Kuala Trang Village, Indonesia: Ayun feeds his grandfather’s calf. The community gave the calf to his grandfather with the understanding that the proceeds would pay for Ayun’s schooling, as both of his parents were killed in the 2006 Tsunami. Ayun himself could not own the cow directly because he lost all his identity papers in the Tsunami and was too young.
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| Photo by Trevor Snapp, courtesy of Heifer International |
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| Tuerdi, his wife and their oldest son and daughter |
by Heifer China
Tuerdi is 36 years old, living with his wife, his sister’s son, his three daughters and his aunt who is now 65 years old and cannot walk freely as a result of falling from the tractor twice. As many people as this family has, there are only two who can work. Together with the poor production from the field and animal rearing, this family has led a hard life in Yarkant, Xinjiang, China. This family has nine goats, two local brand cattle and two hens that provide one or two eggs, and often these animals cannot meet the needs from the children, let alone the needs of the entire family. The oldest boy never had milk and his body size is far smaller than other children his age. The oldest girl also has the same problem.
The boy is now in junior school (first grade ), and he is the top one student in his class. His dream is to become a teacher if he has the chance to enter college. The girl’s performance in school is also quite good, and her dream is to be a doctor. Both of the children have the local pancake — which costs 1 RMB — as their lunch.
At the beginning of this year, the Heifer Turpan project farmers went to Yarkant to promote Heifer program concepts, and Tuerdi is seeing positive changes after joining the program. The Heifer program provided Tuerdi with one good-quality simmental cross-breeding cow. Tuerdi actively joined in the program and took advantage of the chance to learn from the trainings and meetings. He holds a hope that through the Heifer program, his family could have a more stable income to improve them a higher living standard and better children’s nutrition.
Editor’s note: This post is part of a new series that follows the progress of specific families, starting at the beginning of their work with Heifer. Initially, this series will focus on our programs in Asia/South Pacific, where our colleagues have chosen one family in each region in the countries where we work and will bring us quarterly updates.
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| The front of Tuerdi’s home in Yarkant village, China |
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| Goats inside an animal pen |
Story by Heifer Romania Communications and PR Coordinator Laura Manciu.
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The second Irish airlift committed for Heifer Romania’s Milk for Orphans Project landed successfully at the Timisoara airport Tuesday night.
Media representatives showed great interest in this positive event despite the rising tensions of crowds that marched the streets of major Romanian cities all week.
The 66 heifers traveled from Ireland to Romania in a specially equipped plane, and no incidents occurred during the flight and landing. The animals were loaded into trucks and taken to the quarantine farm in Oradea.
Considering the cows will be distributed to their new owners at the beginning of March, Heifer Romania has planned a major event and decided to offer these living gifts to women in Rasca village. During the month of March, Romanian tradition celebrates women and the arrival of spring as the symbol of renewal. For the women in Rasca, March 2012 will bring a living gift–an Irish heifer–that will change the life of their family and community.
The farmer community in Rasca is very excited about receiving a new transport of animals. Although the heifers will spend 30 days in quarantine, the original placement ceremony will be organized, and women will be praised for their efforts and rewarded. The timing picked is special, just as the gift is original. Women are the pillar of the household and have a strong bond with their animals, and this is why Heifer Romania has chosen to provide them with such an amazing gift of hope.
Raise your hand if you love biogas! (Both my hands are raised, you can be sure.) I was directed to this video by a colleague recently, and it’s a great example of Heifer’s biogas efforts in Africa, how Heifer’s work enables families to provide for themselves, and how connecting with other nonprofit partners and local governments can expand the impact of our work.
In this video, Augustin and Abigail Njita share how their lives have changed from the better since receiving a cow from Heifer in 2009. Their cows provide milk for consumption and sale, as well as manure that is converted into biogas. Heifer has pioneered the use of biogas technology to capture methane from animal waste. The gas is then used for cooking and lighting, providing a clean and healthy power source and reducing the cutting of trees for firewood.
