Category Archives: How To

Container Gardens From Malawi

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Kasungu Sustainable Agriculture & Natural Resource Management PrHere’s a clever idea from the industrious women of Gideon village in Malawi, who grow heaps of healthy greens right beside their front doors.

Grace Banda, a 28-year-old mother of four, keeps a line of burlap sack gardens planted with cabbage in front of her house. It saves her from trekking to her garden when she needs something green for cooking, and it could save you a trip to the grocery store.

To make your own container gardens using Banda’s method, you’ll need a large burlap sack, gravel, a tin can with both ends cut out, potting soil and goat berries. If you’re plum out of goat manure, compost works fine, too.

Kasungu Sustainable Agriculture & Natural Resource Management PrStep 1: Put the can in the bottom of the sack and fill it with gravel. Pour equal parts soil and compost around it, up to the top of the can.

Step 2: Slide the can up to the surface of the dirt, refill it with rocks and fill the area around the can with the soil and compost mix.

Kasungu Sustainable Agriculture & Natural Resource Management Pr

Step 3: Repeat step 2 until the sack is full.

Step 4: Cut staggered openings about 6 inches long along the sides, and plant seeds in the holes.

Kasungu Sustainable Agriculture & Natural Resource Management PrThe cylinder of gravel inside the sack helps distribute and drain the water, ensuring that none of the plantings get too wet or too dry.

If you try your hand at sack gardening yourself, please send us a photo. Thanks!

Photos by Russell Powell

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Learn to Make Cheese with a Romanian Grandma

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Video by Geoff Oliver Bugbee and Katya Cengel, who are visiting Heifer projects in Romania this week for Heifer International’s World Ark magazine.

A year ago, Leontina Giorgio received a cow from Heifer Romania. The cow, Ruji, or Rose, was given to her by Heifer partner organization Bothar Ireland as part of the Milk for Orphans program. The program benefits both farmers like Giorgio, from the impoverished hills of Transylvania in the north of the country, and orphans who receive a portion of the farmers’ milk.

Don’t miss the video below where Giorgio takes you step by step through the process of making the delicious and nutritious Cas cheese from fresh milk.

Stay tuned for more posts from Geoff and Katya as they visit with Heifer farmers in Romania and Armenia.

 

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New Tablet for Christmas? Try This Free Download

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World Ark on iPadWere you one of the lucky ones to receive an iPad mini or Google Nexus tablet from Santa this year? As you’re exploring all the fun options for your new tablet, search for World Ark on the App Store or on Google Play to enjoy your first, free digital magazine experience. We promise you won’t be disappointed!

Watch the video below for a glimpse at all the digital magazine offers, including original content and field stories from Heifer projects worldwide.

Download your version today from the App StoreSM on your iPad or from the Google Marketplace for your Android tablet. Email our magazine staff at worldark@list.heifer.org to let us know what you think and what’d you like to see featured here for future issues.

Happy exploring!

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How to Follow Along with #RioPlus20

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Rio+20 is the short name for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development starting today in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. At the conference, world leaders and participants from governments, NGOs and the private sector are coming together to discuss how we can reduce poverty, advance social equity and ensure environmental protection for our planet. This year’s conference will focus on a green economy for sustainable development and the institutional framework for sustainable development.

So just what is sustainable development? Well, the UN defines sustainable development as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future generation to meet their own needs.”  How do you learn more and keep up with Rio+20? It’s easy.

  1. Read more about the Rio+20 conference here.
  2. Follow the Twitter hastag #RioPlus20 to stay updated minute by minute
  3. Check out the Rio+20 Pinterest board where NGOs have been updating the board with important information
  4. Like the Rio+20 Facebook page
  5. Check out the UN’s YouTube channel with interviews from world leaders regarding the conference

What methods do you think we need to create a sustainable world?

Check out this infographic from the World Bank that shows how green growth is the pathway to sustainable development.

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How To Give Your Dad The Best Father’s Day Gift

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Who’s your dad? Is he the landscaper type who is always outside? Maybe he’s the fisherman who spends Sunday afternoons with a fishing pole and some bait. There is always the do-it-yourselfer dad who can fix anything. Or does your dad enjoy golf on the weekends?

