Category Archives: World Ark

Milk Gone Bad?

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We all know the best way to tell if your expired milk has really soured is to open up the cap and take a not-so-large whiff.  But what if the carton changed color when it spoiled, saving your nose from sniffing rotten milk?  We may not be too far from that.

A recent article posted on Slate.com and included in their special food issue lays out the cutting edge technology that we can expect to see in food packaging. Don’t spend much time thinking about cutting edge food packaging technology?  Me, either, but it’s pretty cool…and kind of scary.

Take, for example, a sensor that can detect when protein begins breaking down that can be found on some seafood packages. Yep. That exists.  Or a box of grapefruit juice that actively works to make the juice not as bitter, using nanoparticles.  Here’s an excerpt from the article that describes the process:

A team of scientists led by Dr. Joseph Hotchkiss, director of the School of Packaging at Michigan State University, has been trying to use intelligent boxing to improve the taste of grapefruit juice. They’ve “impregnated” the polymers on the inside of grapefruit juice cartons with enzymes that unravel bitter citrus compounds. Basically, these enzymes saw sugar molecules off of the compounds, allowing them to float freely (and sweetly) in the liquid. But the enzymes themselves remain embedded in the carton’s inner lining, so they can’t end up in the newly sugary juice.

If you’re somewhat alarmed, I was too. Nanoparticles in my juice? But here’s the thing, this new kind of packaging doesn’t have to be added directly to the product in order to work.  Or so they say.

The article does mention that the FDA  doesn’t yet categorize nanoparticles as dangerous, but does indicate that they affect the “identity” of foods.

So what do you think?  Would you prefer a label that could talk to you, or do you prefer reading the nutrition information?

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The 5 B’s

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I’m wishing there had been a bit more buzz about this being designated Pollinator Week by the U.S. Senate. Here it is already Thursday, leaving just three more days to officially geek out about bees and such until Pollinator Week, always the last week in June, rolls around again in 2013.

There’s plenty to geek out about. The worrisome decline in bee populations over the past few years is putting our food supply at risk. After all, every third bite or sip we take is dependent on pollinators. Butterflies, bats, birds and beetles are pollinators too, but bees do most of the work. There’s actually more than the five B’s, since small mammals, moths and wasps pollinate, too.

Still, we can be hopeful that pollinator-dependent food crops (coffee, chocolate, melons, apples, pears, peaches, vanilla, etc.–pretty much everything) will make it. Hives of entomologists are working on the mysterious colony collapse disorder, the term used to describe the unexplained disappearance of an alarming number of honeybees in North America and Europe. And perhaps it’s a good sign that New York City is suddenly finding itself with more bees than it can handle.

Factoids abound at the Pollinator Partnership website, which is up year-round. The niftiest feature is a tool that lets you enter your zip code to find out what you should plant in your yard to promote pollinator health.

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Help Megan Move Mountains in Haiti with Colorado Climb

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Megan Bean is an 11-year-old fundraising dynamo. Her father is Rob Bean, head honcho for The Big Moo Canoe for Heifer International. He just organized and led a marathon canoe trip in May to raise money for Heifer Haiti’s REACH program. Stay tuned for more about the Bean family in an upcoming issue of Heifer’s World Ark magazine.

Together they’ve raised more than $25,000 in donations. Dad describes Megan as a “fireball of energy and creativity” and said she has been an integral part of Big Moo Canoe since the first efforts back in 2007. “She was adamant to do something of her own this year and thought a hike might be a fun way to raise awareness for Heifer.”

In just a few weeks, Megan will hike Mount Grays and Mount Torreys in Colorado, two 14,000-footers. She plans to take the adventure in early August and will choose the actual day based on weather forecasts for the area.

World Ark: Your fundraising project is very ambitions for an 11-year old, what inspires you to work so hard to help others? 

Megan: Well, it’s pretty simple. I have been raised in an environment where I learned to give generously and care for others graciously. I have wanted to do a 14-er for a while. I really love camping and hiking, and I had heard lots of stories from my parents’ climbing mountains and wanted to make my own project. I had heard a lot about Haiti’s disaster, and a little, but just enough, about Heifer’s REACH program through my dad’s project. I decided to turn my ambition to the aid of others. In the future, I would like to have a Horsetooth for Haiti climb where people could come to the base of Horsetooth Rock, get outside, and hike up the mountain with me in support of Heifer. But I’ll decide that next year. (Horsetooth Rock is just outside of Fort Collins).

Who do you want to help with your fundraising adventure?

My project will help Haiti. I hope to help small towns where aid is less often sent. This might sound a little weird, but I was watching “Oprah’s Next Chapter” and she was with Sean Penn in Haiti. Granted, I’m not sure who he is, but it showed how hard peoples’ lives were even two years later. I hope to help make sustainable living for the people of Haiti so life can get back to maybe a little better than normal. One of my favorite quotes is “Your life is a message, make sure it’s inspiring.”

Please help Megan in her efforts to help the people of Haiti through Heifer gifts of livestock and training. Go to her home page to donate now. We’ll keep you posted here on when she summits and how much she’s raised. Or, follow updates on The Big Moo Canoe’s Facebook page.

 

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Can We Wait Until 2030 to See Poverty Reduced?