We’re four days into 2012. Have you kept your resolutions so far? Did you even make any? I personally am not much of a resolution-maker, mostly because I know I’m not much of a resolution-keeper. But I get the feeling that this year has a lot of potential. At Heifer, we work with communities around the world to help them find their best path out of hunger and poverty. In doing so, we help them identify their potential and take full advantage of it.
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| Photo by Heather McClintock |
In Nakarada, Kosovo, Nurie Mirena pets her Simmental cow. I almost feel like I could reach right into this photograph and pet the cow, too.
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Remember the Irish heifers that were airlifted to Heifer’s Milk for Orphans Project in Romania? Last month, our project participants received their gifts, and Heifer Romania Communications and PR Coordinator Laura Manciu has generously offered to provide us with updates on our participants and their cows.
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| Sorin and Lenuta Gansca with their new heifer. |
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| Monica Rus with Romanita. |
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| Marinela Teofil and her son Flaviu. |
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| Gilgan Teofil with Stela. |
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| Angla Matis and Jenica. |
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| Photo by Amy Davenport |
Four-year-old Julita Deras-Alvarado of Honduras holds a glass of milk from her family’s Heifer-gifted cow.
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| Mama Yogurt serves up samples. |
One such person is Joyce Ayiku, or “Mama Yogurt” as she was nicknamed by Heifer staff during our visit there Tuesday. Ayiku, 49, received a dairy cow from Heifer International four years ago. She is one of the few dairy farmers in Nsawam, not far from the capital of Accra.
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| Photos by Jane Hahn |
To say that Joyce was a quick learner is an understatement. When she first began processing her milk into yogurt, she basically went door to door telling people about Heifer and why yogurt from fresh milk was better.
Speaking of Bóthar… Remember when they shipped 70 heifers from Ireland to Romania as part of a Heifer project?
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| Irish heifers arrive in their new Romanian village. |
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| The crowd eagerly awaits the distribution of the heifers. |
We’ve just learned that earlier today, 42 of those heifers and one male calf reached their new farmer families in Rasca commune. Heifer Romania held an original livestock placement ceremony near the town hall in Rasca. The heifers waited patiently until the lottery draw was finished and their new owners could take them home.
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| These heifers will soon supply milk for farm families and orphan children. Holstein Frisian cows produce twice as much milk as the local cattle breeds. |
Over the past week, the community has waited excitedly for the announcement for the coming cattle. There were more than 100 requests to become project participants and receive the gift. The applications were sorted and future beneficiaries chosen according to project criteria (poor farmer families, the unemployed, families with children, possibility and capacity to properly feed and house the livestock, willingness to Pass on the Gift).
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| Families receiving heifers today sign contracts that include the commitment to Pass on the Gift of their heifers’ first female offspring. |
The number of people attending the ceremony exceeded expectations. All families who applied for the project came to see the animals and were impressed by the high quality of the heifers. Villagers were enthusiastic and said they never believed the animals would be in such an excellent condition. Families not selected for original placement will eagerly await the first Pass on the Gift ceremony.
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| Dorina smiles over her new calf. |
Suspense filled the crowd, as everyone was wondering who would pick the ticket for the cow with the calf. Applause burst when the ticket number drawn by Mrs. Nistor Dorina brought her the mother cow and male calf. She was excited and, while covering the calf with a blanket said, “God bless the Irish families that made this possible. Such happiness is rarely felt! Thank you very much.”
Rasca commune is about 56 miles from Cluj. About 60 percent of the families here do not have consistent incomes. They are trying to establish small-scale private farming in order to earn a living. Through this Heifer project, the families will improve their nutrition and increase their income by breeding Holstein Frisian cows, well known for their high milk production and rapid adaptability to various climate conditions. These families will also pass on the first female offspring of their dairy cows to another impoverished family, and they will donate 79 gallons of milk to orphan children.
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| These heifers are ready to settle in! |
The heifers must be glad to be home after traveling for three hours from the quarantine farm where they spent the last month. Their new farm families are certainly glad to have them.
Information provided by Laura Manciu, communications and public relations coordinator for Heifer International’s Romania Country Program.