-op members realized they need to get creative and seek out opportunities for their pickles and preserves to bring in the revenue they need.

Last year the co-op applied to put the Pitillo product line into supermarkets across Honduras. This is a lengthy process with many steps. First, a bar-code is needed for the labels, requiring lots of paperwork. Then, the co-op must pass a sanitation and health inspection. Lastly comes another six to seven months of paperwork, meaning the process could take several years.

While the co-op waits to hear a response on their application, they are discussing ideas for diversification. They already supplement the pickled vegetables and jellies with fresh produce at market but know that they can do more. In a meeting today between co-op members, Heifer Honduras and Heifer International staff, these women leaders had the opportunity to talk through ideas and brainstorm marketing concepts that will take their Pitillo jellies and pickles from small supplementary income to major contributor to the security and stability of their families’ livelihoods.

Right now, if you give to projects in Honduras and Guatemala, your donation could be matched dollar-for-dollar. Help other women just like those in Belen-Ocotepeque.

 

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Irish Heifers Give Romania ‘Chance for All’

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Editor’s note: Story and photos submitted by Heifer Romania team

Heifer's Chance for All project launches in Zimnicea, Romania

Heifer's Chance for All project launches in Zimnicea, Romania.

The official launch of Heifer Romania’s Chance for All project started at noon on October 18 in Zimnicea, the southernmost region of Romania. The $2,464,300, or 1.9 million Euro, program was developed in collaboration with Heifer International, Heifer Romania, Bóthar Ireland and Danone Romania, with strong financial support from the Danone Ecosysteme investment fund.

Initial cattle beneficiaries are chosen through a lottery system

Project members wait for results of the lottery that determines the first cattle recipients.

The four-year Chance for All project is a socioeconomic program that will assist small farmer communities in five underdeveloped areas of the country.

The project aims to encourage small producers to work together to have long-term profitable businesses based on the production of high-quality milk. This initiative has a major training component, whereby farmers will participate in specialized courses on health, nutrition, and cattle reproduction and milking. This knowledge will enable them to obtain milk that is of European Union-quality standard.

Guests listen to a speaker at the Heifer project launch celebration.

Guests listen to a speaker at the Heifer project launch celebration.

In the first two years, more than 200 heifers will be distributed to 200 farm families. By the end of the project, 800 families will have benefited from the gift of heifers.

Chance for All will be implemented in two stages. The communities of Zimnicea, Cocorastii Colt and Belin will be assisted during the first year. The two remaining areas will be added at the beginning of the second year.

“Danone has made a long-term commitment to Romanian farmers and its partners. Year after year we have invested in sustaining milk production through programs oriented toward all types of farms, such as Danone Farm or Reaching West,” said Dieter Schulz, Danone CEO for Eastern and Southern Europe. “Chance for All is a new investment made by Danone for the sustainable development of Romanian zootechny and an aid for rebuilding, economically, families with low incomes.”

Irish heifers enter the quarantine farm.

Irish heifers enter the quarantine farm aboard two trucks.

“The project follows Heifer International’s main principle, Passing on the Gift®,” said Ovidiu Spinu, country director for Heifer Romania. “The families who receive heifers will pass on the gift, thus the initial support will multiply and the chain of beneficiaries will grow. By sustaining animal breeding, the milk quantity at European Union standards will grow and so will the families’ incomes.”

Bóthar Ireland sent 50 Irish heifers to Romania. They arrived on September 16 and were transported to a quarantine farm by a convoy of two trucks. The 50 farm families were determined by lottery draw and each heifer was sent to its new home on a small specialized vehicle.

Alexe's family welcomes their Irish heifer into its new home.

Alexe's family welcomes their Irish heifer into its new home.

“One month ago we sent the first heifers for the Chance for All project,” said David Moloney, CEO of Bóthar Ireland, in his message for the farmers of Zimnicea. “We loaded the animals somewhere in central Ireland, we crossed the sea to France, we drove over 1,800 miles, stopping twice at the ‘animal hotels’ and finally reached our destination: the quarantine farm in Oradea. Ten-thousand artificial insemination (AI) doses from the Holstein Frisian breed were also sent for this project, to maintain the pure Irish breed in the project’s locations. We hope that the gift from Ireland will bring you only satisfaction and aid you to develop your farm and that over the years, you, too, will be able to make such a gift.”