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I saw an Associated Press blurb on Monday that piqued my interest. Amidst the varying news reports (mentioned by Brooke here) that climate change and drought are raising the world’s food prices, and the others pointing to rising poverty and hunger rates in the United States, the National Intelligence Council says that world poverty rates could be reduced by half by 2030.

The AP article was interesting to me on a couple of levels. First, the NIC pointed to a rising middle class in the growing economies in India, Vietnam and Indonesia as the driving force behind the poverty reduction; and, second because 2030 is less than two decades from now, which doesn’t really seem all that far off.

Photo taken from the Nations Online Project

But can we, or better, should we, wait until 2030 to see those numbers drop that dramatically?  I don’t think so. Sure the article is great news, and, yes, Heifer already works in both India and Vietnam, helping turn small farmers into small businessmen and women. Plus the article says that poverty reduction in these economies will continue despite economic upheaval, too. Even better!

So if what Christopher Kojm said on Saturday is right, that, “several hundred million people, armed with the resources and education will produce new technology to meet demands for food, water and energy,” don’t you think we can help them along?

I do. Heifer is already working to help create this burgeoning population of people.  And we’re working harder and faster than ever before in areas that need it most—including the United States. Why don’t you help us?

 

 

 

 

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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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Poverty in the U.S.: The Stories You Don’t Hear

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The home page for Bus 52 where you can keep track of where the bus is going and view the videos of where they've been.

It’s easy to become mired in hunger and poverty statistics. As people the world over struggle with economic stagnation, and more and more people slip below the poverty line, it’s not often that stories of hope and happiness make the airwaves. So I was particularly struck by a story I saw on The Huffington Post last week which highlighted the work of Bus 52. 

Bus 52 is a documentary film project led by five young people who are traveling the United States on a converted school bus. Their aim is to tell the stories of people and/or organizations who are having a positive impact in their communities. While they don’t focus solely on what’s being done to combat hunger here at home, the article in the Huffington Post focused on that subject in particular. And I have to say, it was nice to hear some positives for a change.

Take the Generous Garden Project in South Carolina, for example. Local Bo Cable started an organic garden for the folks of Greenville after he saw a need in the area and after noticing that food banks had a dearth of fresh vegetables. “We just give it away,” Cable says in the Bus 52 video. “No questions asked.”

There are a number of other projects highlighted like the free cafe for the needy run by student volunteers at The University of Kansas, or the urban farming project run by Nat Turner in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans. All admirable, and all reminiscent of how Heifer is working to help achieve food security and grow agricultural jobs through our Seeds of Change initiative.

So take a minute to remind yourself that there’s a need right here at home, and another to be inspired by all the things that are being done in communities just like yours.

Is there a happy story in your community that maybe we don’t know about? Tell us!

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That Drive-Thru Isn’t Just Bad for Your Waistline

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A new study from the University of California at Riverside has even more bad news about the effects that swinging by your favorite fast-food chain to gobble up a delicious burger could have. And it’s not what you might think.

Photo credit mag3737

The study found that commercial char-broilers emit as much pollution cooking just one hamburger as an 18-wheel diesel engine truck driving 143-miles on the freeway. That seems like a lot. The crazy part is, it doesn’t really matter what the burger is made of—it all has to do with the device cooking them. Veggie patties on a commercial char-broiler are just as bad.

But that’s no reason to stop grilling up your favorite patty—of any variety—in your backyard. The study also said that grilling releases fewer particulates into the air than charbroiling.

What do you think? Can you give up the drive-thru for the sake of our air quality?

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It’s That Time Again

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When the newest edition of World Ark will be appearing in mailboxes around the country. Our special Holiday issue includes three country features in addition to Heifer’s Most Important Gift Catalog in the World.

Women’s empowerment is highlighted in two stories this issue. Puja Singh, Heifer Nepal’s communications and networking officer, takes a look at how projects in Bangladesh are helping women find opportunities that were once denied to them. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton also weighs in on why women are key to successful development work in an expanded Asked and Answered interview.

Our Managing Editor, Donna Stokes, also writes about the USAID | Yaajeende project in Senegal, where participants received sheep as part of what will become Heifer’s largest animal distribution ever. Photographer Olivier Asselin illustrates the essay with gorgeous photos from “The Day the Sheep Came.”

The third feature story in the issue addresses habitat conservation in Malawi. Austin Bailey traveled to the project near Kasungu National Park to see a Heifer project that provides families with sustainable sources of animal protein, fuel and savings, so that they no longer need to illegally hunt in the park for food.

And if any of our faithful readers remember Ryan Bell from last year’s Holiday issue, well, he’s back. After a wildly successful campaign in which he raised $8,000 for Heifer, Ryan has launched a new effort to raise $25,000 for us. Ryan recently underwent a few surgeries to help lengthen his jaw bone and was so inspired by his own physical transformations that he wants to give his own “Gift of Transformation” to those in need, no matter how long it takes for him to raise the money.

So get out and check your mail, or check back soon at www.heifer.org/worldark for the online edition of the magazine. Happy reading!

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Want Banana Chips With That?

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Imagine this: It’s lunch time, and you take a bite out of your juicy, delicious burger. You reach into the drive-thru bag for some of those salty, crunchy-on-the-outside, soft-on-the-inside-french fries, but come up instead with…banana chips?

A Heifer farmer in Ecuador shows off part of his banana crop.