No matter what type of a guy your dad is, Heifer has the perfect gift this Father’s Day. A gift from Heifer.

If your dad is the landscaper type, give him a goat. These versatile creatures can survive in even the most extreme climates. They supply up to a ton of milk a year, leading the way for better nutrition in impoverished communities.

If you’re dad is the fisherman, consider honoring him with fish. Healthy, lean sources of protein, fish help families increase their daily nutrition.

The do-it-yourselfer dad would enjoy a gift of a water buffalo. This “living tractor of the East” are tough guys who empower families to lift themselves out of poverty and hunger. A farmer can plant four times more rice with the help of a water buffalo than he can by hand.

If your dad would rather be on the golf course, then a flock of chicks is the ideal gift for him. One chicken can lay an average of 257 eggs a year for a family. This provides a family enough eggs to eat, sell and share, ensuring health and well being for an entire community. That’s a “birdie” any golfer would love.

If you’re looking for some fun activities this Father’s Day check out our Pinterest board showing fun, creative homemade gifts.

What kind of dad is your dad?

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How to End Hunger in the U.S.

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A home to 300 million people, the U.S. has an estimated 49.1 million people living in hunger and poverty. That’s one in six struggling to have enough to eat. In the land of the plenty, healthy foods aren’t accessible enough to all who are in need. So what steps can we do today to make an impact in the U.S.?

1. Learn the fact about U.S. hunger from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

2. Share the facts with your family, friends, and co-workers about the effects hunger and poverty can cause:

  • Children who do not receive an adequate diet have a harder time learning and keeping up in school.
  • Children and adults who are hungry are more vulnerable to common illnesses.
  • Adults who experience malnutrition may have weak muscles, bone or joint pain, and be unable to job related tasks at maximum speed.

3. Get involved by volunteering with organizations that provide assistance to those in need.

  • Volunteer at a soup kitchen or food bank by organizing and passing out food.
  • Donate non-perishable goods to shelters and charities in your community.
  • Invite over those in need for a meal or two a week.
  • Give without spending with these easy online tools.

Two significant pockets of poverty in the United States are the Mississippi River Delta in Arkansas and Southern Appalachia. Heifer USA is focusing its work in these two regions. Watch this video to learn more:

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How to Raise Money for Heifer While You Sweat

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If you’re interested and health and fitness and are a supporter of Heifer, then this app might be for you. It’s called Earndit. A simple way to get fit and give back. So how does this work?

If you don’t already have one, download a workout app such as RunKeeper, Nike+, fitbit, Foursquare, EventTrail or Garmin to connect to Earndit. Next, create an Earndit account. They’ve made it really easy – you can use your Facebook, Yahoo!, WindowsLive ID, Twitter, Google or OpenID account. If you don’t have one of those accounts, or do not wish to link up your account with Earndit, they also provide you an account directly with the site.

Once your workout app and your Earndit account are linked, you go and workout. For every workout that you record in one of your apps, Earndit gives your points. They’ve included fun things to do such as earn trophies and compete with friends, but the best option is that you can give your points to Heifer.

Once you start to accumulate points, visit the giving section under “Redeem,” and you can choose Heifer. Give 500 of your points to Heifer to help provide a goat for a family in need.

Earndit Heifer Comments

See what Earndit users are saying about Heifer.

So go workout and think of the good you’re doing for charity. You’ve Earndit.

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How To Give Instead of Spending

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If you’ve been looking for a way to spend less and give more, there’s an app for that. it’s called Instead. It helps you see how your small daily purchases can add up to make big change in the world.

“Instead is a new micro-donation app for nonprofits that enourages people to live within or below their means in order to give.”

How does it work? Well, it’s simple.

1. You decide what you want to start to give up. Maybe your daily take-out coffee habit? Or decide to go out to eat less.

2. Next, you decide how much you want to donate.

Give up your daily $4 takeout coffee habit during the week? Then give that money INSTEAD to a charity (think Heifer).