“Chance for All is a landmark project for all of us, bringing together a diverse set of partners to work with disadvantaged communities to achieve lasting economic and social impact,” said Pietro Turilli, vice president of Heifer’s Central and Eastern Europe program, in his letter of congratulations to the beneficiaries and partners involved in the complex project. “As you are all aware, the challenges for this project are significant, but then again, so are the potential rewards: building more resilient communities and linking them in a sustainable manner to markets through the provision of high-quality livestock, organization of community groups, social and technical training and assistance, and providing access to recognized and reliable market partners.”

With 30 journalists and bloggers attending, the celebration enjoyed good media coverage. Besides comments from local and regional authorities and messages sent from the USA and Ireland, two project members publicly expressed their thanks and commitment to achieving the objectives set for Zimnicea. “It was hard for me to believe that this place where nothing ever happens could become the pilot community for such an important people-oriented project,” said Mariana Moldoveanu, one of Heifer’s newest beneficiaries.

As the ceremony drew to a close and the first animals reached their new homes, we followed Alexe Ilie as his family welcomed their Irish heifer into its new home.

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From the Field: Heifer’s Work Around the World

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

Heifer projects are filled with leaders, and they’re easy to spot. They typically have a grand vision that will improve their entire community. It’s their vision, combined with a passionate dedication to see it through, that inspires others to join the effort and, ultimately, reap great rewards.

Heifer project participants Tang Fuming and her husband in Xingjia Village

Tang Fuming and her husband in Xingjia Village

In China, Tang Fuming took the initiative to expand on her family’s small silkworm farming business by joining a Heifer project in her community. Once, her family earned barely enough to get by, but now they raise chickens and can afford medicine for their epileptic grandson. Today, Tang teaches her neighbors skills to empower them to improve their lives, too.

Anthonio Louis Fritznel has been blind since age 12, but that doesn’t stop him from doing what he can to make life better for residents of La Sucrerie community in southern Haiti. For two decades, Anthonio has inspired fellow community members with his true vision.

Schoolchildren in Armenia’s Lukashin village understand and appreciate the value of the leaders who teach them how to be the best they can be. During a Teachers’ Day celebration earlier this month, students showered their instructors with gifts and heartfelt thanks.

 

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From the Field: Heifer’s Work with Cooperatives Around the World

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

Today is World Food Day and this year’s theme, as announced by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), is “Agricultural Cooperatives – Key to Feeding the World.” Heifer empowers families around the world to achieve food security, and bringing them together as agricultual cooperatives is an effective method to end hunger and poverty. Learn more about Heifer’s cooperatives in the video and stories below.

In Cameroon, members of two self-help groups formed a dairy cooperative seven years ago. In addition to giving them food security, member families have tripled their income.

Hongyu’s Pastured Chicken Cooperative in China recently opened its own store. Now members sell the chickens they raise directly to consumers, with no need for a middleman.

Corina de Jesús Ramirez lives in Nicaragua. Joining a coffee cooperative has given her access to credit, better prices and technical assistance to improve both quantity and quality of production on her farm. Claudio Hernández Vásquez also belongs to a coffee co-op in Nicaragua. His success with growing coffee has allowed him to expand farming activities to include poultry, pigs, vegetables and basic grains.

Marfusha Cooperative was founded in Ukraine in 2009. This milk co-op, which started out small, now provides collection and cooling services and sells high-quality milk to the local Danone plant.

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Heifer’s Trainings Continue to Serve Nine Years Later

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After our descent from Kilimanjaro with the group of Elanco employees who are Heifer International supporters, I had the opportunity to visit the Kitomary family in Tanzania.

The Kitomary family farm is a miraculous oasis of organic farming outside the city of Arusha in Tanzania. It wasn’t always that way, though.

Kitomarys on their farm

Photo courtesy of Heifer International

Zodiac Kitomary used to drink away the meager earnings of his family’s simple plantings. He had nothing better to do, he says, no hopeful prospects. Then in 2003, the family received fish fingerlings from Heifer, and later, dairy goats. More importantly, Zodiac says, they received trainings on how to maximize the output of their tiny property and on how to work together.