It could happen. But is our favorite salty side dish endangered?  Not exactly, but climate scientists are warning that as the planet’s temperatures increase, potatoes, which prefer cooler climates to grow in, might be edged out by warmer temperature crops like those from the banana family, especially in developing countries.

The scientists behind the news were asked to examine what effects a warming climate would have on the worlds most important agricultural commodities. The found that people in the developing world will likely have to adapt what they eat as crops like potatoes, but also, rice, corn and wheat—the main source of calories for many families who struggle to find enough to eat—suffer from the warmer temperatures and a decrease in land available to cultivate them.

Dr. Philip Thornton, who helped author the report, said that bananas and plantains may be a good substitute for potatoes in certain locations. “It’s not necessarily a silver bullet, but there may be places where as temperatures increase, bananas might be one option that small-holders could start to look at,” he said. 

It’s happened before, said Bruce Campbell, program director of the Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security research group. He noted the adoption by Africans to eating rice, which wasn’t typical there just a few decades ago. Heifer has also helped in similar situations, providing camels to the Maasai people who lost their cattle to drought.

It may not be ideal, but it’s just one way people will have to cope with a changing world.

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Giving Independence

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It’s hard not to be pleasantly overwhelmed by the kindness of others when you’re in my business. For each issue of World Ark, I get to write about donors who love Heifer’s mission so much that they go to great lengths to provide a gift of livestock to the families in need all around the world.

Meghan and Ryan Bell in June 2012

But one donor in particular has really inspired me, and I find it a true pleasure to have gotten to know him and his family over the past couple of years.

Ryan Bell was born with Treacher Collins Syndrome, a disorder that causes malformations of the face. The 11-year-old from Wallingford, Conn., has endured 37 surgeries, and just last week had a tracheotomy—a device which helped him breathe—removed. But Ryan knows his birth defect is nothing compared to what some families face.

An animal lover, Ryan convinced his parents in 2009 that their annual giving should go to Heifer International, a nonprofit dedicated to ending hunger and poverty by providing gifts of livestock and training to families in need around the world. In two short years Ryan  raised nearly $9,400 for the charity. We profiled Ryan and his little sister, Meghan, in last year’s Holiday edition of the magazine when they were hoping to raise $850 for a camel.

Ryan before the surgery to lengthen his jaw (left) and after. He has since had his tracheotomy removed.

Well, Heifer donors came through for Ryan and Meghan, and the pair raised more than $8,600 last year. But this year, Ryan has upped his goal. Inspired by a surgery that helped lengthen his jaw and open his airway, Ryan has become set on raising $25,000, or Heifer’s “Gift of Transformation.”

I’ll let Ryan tell the rest, but you can read his whole story and his quest to raise the Gift of Transformation in the most recent edition of World Ark:

“I was excited when I saw the Gift of Transformation in the gift catalog because it reminds me of the transformation that I went through this year. I wasn’t excited to do this surgery and I wouldn’t have chosen it for myself. The doctor took my underdeveloped jaw and transformed my airway. It was a transformation for me,” Ryan said.

That transformation serves as his inspiration, he said.

“I want to give my own Gift of Transformation to the world. I want to send herds of heifers, llamas, and goats, flocks of sheep and chickens, a pen of pigs, a school of fish and a gaggle of geese to an underdeveloped area of the world and let a transformation take place as the gift is received, utilized and passed along. A Gift of Transformation can affect the lives of people in an entire village or community.”

“I don’t want to rely on a trach to breathe. I don’t want extra medical equipment and it would be great to not need a nurse or parent around at all times. I want my independence, just like these people want to be independent and take care of their own needs. They just need a different kind of assistance for their transformation; they need us.”

To help Ryan meet his goal, go to his Team Heifer page.

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Clinton: Value Women the Same as Men

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While her days as the U.S. Secretary of State are drawing to a close, Hillary Clinton used an opportunity last week to again call attention to the plight women around the world.

Clinton made similar remarks in an interview with World Ark magazine, which we published in our Holiday issue. Long a champion for women, Clinton acknowledged both in her speech last Thursday and in the interview with Heifer, that there are still great strides to be made before women and girls are seen as equals to men.

“As the mother of a daughter, and as someone who believes strongly in the right of every person, male and female, to have the opportunity to live up to his or her God-given potential,” Clinton said, “it pains me so greatly when I travel to places around the world and am received almost as an exception to the rule, where the male leaders meet with me because I am the secretary of state of the United States, overlooking the fact that I also happen to be a woman.”

“We are on the right side of history in this struggle, but there will be many sacrifices and losses until we finally reach a point where daughters are valued as sons, where girls as educated as boys, where women are encouraged and permitted to make their contributions to their families, to their societies just as the men are,” she said.

The speech followed Clinton’s acceptance of a humanitarian award given by Concern Worldwide, an anti-poverty organization.

Clinton’s interview also appears in the first World Ark tablet edition, as well, which you can download from the App Store on your iPad or from the Google Marketplace for your Android tablet.

 

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Ryan Bell Gives Gift of Transformation

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Ryan Bell

Ryan surpassed his $25,000 goal on December 14. He's currently at $27,705. Let's help him get to $30,000.