3. Choose your nonprofit. You will see a list to choose from, but I recommend you choose Heifer!

4. After you pick your nonprofit, the app asks for your name and credit card number.

This is safe and secure through their security platform. 

5. You give instead of spending.

Change the world a little at a time, starting today.

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Show Your Mom How a Kid Can Change the World

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This Mother’s Day show your mom how a kid can change the life of another mother in need.

Wait. Did I just say a kid? Yes. A kid. As in a baby goat.

Goats are some of the most versatile creatures that can survive in even the most extreme climates. They supply up to a ton of milk a year which is used to make cheese, yogurt, and butter. This helps lead the way for better nutrition in impoverished communities. And, because they have two to three kids a year, it’s easier for Heifer families to Pass on the Gift of a goat to another family in need.

So this Mother’s Day show your mom how YOU and a kid can change the world by helping a mother in need feed her family and reach a life of dignity and self-reliance.

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How to Choose Coffee with a Conscience

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As we discuss the challenge that coffee-growing communities have all over the world this week, let’s take a look back at a previous post on how to choose a coffee with a conscience. 

Originally posted October 25, 2011. 

The next time you buy coffee, make sure you are environmentally aware about where you coffee comes from. The words Fair Trade, Shade-Grown, and Organic are just a couple of buzzwords that are now being used to describe your cup-of-joe.

Haven’t heard of these words? Here is what they mean:

What’s shade-grown coffee?

  • “Shade-grown” generally describes coffee grown under a canopy of diverse species of shade trees, often on small farms using traditional techniques.
  • Shade-grown coffee, in contrast to sun-grown or “technified” coffee, provides food and shelter for songbirds, as well as other animals and plants.
  • Shade trees also provide natural mulch, which reduces the need for chemical fertilizers. Up to 40 species of trees can be found on traditionally managed shade coffee plantations; these trees protect the coffee plants that grow beneath them from rain and sun, help maintain soil quality, reduce the need for weeding and aid in pest control. Organic matter from the shade trees reduces erosion, contributes nutrients to the soil, and prevents metal toxicities.
  • As rainforests disappear, shade coffee farms offer one of the last places for birds to feed and rest in many tropical regions. In addition to birds, shade coffee plantations provide habitat for orchids, insects, mammals (such as bats), reptiles, and amphibians.

What’s organic coffee?

  • Organic coffee growing strives for a balance with nature, using methods and materials which are of low impact to the environment.
  • Organic farming replenishes and maintains soil fertility, eliminates the use of toxic chemical pesticides and fertilizers, and builds a biologically diverse agriculture. In a natural ecosystem, nature constantly works to correct imbalances. Organic farmers do the same by selecting the most environmentally friendly solutions to the pest and disease problems that affect their crops.
  • When a grower or processor is certified organic, a public or private organization verifies that it meets or exceeds standards defined by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)

What is fair trade coffee?

  • Certified Fair Trade coffee has been traded and sold according to international fair trade criteria, which includes:
    • Farmers are guaranteed a minimum price for their coffee. If world price rises above this floor price, farmers will be paid a small premium above market price.
    • Coffee importers provide credit to farmers against future sales.
    • Importers and roasters agree to develop direct, long-term trade relationships with producer groups, cutting out middlemen (or “coyotes”) and bringing greater commercial stability to an extremely unstable market.
  • The fair trade movement is based on the idea that producers in developing countries are capable of achieving economic success provided they receive fair prices in international markets for what they produce.
Learn more about organic, shade-grown and/or Fair Trade coffee at

www.FairTradeCertified.org

www.qai-inc.com

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How To Celebrate Earth Day

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So, how can you celebrate Earth Day this Sunday, April 22? By getting everyone involved to participate in this year’s theme of Mobilize the Earth and focus on what you are going to do to make a difference to make our world a better place.

The Earth Day Netword has listed these ideas on how you can get involved:

Check out our Pinterest Earth Day Board to find hands on ideas of crafts and projects to celebrate Earth Day.

What will you do to celebrate Earth Day?

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