Tanzania small farm

Photo courtesy of Heifer International

His wife, Ndetaniawa, says Heifer trainings taught a different attitude, calling for husband and wife to work together and value each other. She confronted her husband and asked him to stop drinking. “Now,” she says, “everything that comes from the farm, everything we make, we share together equally.”

And they manage to squeeze a lot out of the farm. One and a half acres, they observe, is not a lot to raise six children on. They’ve enthusiastically adopted all kinds of organic techniques so that every inch of the farm serves more than one purpose.

Goat on Tanzania farm

Photo courtesy of Heifer International

The fish fingerlings the Kitomarys raise are sold all over the region. They have a biogas system run with the dung of their dairy goats, which they continue to breed. And they’re raising specialty crops like herbs, greens, yams and fruit trees.

With their earnings, the family is sending all six children to good schools. One is even at university now.

“Many people are amazed,” Zodiac Kitomary says. “They think I must still be getting financial assistance. But really I just keep applying the training, and that’s what makes it possible.”

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From the Field: Heifer’s Work Around the World

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

Thinking outside the box, being open to doing things differently, can be the tipping point to success. Heifer’s work is carried out by innovative people who are constantly thinking of ways to improve their methods and reap even more success.

Bees and their honey make life sweet for coffee farmers in Guatemala

Since bees joined the coffee farming activities of Guatemala’s Tuiboch village, honey has become a sweet bonus business. Read Bees Improve Yield for Guatemala Coffee Farmers to learn more.

Staff from Heifer Poland and the Polish Development Cooperation of the Ministry of Public Affairs were on hand to celebrate the opening of two new projects in Armenia. Find out how this bi-national collaboration means successful project implementation in Fruitful Partnership Betwen Armenia and Poland Leads to Tangible Results.

Empowering a Remote Village to Improve Livelihoods tells how Lin Fengchen, a farmer in China’s rural Sangfang village, encouraged skeptical villagers to join a chicken raising cooperative. In addition to building a brand, Jianmenguan Natrual-Fed Chicken, cooperative members have dramatically increased their income through diverse and sustainable agriculture activities.

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Passing on the Gift in Puno, Peru

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Editor’s note: The following story and photos are by Jessica Ford, Communications and Research Officer for Heifer Peru.

In my last post; I told you about my first visit with Heifer families in Peru. Thanks for coming back for the second part of the story. If you missed my first post, here is some background:

Heifer has relocated me from the headquarters in Little Rock, where I’m from, to their office in Lima, Peru, for one year as part of a pilot development program. This is the second of two posts about a one-day visit to my very first Heifer project in Peru. I had two reasons for visiting the project. The first was to visit some families there that Heifer is working with for the general monitoring and evaluating that comes with all Heifer projects (read about these families here). The other reason was to attend a Passing on the Gift ceremony.

Everything was ready and waiting for us at the community center. It took us just a few minutes to travel by truck to the center. Once we arrived, we were greeted by two long lines of men, women and children ready to receive their “special guests” for the big day. This blew my mind. Personally, as an employee of Heifer International, a Passing on the Gift ceremony is the pinnacle and trademark of Heifer’s work. Passing on the Gift is at the core of Heifer’s model being successful and sustainable. For any employee from a Heifer office to attend one of these is a huge honor and privilege. I was more honored to be there more than these people will ever understand.

The community members gave us big hugs and kisses and threw confetti all over us and up in the air. There was a band playing as we walked together through the rows of people and hugged and kissed and exchanged greetings like old friends.

Welcome line for POG

We were seated under a tent, and the festivities began.

Guests sitting under the tent.

Much preparation and planning went into this event. You don’t just throw a Passing on the Gift Ceremony together! Hundreds of people were there – they all needed to be organized and fed, there was a Master of Ceremonies, invitations to guests went out well in advance, animals were running around everywhere, the program was well rehearsed. Needless to say, there were a lot of details. Many distinguished guests also joined us. Speeches were given by the leaders of the gathering to welcome all the guests and community members.

Community Building

The community building.

The presence of so many, and such diverse local community officials and members exemplified the importance and impact Heifer Peru has here. It isn’t just the individual families Heifer supports and trains – Heifer encourages involvement at every possible level. It is critical. The entire area has a deep sense of ownership. It makes the projects, Pass-on ceremonies and new livelihoods less of a story about “what Heifer does to help people,” and more about how much this whole community does to help themselves and each other.