I have to admit, I was skeptical. When I wrote and blogged about the second of the two stories on Ryan Bell, I fully expected it to take much longer before he reached his goal of raising enough money for a $25,000 Gift of Transformation.

But this remarkable young man proved me wrong. Again. Ryan reached his goal lofty goal late last week, and his Team Heifer page continues to bring in money. I’m truly grateful to have been able to tell his story; to have gotten to know Ryan and his family.

But the best part of all of this? Ryan isn’t done. He’s not satisfied with reaching his goal years before he expected to. When I contacted Ryan’s mom, Laura, last week, she was going to text him at school to tell him the news. He was thrilled, she said. Their conversation went a little like this:

Laura: “It made his day!  So, that afternoon we looked up the new total and I said, ‘You know, at this rate you might be able to add a camel to your goal.’  You know my son by now… He said, ‘Mom, I think we should add an Ark!’”

Right now he’s more than half-way to reaching his NEW goal of adding $5,000 more to his remarkable total. If you want to help Ryan, you can go to his Team Heifer page and donate.

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The Cost of Inequality in India

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The horrifying story of a young woman who died after being brutally gang raped in New Delhi is putting inequality in India in the international spotlight. The murder of 23-year-old Jyoti Singh Pandey is spawning widespread protests and a push for major change to the chauvinism and oppression Indian women face.

The need for change became even clearer this week, as political and spiritual leaders continued to openly blame women for inviting assault by being out in public after dark or wearing skirts. And on Wednesday, a lawyer for three of the five men accused of raping and torturing Jyoti Pandey said Pandey and her companion were solely responsible because they were out together after dark, but were not married. Wow.

The moral argument for addressing gender inequality in India is clear. And surprisingly, the economic argument is clear, as well. A survey of 2,500 women in several Indian cities revealed that nearly 82 percent of the women are leaving work earlier since the infamous Dec. 16 attack to avoid being away from home after sunset. The survey indicates that one in three women in Delhi reduced their work hours or quit their jobs altogether to avoid making themselves vulnerable to attacks. This drop in productivity will only add to India’s poverty.

India is one of the world’s poorest countries when measured by per-capita income, and the country’s failure to invite women into the workplace and support them there is a major factor. Only 35 percent of Indian women work. Just think of the potential forfeited when millions of women opt out of the workplace.

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An Ode to Bolivia

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This monkey named Boris chased chickens and stole sun-dried beef in the village of San Jose del Cavitu, so the locals now keep him as a pet. Boris is well cared for, but will happily pickpocket strangers given the chance. Photo by Jason Woods

I’ll hedge and say that it could have something to do with jet lag, or changes in altitude, or even something in the water, but anytime I visit a new country where Heifer works, auspices of magic immediately distract and I spend much of my trip wondering if, perhaps, I’m hallucinating. It’s never anything ghostly or alarming, just sights so surreal that I’m bewitched, amazed, delighted. Is there such thing as a traveler’s high?

My first surprise, upon landing in Santa Cruz, was the flurry of kisses that didn’t let up the entire 9-day trip. The customary Bolivian greeting between two women or a man and a woman is a kiss on the cheek. It’s a bit awkward at first, but who can quibble with such a charming welcome? Far superior to a handshake, in my book.

Clusters of butterflies gather on roadsides and on trails in the Amazon region of Bolivia. Photo by Jason Woods

And then, consider the capybara. These squee-worthy creatures populate the roadsides and riverbanks of the Bolivian Amazon. The world’s largest rodent, capybaras look like sleek, super-sized guinea pigs and can grow up to 100 pounds. When startled, capybaras emit kazoo-like sounds and immediately belly flop into the nearest body of water. Seriously! Neither I nor my travel companions managed to snap any capybara photos, leaving me to question, in retrospect, whether such an adorable creature actually exists.

We were further enchanted by the pink dolphins splashing in the rivers and the parrots and toucans flying overhead. “Is that an emu?” I asked our driver as we zipped down a muddy road. Turns out it was a rhea, a giant bird native to South America that can reach up to 90 pounds and nearly six feet tall.

Monkeys whooped at us from the trees as we sped by on motorbikes, headed to the shadowy chocolate forest where giant blue butterflies looped through the trees. Did you know that the juicy white fruits inside chocolate pods turn a bright purple when you chew them? I must report, however, that the charm of the chocolate forest ebbed under attack from the clouds of mosquitoes that nibbled our faces and left bloody specks on our clothes. We were also under siege from chiggers, although we didn’t realize that until hours later when we peeled off our socks.

But back to the kisses. The best part of the trip, of course, was the people we met. The purpose of our visit was to chronicle the work and progress of Heifer project participants who are amping up chocolate harvests, protecting the forests and working together to process cocoa at high quality and large quantities to secure good prices. They’re doing a pretty phenomenal job of it. This success story will appear in World Ark magazine later this year, although I may give a few glimpses of their work on this blog before then.

Hilaria Moye of San Jose Del Cavitu displays the skull of a jaguar her husband killed while out hunting. Photo by Jason Woods

Pastel dolphins and snuggly rodents aside, Bolivia is a real place with real challenges. Our visit was limited to the lowlands of Bolivia, where wild fruit is abundant and starchy crops like corn, yucca and rice grow easily, but malnutrition is still a problem because protein and nutrient-rich vegetables are harder to secure. Jobs outside the agriculture sector are rare, so incomes are low to non-existent. Some of the project participants are prosperous enough to live in houses made of bricks, but others live under palm thatch roofs held up by sticks.

The tools Bolivians have to overcome these hardships are a culture built on community and a fruitful ecosystem that can provide ample food and incomes if it’s well protected.

Elizabeth Franco Rodriguez, the president of the chocolate gatherer’s group in northeastern Bolivia’s Jasiaquiri village, is well aware of both her country’s charms and challenges. The hot, hard work of chocolate harvesting isn’t so great when you come home covered in ticks, or when the mosquitoes infect you with dengue fever, she said. But it’s a family event, and she usually brings children, nieces and nephews along. At her home, shared with extended family, everyone stays busy. Chocolate seeds ferment in the sun, children grind yucca to make starch, and Rodriguez’s sister-in-law makes cheese in the breezeway. But that evening, when the work is done, the whole family will go into the nearby town of Baures to spend a couple of hours mingling and resting in the plaza, along with hundreds of others. It’s back to the forest to harvest chocolate again the next day, and the mosquitoes would no doubt be waiting. Rodriguez never complained.

“I just find it so exotic and beautiful,” I told her as we tromped through vines and underbrush. The translator conferred with Rodriguez, and she nodded. “She says yes, it’s that way for us, too.”

Check out this tree trunk covered in thorns. Amazing! Photo by Jason Woods

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Heifers on the Red Carpet

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The awards season is here, and we at Heifer International are beyond delighted to accept this nomination!

This week we learned that we’re finalists for a min Best of the Web Award for work on our brand new tablet edition of World Ark magazine. min, short for Media Industry News, is a resource for magazine and media professionals to learn about the latest trends in the field. Heifer is a finalist in the digital magazine category, competing against the likes of dash magazine, EBONY.com, EE Times, Golf Digest, Golf Magazine, Popular Science and WIRED.

World Ark, the quarterly print magazine for Heifer donors and anyone interested in hunger and poverty, has had an online presence for years. But in December of 2012 we launched an interactive tablet edition for iPads and Androids that incorporates news from the field, facts about development work around the world and ways readers can get involved, along with dynamic, gorgeous design by the talented screen wizards at Bates Creative. This tablet version is free and available on the App Store or on Google Play. The Spring 2013 edition should be available within the week.

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Here’s a sneak peek of the cover of the Spring tablet edition.

Sure, we’re new to this scene and just beginning to get a handle on the amazing new ways we can reach, inform and inspire readers via a tablet format. But we’re hopeful this nomination will help us spread the word about the brilliant and hardworking Heifer project partners that we feature in each issue.

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Typhoon Bopha’s Aftermath

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The last time I posted here I was on my way to the Philippines to interview project participants who had lived through Typhoon Bopha. I told you that I’d be posting about my experiences. But we had no Internet, much less reliable electricity. Since I’ve been back I’ve thought a lot about my trip. It was one of the hardest trips I’ve taken. Below is a short reflection piece on my time there.

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I’ve seen real poverty before; heard the most heart-wrenching stories from war widows in Kosovo and survivors of the Khmer Rouge. I’ve witnessed the excitement that a gift of a goat brings and the incredible act of Passing on the Gift. But what I saw and heard in the Philippines was a level of devastation I’ve never encountered.

I was in Mindanao just six weeks after Typhoon Bopha tore through the island. As we made our way to the project sites it was as if we were inching our way closer and closer to a war zone. Palm fronds, bent permanently in the direction the winds were blowing, gave way to decimated villages.

Not only are the physical scars obvious—homes in pieces, partially rebuilt or gone completely; people living under tarps; men cutting away rotten portions of wood in an effort to save any materials from damaged houses; layers of silt and mud deposited in rice and corn fields; crops dead where they were planted, trees down—there are now psychological and emotional scars.

 

Ester Talledo talks about life after Typhoon Bopha.
Ester Talledo talks about life after Typhoon Bopha.

 

 I spoke to parents who say their children are afraid of the slightest winds, with mothers who have nothing to feed their families, and with fathers who are out of work because of factory closings or farm damage.

The typhoon ripped away hopes along with homes and livelihoods. All the Heifer beneficiaries here wanted was to provide their children with a life better than the one they had known. But with no food, no income and no job opportunities, it’s only a matter of time before kids will have to drop out of school.

What I learned in my 10 days there was the meaning of urgency. Typhoon Bopha was a minor blip on the Western world’s radar. But these people need help and they need it now. They have no food and won’t until the rice is harvested in the next few weeks.

In my five years with Heifer I’ve learned that each trip to the field leaves an indelible mark, and that each also comes with its own perils of the heart. I’ve been home from the Philippines for three weeks now, and though the images of crippled palms and makeshift homes are as clear as the day I was there, it’s the words of Ester Talledo that will remain with me forever: “While we’re alive there’s still hope. We will stay strong.”

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Heifer’s Disaster Rehabilitation Fund is reserved for to help Heifer participants who are victimes of events like Typhoon Bopha. Please give if you can. 

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Water-logged: A Water Use Infographic

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Water is a vital resource for agriculture, sanitation and for all human existence. Yet 780 million people do not have access to clean water. In recognition of World Water Day on March 22, Heifer International is highlighting the need for those struggling to emerge from poverty to have reliable access to water.