Women wait for the Passing on the Gift ceremony to begin.

Women wait for the Passing on the Gift ceremony to begin.

Men on Bench

Men wait on a bench for Passing on the Gift ceremony to begin.

A highlight of the ceremony was the dancing. Oh, the dancing!  Four groups danced for us. The men, women and children both danced traditional dances, and they were beautiful. I was even dragged up to dance some. It was so much fun!  I couldn’t breathe afterward, but I did my best.

Peruvians in Traditional Dance Line

Community members in a traditional dance line.

While all these plans, dances, speeches and food were important and special, they didn’t compare to the most important planning required of all – the actual Passing on the Gift.  For this community that day, each family passed on a sack of potato seeds and one pig. (The seeds are especially important in Peru. Peru has more varieties of potatoes than any other country in the world. Each sack contained multiple varieties of seeds, which strengthens biodiversity and nutrition.) Months and months of strategic planning, cultivating and training went into this very moment. More than 50 families were anxiously waiting their turn to receive their animal and potato seeds. Passing on the Gift changes lives, and they knew it.

Passing on the Gift wasn’t important only for those receiving animals and seeds. The families doing the passing on were upholding a deep-rooted tradition, long held by the people of Peru called Ayni. In my words, Ayni is the ancient Andean concept of natural reciprocity. It is the understanding of the importance of nature and the world around us as being linked and in honoring the duality in everything. It is the principle that one must give and take in equal exchange with the surrounding environment. For all those involved in this Passing on the Gift ceremony, Ayni was a part of them and their community. They honored their ancestors and passed down a beautiful tradition. And Heifer, through our Passing on the Gift model, helped remind them of the importance of this tradition.

As the dancing and festivities led to the culmination of the day, potato seeds and pigs were brought out, and families began to line up.

Sacks of Peruvian Potato Seeds

Sacks of Peruvian potato seeds ready for Passing on the Gift ceremony.

Passing on the Gift Line

Community members line up for Passing on the Gift ceremony.

Then the MC did the countdown: UNO, DOS, DOS y MEDIA, TRES! GO!

There are no words, pictures or videos for me to truly describe the transformation I felt in that very moment. The months of training and planning and preparation all came together right then. Lives were changed. People were changed – they were better and happier and had hope. They honored their ancestors. They honored each other and themselves. It wasn’t just an animal and a sack of potatoes, which alone can mean the difference between life and death. Somehow it was even more than that – I witnessed the process of personal transformation that Heifer empowers communities to ignite, which means the difference between hopelessness and hope.

Passing on the Gift Recipient

A recipient of Passing on the Gift is the picture of life and hope.

Read other Passing on the Gift stories, and find out how you can help more small farmers by donating to a Heifer project in Peru.

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Self-Help Group Leaders Learn from Successful Farmer Cooperatives in Cambodia

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Editor’s note: story by Chheang Sokmao | Program Officer – Northwest Region | Cambodia

Mr. Oun Sophal shares experiences from Rattanak Pol Rort Samai Cooperative

From August 13-15, 2012, Heifer Cambodia and two project partner organizations from the northwest region conducted an exchange visit to two successful farmer cooperatives. The exchange facilitated by Heifer Cambodia staff and executive directors from Cambodian Human Resource Development Organization (CHRD) in Banteay Meanchey province and Farmer Organic for Development Association (FODA) in Siem Reap province entailed visits to two successful farmer cooperatives in Kampot province: Rattanak Pol Rort Samaki and Samaki Sang Kroh. In attendance were 11 key community leaders and project management committee representatives, two community facilitators, one project coordinator and one commune council member.

Exchange Visitors at Kraing Snai Commune Cooperative

During the visit, participants learned about cooperative businesses, including credit, rice bank and rice business cooperatives, and the provision of other services for self-financing. The visitors enjoyed a firsthand look at the cooperation among community members on activities such as mobilizing social capital for local infrastructure, education, food security, sanitation and healthy hygiene, as well as strategies to reduce poverty for sustainable community development. The day-long sharing allowed the exchange of experiences and best practices between key community leaders and host cooperatives in Dong Tung and Chhouk district, Kampot province.