If you already turn the faucet off while you brush your teeth, thanks. Every little bit counts when it comes to respecting and preserving our planet’s supply of clean water. But there are plenty of other choices we all make each day about what we eat, buy and wear that affect our water supply even more.

Graphic by John Houser

This World Water Day, take a moment to consider everything that water makes possible. Tell us in the comments what steps you have taken to make sure there’s enough clean water for everyone.

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Young Heifer Fundraiser Nominated for National Scholarship

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Ever since we received a letter about Ryan Bell almost three years ago, we’ve known there was something extra special about him. He hasn’t had the easiest go in life, but he’s never let his differences stand in his way. And despite his hardships, Ryan has always wanted to make life easier for others.

As a 10-year old, Ryan convinced his family that they really could be doing more with their annual penny auction fundraiser that benefited both Heifer and a local charity. He just wasn’t satisfied with the amount they were able to donate.

In the past two years, with the help of his family, friends and his community, Ryan has raised nearly $40,000 for Heifer International. And he just doesn’t quit. When Ryan reached his lofty goal of raising $25,000 for Heifer just before Christmas of 2012, his first thought was that he should go for another Gift Ark, or $5,000 more. When he reached THAT goal, he immediately said he wanted to go for $50,000.

Ryan Bell shows off the certificate he received indicating he was nominated for the Kohl's Cares Scholarship Program. Ryan's teachers nominated him for his work fundraising for Heifer International among other volunteer endeavors.

Ryan Bell shows off the certificate he received indicating he was nominated for the Kohl’s Cares Scholarship Program. Ryan’s teachers nominated him for his work fundraising for Heifer International among other volunteer endeavors.

His giving spirit hasn’t just captured the attention of those of us here at Heifer, either. Laura Bell, Ryan’s Mom, just let us know that Ryan’s team of teachers at his school in Connecticut recently nominated him for the Kohl’s Cares Scholarship.

That scholarship is given by the retailer every year to recognize “young volunteers across the country for their amazing contributions to their communities,” the Kohl’s website says. The criteria for the scholarship indicate that volunteer efforts must have occurred in the last year, and that winners are selected based on the benefits and outcomes of their volunteer service.

With Ryan’s record of fundraising, and his reputation at school as a Student of the Month and as part of the Student Government group where he’s organized other fundraisers, his team of  teachers put together the nomination form and essay and submitted it on Ryan’s behalf.

“He was too funny,” Laura said. “The six teachers called him into a room which was otherwise empty. He said it looked like he was in trouble and they joked with him that he was and then presented the certificate. He was so excited!”

Laura said there are winners at the local, regional and national level, but Ryan won’t find out if he’s a winner of the local scholarship until May.The regional winner will be announced in June and the national winner in July. Prizes range from a $50 gift card to the store up to a $10,000 in scholarship for National Winners.

Whatever the outcome, we’re proud just to know Ryan. It’s an honor knowing he’s our supporter, and is sharing our mission with others. So good luck, Ryan! We’ll be anxiously awaiting to hear whether you’ve been selected for the scholarship. You should know you’re already a winner to all of us here at Heifer.

To help Ryan reach his $50,000 goal, visit his Team Heifer page. 

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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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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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New World Ark Magazine Out Now

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For the people of Sayon in the southern Philippines, a typhoon was a new and terrible experience. So when Typhoon Bopha ripped through their small village in December, most were unprepared. Many people there lost their homes and livelihoods, which for Heifer project participants, that meant seeing livestock and crops wash away. In the May edition of World Ark, which is in mailboxes this week, you can read about Heifer’s work in the aftermath of the typhoon, and how we are implementing Disaster Risk Reduction training so that people can take steps to mitigate the effects of future natural disasters.Cover

Or you can read about what it’s like to scale Mount Kilimanjaro, which is exactly what writer Kelly MacNeil did as part of a team with employees from Heifer partner Elanco Animal Health. The team collectively raised more than $8,000 for Heifer with the climb.

And while you’re reading, check out the interview with former first lady Laura Bush. She is chair of a program at the Bush Institute that empowers Egyptian women at a critical time for democracy and women’s rights in their country.

We also have stories from a Heifer literacy project in Cambodia, and a fascinating look at what affect climate change is having on the pastoralists in the Sahel region of Africa.

As always there are gorgeous photos and intriguing infographics to peruse as well. The page-turner edition is a great way to view the magazine, but don’t forget to check out World Ark’s app on the iPad and Android tablets, too.

Happy reading!

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Happy International Day of Families

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Teghenik, Armenia — Heifer beneficiary Tsovinar Davtyan prepares cheese, the sale of which supports her children and grandchildren. Photo by Geoff Oliver Bugbee

Teghenik, Armenia — Heifer beneficiary Tsovinar Davtyan prepares cheese, the sale of which supports her children and grandchildren. Photo by Geoff Oliver Bugbee

“Families hold societies together, and intergenerational relationships extend this legacy over time. This year’s International Day of Families is an occasion to celebrate connections among all members of the constellation that makes up a family. It is also an opportunity to reflect on how they are affected by social and economic trends – and what we can do to strengthen families in response.”

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message for 2013

 

When Heifer International measures the impact of its projects and programs, it doesn’t just count individuals. Gender and Family Focus is one of Heifer’s Cornerstones for Just and Sustainable Development, and the family unit is central to our work. In fact, we count on strong family bonds and the cooperation that comes with them. Family members are invested in each others’ success, even when they know the fruits of that success won’t be reaped until they’re gone.

“I have seen whatever I would like to see in my life, I don’t need anything more for me. Everything is for my grandchildren,” explained Tsovinar Davtyan, 67, a grandmother of four in the Armenian village of Tekhenik. She cares for her family’s cows because she knows the benefits will last for generations.

May 15 is the United Nations International Day of Families, and this year’s focus is on fostering inter-generational solidarity. That’s a challenge for families in the Philippines, Bolivia and other places where job opportunities are few so young people set off to find opportunities elsewhere. This is where Heifer steps in, helping to build agricultural opportunities locally to keep families intact.

Click here to support a family in need through Heifer International.

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Thankful for Our Loyal Donors

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Heifer supporters no doubt have already received this year’s version of The Most Important Gift Catalog in the World in the mail or have visited the catalog online to begin to choose alternative holiday gifts such as heifers, goats, tree seedlings and honeybees to send to families in need around the world.

The first issue of World Ark in 1994 celebrated Heifer's 50th anniversary.

This year, new offerings to better serve our participants include biogas stoves to improve health and preserve the environment, an education for a bright young girl, an investment to help participants launch a small business or the simple yet vital gift of clean drinking water.

Innovation has always been a part of Heifer’s history. Did you know that Heifer’s gift catalog is more than 45 years old, with the first versions of an alternative gift catalog emerging in 1966? Many organizations have since copied our catalogs, but it’s easy to identify the original, labeled The Most Important Gift Catalog in the World.

World Ark magazine, which includes the gift catalog, has been around since 1994, with previous incarnations going back to the mid-1970s. This holiday season, we are so thankful for our loyal donors who return year after year to honor family, friends and co-workers with life-giving gifts of prosperity and health to be shared far and wide.

Stay tuned this holiday season for the announcement of more exciting innovations at Heifer International that aim to help us share Heifer’s unique approach to ending hunger and poverty in exciting new ways.

Thank you for keeping Heifer families around the world in mind this year as you embrace the spirit of the giving season.

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Holiday World Ark Features U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

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The holiday edition of World Ark magazine is out, hope you got yours already. This issue is especially great.

It’s not every day that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton takes the time to chat with us about women’s role in development work. She makes a brilliant case for why boosting women’s status around the globe is so important.

“We know that investing in women’s employment, health and education levels leads to greater economic growth across a broad spectrum,” she said. “It also leads to healthier children and a better educated population overall. We know that political systems that are open to full participation by women produce more effective institutions and more representative governments.”

The magazine also features stories and photos about Heifer projects in Senegal, Malawi and Bangladesh.

If you haven’t found your magazine in the mailbox yet, view it online here.

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International Day of the Girl Child: Little Soldier Girl

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Vanessa Chakhala, almost 2, snores away as her mother holds her.

Most of the children streaming over the packed-dirt roads and dusty orange paths of Malawi’s Mchinji region have no shoes to wear, although a few scuff around in ragged flip-flops. Shoes are a coveted commodity here, especially when the summer sun burns into the ground. Children who have only one shoe will wear it.

Vanessa has shoes to wear, making her one of the luckier children in her village.

Vanessa Chakhala, though, is luckier than most. A sturdy 22-month-old, her chubby feet are jammed into new blue jelly shoes even though her feet rarely touch the ground. The youngest in the family and the only girl, Vanessa gets heaps of special treatment. Her satiny peach-colored dress is torn but clean, and her hair is styled in short braids that match her mother’s. Mother Patricia, age 32, carries her daughter in her arms or on her back much of the time. When it’s time to nap, Vanessa snores away in Patricia’s lap.

The special treatment certainly hasn’t made Vanessa soft, though, and her mother is delighted by her only daughter’s sturdy build and stubborn personality. Patricia wants Vanessa to become a soldier so that she can be in charge of her own destiny. Unlike herself, Patricia said her daughter will have an education that extends beyond 8thgrade and a chance to shape her own future. Money for Vanessa’s education and the education of her three brothers will come from the meat goats Heifer provided. The family is also hoping that being able to add meat to their diet occasionally will make them stronger and better able to stave off malaria, diarrhea and malnourishment.

Baby Vanessa refuses to smile, which only makes her cuter.

Snapping cute photos of Chionko Village’s little princess Vanessa was no problem when she was sleeping, but the shoot shut down as soon as she woke up. Vanessa does what she wants, and she does not want to be in pictures. Her mother and the other women in her village danced for her, made faces, sang songs. But Vanessa wasn’t going to cooperate and refused to smile or pose.

It’s unlikely that a little girl in Malawi would be so fawned over or her obstinacy so celebrated 20 years ago. But today a woman is president here, and even in rural areas many girls are getting sent to school. It’s real progress.

But women and girls in Malawi are still expected to handle the majority of water fetching, cooking, gardening and tending children. These never-ending obligations cut into time girls could spend studying, and often smother their opportunity to live lives different from their mothers and grandmothers.