“Their cooperatives have been established for a long time, and they have good experience in leading the communities and their business development,” said Ms. Krouch Suk, a community facilitator from CHRD. “My team and I will bring experiences and best practices on business credit cooperatives, rice cooperatives, development themes and their leadership to improve my community.” Suk’s community group was organized two years ago, and she is proud of its achievements and looks forward to a future of close cooperation and continuing progress. She hopes that over the next few years it will grow even stronger.

Exchange Visitors at Damnak Dokrom Commune Cooperative

“At my community, the rice interest rate set by private lenders is very high, 50 percent per season, and this is a challenge for us,” said Ms. Rean Sokhom, a commune council member from FODA. “I want to have a community rice bank in my village where it will help the community during rice shortages.” The topic of business credit cooperatives was also a point of interest for Sokhom. She wants each self-help group to work together to have a larger savings fund at the commune level, as demonstrated by their hosts. She will propose these ideas at the next commune council meeting.

After the exchange visit, project partner representatives made a stop at Bokor Mountain Resort, where they took many photos. On the way back to their respective provinces, they shared experiences, built relationships and showed a strong commitment to use everything they learned to propel their communities toward prosperous business communities in the coming year.

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From the Field: Heifer’s Work Around the World

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

Resiliency is an accurate description for Heifer’s project participants. In Armenia, the Kyureghyan family lost all their livestock in an earthquake and struggled to make ends meet. Find out what happened when Heifer came to town in The Secret to the Kyureghyan Family Success. 

For Carol T. Balisong of the Philippines, life just keeps getting better. This past Women in Livestock Development (WiLD) award winner owns a popular cafe in her town. Read more about Carol in Revisiting the Past: WiLD Awardee Still Doing Wonders. 

Resilient women in Haiti

No stranger to natural disasters, residents of Haiti are learning sustainable practices through Heifer’s REACH project. Check out What’s New in Haiti to learn more.

Literacy has a big part to play in making one resilient, and the younger literacy skills are acquired, the better. Celebrating Literacy for More than Just One Day spotlights various South African schools that are finding success with Heifer’s Read to Feed program.

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Children Benefit from Heifer China Self-Help Group

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Story and photos by: Yu Hongshui, Anhui Regional Manager, Heifer China

On August 7, the sun blazed like a fireball. Residents of Huwan Village, Guji Town, didn’t

Children give final performance of the summer

work on their farms. They carried small stools to the village playground because the children were going to perform a show.

Heifer China’s Self-Help Community Development Project in North Anhui started in Huwan Village, Guji Town, Jieshou City in April 2011. In coordination with Jieshou City Poverty Alleviation Office, Heifer’s project partner, and the project community management committee, 132 poverty-stricken families from five self-help groups (SHGs) became the first group of project participants. They began raising goats to promote sustainable development in the community. In the past year, goat-rearing activities have been scaled up, leading to an increase in income for most project participants..

In a recent management committee meeting, SHG members brainstormed ideas to do something different during summer vacation. With Fuyang Normal College as liaison, Huwan Village organized a college student volunteer activity. As volunteers, two students from Fuyang Normal College, Chen Tao and Chen Zhou, lived with project participant families and taught kids to paint, play sports, dance and perform martial arts. Village leaders, farmers and students strongly supported the students’ volunteer efforts. All the students at Huwan Primary School participated in this activity. Even students studying in the township returned to the village to attend the final performance of the summer vacation activity on August 7.

At 9 a.m., children dressed in gorgeous costumes started performing various numbers, including martial arts, dancing and singing.

The changes evident in Huwan Village are the best interpretation of Heifer’s “Not a cup, but a cow.”

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From the Field: Heifer’s Work Around the World

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

Heifer’s work is built on the 12 Cornerstones for Just and Sustainable Development because they work. In India, several groups of women were so inspired by these principles that they began training other groups. Learn more about this domino-effect success in Extending Cornerstones Training to a Whole Village.

It has been a year since the Margaryan family received a pregnant heifer in a Passing on the Gift® (POG) ceremony in Armenia’s Myasnikyan village. Read about how their cow Roza provided them with a new happiness.

Children show off their drawings

Also in Armenia, a YES Youth Club in Lernagogo community taught young children how to be friends with nature. The fun ecology trainings provided lessons the students will carry with them for a lifetime. 

Finally, check out the latest on Armenia’s signature project in Milk Production Rises 25 Percent Under CARMAC Project.

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