Today is the United Nations International Day of the Girl Child, a time to recognize the challenges girls in many developing countries face and to find ways to help them reach their potential. Gender equity is one of Heifer’s Cornerstones for Just and Sustainable Development, and encouraging women and girls to learn, cooperate and use their gifts is part of every project.

To learn more about International Day of the Girl Child, go here.

Nope. Still not going to smile.

Photos by Russell Powell

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A Happier Home in Cambodia

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Article and video by Chris Kenning, World Ark contributor

Bung Kriel, CAMBODIA—The son of subsistence rice farmers, Chom Thoun grew up in a thatched-roof home on stilts, in a childhood marked by war with the Khmer Rouge, illnesses from poor sanitation and months of hunger each year when the family’s small harvest ran out.

“Our family was very poor, sometimes we didn’t have rice to eat,” said Chom, speaking recently on a shaded bamboo bed under this home, tucked among the rice paddies of Svay Rieng, one of the country’s poorest provinces located near the Vietnamese border.

The fighting had ended by the time he entered his 30s, and he had started a family with five children. But as he hand-plowed the same rice paddies, life was still a daily struggle. Relying on rain-fed rice grown in poor soil on small plot, he did not having enough to feed his family through the year. He was often forced to leave his wife, Toeu, and children to work as a laborer in the city.

While the now 40-year-old farmer still lives in a home without electricity, running water or plumbing, his fortunes have improved significantly in recent years with the help of a Heifer International’s self-help group program that he entered in 2007.

Speaking through an interpreter a few weeks ago on a World Ark visit, Chom said Heifer provided a cow, vegetable seeds, fruit tree saplings and training on how to keep animals and crops healthier by adopting changes such as adding mosquito netting to an animal shelter.

He also joined Heifer’s self-help savings group made up of villagers contributing small amounts for low-interest loans. That allowed Chom to start new vegetables and sugar cane, which they sell at market. In addition to passing on the cow’s offspring to another family in need, Chom also earns money by treating sick animals in the village, a skill he learned through Heifer.

“My life before was hard,” he said. “My living conditions improved; I could buy a bike so my daughter could get to school.”

He said their annual income has more than doubled from $200 a year to $500 a year, allowing them build a new home out of wood with a tin roof. There’s now enough food all year round, because they were able to buy more land for rice. And, fish, eggs or fowl—once a rare treat—are now a nearly daily part of their diet. They even have a small TV powered by a car battery.

They’re just some of more than 8,800 vulnerable Cambodian families that Heifer has helped since 1999 in a country long battered by war and extreme poverty.

Heifer’s programs currently operate in 188 poor rural communities, where they aim to increase food security, incomes and well-being by providing help such as animals and seeds, farmer education, microfinance and a more recent effort to boost basic literacy and math skills.

In Bung Kriel village, home to about 86 families and located in a province known for its low-quality farmland, child malnutrition, illiteracy, distance to markets and health care, and legacy of heavy U.S. bombing in the 1970s, it’s been a huge help, village leaders said.

“It has helped (bring) change for many families,” said Sek Ouk, Bung Kriel’s 69-year-old village chief.

Look for more about Heifer Cambodia projects in upcoming issues of World Ark magazine.

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Trapped in Transition

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As home to roughly 465,000 people, the Dadaab refugee camp in northeastern Kenya is the largest refugee camp in the world. It has a population equivalent to that of Kansas City, Mo., but at a tightly packed 31 square miles, the entire camp sits on roughly the same area allotted to a single off-the-grid tribesman in the Brazilian Amazon.

Refugees continue to trickle in, most of them Somalians fleeing hunger and conflict, while older residents now consider the camp their long-term home after living there for a decade or more. So what does life in this accidental city look like?

The BBC posted a slideshow this week to show us. Some of the photos capture the mundane, like the shot of Asha Mohamed, who runs a beauty shop inside the camp. Others depict the privation that promises to worsen as the camp recedes from the public eye and donations slow. In one shot, a mother sits on the floor of her house crafted from  plastic bags, her two bleary-eyed sons with her clearly in poor health.

Faced with real threats of kidnapping, aid workers and journalists are avoiding Dadaab, a factor that will almost certainly add to residents’ hardships.

As Dadaab’s population continues to rise, Heifer International is working in the drought-addled region, planning projects that will help people in the Horn of Africa weather future crises.

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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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Cows in Malawi are a Daughter’s Piggy Bank

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Belia Mzukani, 21 years old, (left) her husband Baptista Mzukani, 21, and their 9-month-old baby Esnart in Gomani Folotiya Village, Malawi. Photo by Russell Powell

Baptista and Belia Mzukani have big plans for their daughter, Esnart. At 9 months old the baby is sharp and healthy, and her parents are laying the groundwork for her to stay that way.

The parents each grew up with seven siblings, meaning money, food and other resources were tight. Neither of them made it past 7th grade. That won’t be the case for Esnart, Belia said. She and Baptista plan to have only one more child, an unusual choice in Gomani Folotiya Village in central Malawi, where seven or eight children per family is the norm.

The family has two Heifer cows: Tiyamike, whose name means “Giving Thanks,” and the calf Madalitso, whose name means “Blessings.” Tiyamike’s milk is pulling in enough money that Esnart already has a savings account earmarked for education expenses. “I don’t want her to be denied what she needs,” Baptista said.

Belia and Esnart gather fodder for their Heifer cows. Photo by Russell Powell

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