Tag Archives: literacy

Heifer International Helps Empower Women in Cambodia

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Heifer project members are all smiles during a group discussion.

Heifer project members are all smiles during a group discussion.

Many women in Cambodia cannot read or write. Their illiteracy is rooted in the belief of many Cambodians that women should not be educated because they will become housewives and not be involved in decision-making inside or outside the home. Heifer Cambodia is working to empower women through literacy and group-savings community programs. Heifer Cambodia Country Director Keang Keo shares how Heifer is transforming lives in her country.

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”From the Field section.

One of Heifer’s 12 Cornerstones for Just and Sustainable Development is Gender and Family Focus. This element is present in a variety of ways in Heifer’s projects. Women often represent their families in self-help groups (SHGs) and become models for their families and even communities.

The values-based literacy program teaches Youern Sopheak, 18, more than just reading and writing.

The values-based literacy program teaches Youern Sopheak, 18, more than just reading and writing.

The Strey Tbong Pich women’s group in Cambodia is now in its second year of a values-based literacy progam. Participants of all ages worked very hard, despite challenges such as last year’s flooding, and recently successfully completed their final exams.

Female agricultural service cooperative (ASC) representatives, including Heifer project leaders, recently visited Ukraine’s Parliament on Human Rights to share about gender-equity isses rural women face. This is an important step in improving gender equity throughout the country.  

Finally, meet Rose Were, a farmer in Kenya and former Heifer project participant, who hosted more than 400 farmers at her four-acre farm for a World Food Day celebration on October 16.

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.

International Literacy Day: A Great Day to Read to Feed

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Heifer Honduras children studying English

Photo by Amy Davenport, courtesy of Heifer International

September 8 is International Literacy Day, and this year’s theme is Literacy and Peace.

From UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova:

Education brings sustainability to all the development goals, and literacy is the foundation of all learning. It provides individuals with the skills to understand the world and shape it, to participate in democratic processes and have a voice, and also to strengthen their cultural identity.

Literacy is an important part of the work we at Heifer International do in the field. Many of our project participants are illiterate when projects begin. Where illiteracy is widespread in project communities, we emphasize literacy trainings as part of the project design. A significant benefit of our work is families’ improved ability to send and keep their children in school, increasing literacy rates for the entire community.

Want to help Heifer International raise global literacy rates and improve literacy in your own home at the same time? Check out Read to Feed, our unique program that will get your kids reading and supporting Heifer in fun and exciting ways.

Serinda Swan Visits Heifer in Cambodia

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 Heifer International’s projects in Cambodia got a special visit from a Hollywood actress recently. Serinda Swan is the star of the A&E drama Breakout Kings, and she’s also a big Heifer supporter.  She was adventurous enough to travel to some rural villages in the Svay Chrum district, where she visited families whose living conditions have been improved with gifts of chickens and pigs from Heifer.


Serinda supports Heifer International because it connects her interest in animals with her concern about global poverty. She says, “Being able to go on a trip into the countryside with Heifer International was an amazing experience for me. The work that they do is so diverse and vast it blew me away.”

Serinda says she was especially touched to witness a Passing On the Gift® ceremony, where families who had received Heifer animals passed on the first offspring to other needy families. She says it was amazing to witness the generosity that was expressed, and to know that each Heifer gift was multiplying in the community.
 
 
Serinda visited a children’s group where village children learn about responsible living. “They sang and taught me how to play some of their instruments. I may need to come back a few times to master them,” Serinda jokes. “But their hearts were so big and welcoming, I felt right at home.”

Serinda also saw a reading group made up mainly of women. As part of its projects, Heifer conducts training in skills like literacy, community leadership, and building small businesses. Serinda says it was impressive to see how group members participated and encouraged each other.
 
 
 
 
“There is so much more Heifer is doing than just supplying people with animals,” she says. “It’s wonderful to see.”
 
 
Serinda is now back in the United States working to raise awareness of hunger and deprivation. She says her visit to the Heifer Cambodia project was eye opening and reinforced her respect for Heifer’s sustainable community development.
“I plan on going back next year and visiting everyone again,” Serinda says. “I cannot wait to see how far they have come, with the courage and determination that I witnessed.”

Reading Lessons

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Today is International Literacy Day. As an organization that relies heavily on training and education for the success of our projects, Heifer is taking part in the observance of a day that calls attention to the 780 million adults who do not know how to read or write and the 100 million or more children who lack access to education.  I had the pleasure of meeting Nguyen Thi Thuy in 2010 on a two-week trip through Vietnam and Cambodia. Her story is just one of the many in our cache about how learning to read has dramatically changed someone’s life.

AN MY, Vietnam—Nguyen Thi Thuy had one dream: to help her children with their schoolwork. But she couldn’t read.

Thi Thuy was born in the Kesach District in southern Vietnam. Her parents had 13 other children and struggled to provide for them, she said. They frequently had to travel to find work, leaving her and her siblings at home to fend for themselves. 

“I really wanted to go to school, but I knew my parents couldn’t afford it,” Thi Thuy said. “I wanted to be a teacher. If I were a teacher I would teach other poor children to read and write.” Thi Thuy said her lack of education left her feeling paralyzed. She was afraid to go anywhere for fear she couldn’t find her way back home. 

When she married her husband, Huynh Huu Loc, she learned that he had only finished fifth grade. He could read and write, and they agreed that schooling for their children would be their first priority. “We knew they could have a sustainable life if they had education,” she said.

The couple soon had two children—a daughter, Huynh Thi Thuy Dung, and a son, Huynh Huu Nghia. But the couple found it more difficult than they expected to provide enough money for their children’s school fees.

The couple worked as seasonal laborers occasionally taking jobs in nearby rice fields. They earned just about $2 a day. 

“We worked as hard as we could for our children, but we often had to borrow money from neighbors to pay for their school fees,” Thi Thuy said. 

In 2008, the couple learned about Heifer. Thi Thuy knew immediately that Heifer could help her family. 
She joined self-help group and began attending trainings. But since she couldn’t read or write, Thi Thuy said she had to listen carefully. Because of this, she sat in the back of the room, away from her other group members. 

After a short time of trying to memorize what the trainers were teaching them, Thi Thuy decided it was time for her to learn to read and write. She couldn’t rely solely on memory to get by.

She first asked her sister-in-law to teach her the alphabet. Then, she learned to combine letters to form words, and then she asked her children to write words for her and she started copying what they wrote.
“I was busy all day,” Thi Thuy said. “I studied at night from 7 to 11p.m. every night.” It took her about five months to read and write. 

“Heifer gave me the determination,” she said. “The group even elected me cashier.” 

Thi Thuy has changed so much. She no longer worries about feeding her family and can focus on educating her children. Her daughter, Thuy Dung, 13, has a dream to become a doctor, she said. So Thuy Dung says she’s focusing on studying physics. Her little brother, Huu Nghia, wants to be a professor of Vietnamese literature.
Heifer allowed her to achieve her dream, Thi Thuy  said, so she should do the same for her children. “Heifer gave me the most valuable gift to be able to read and write. I’ll support their dreams. I want their dreams to come true,” she said.

Heifer Improves Literacy and Gender Equality in Cambodia

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Mrs. Roeum Yieb lives in Churng Turk village, Prey Veng province, Cambodia with her husband and two children. Her husband, Chuk Khut, is the village chief of Churng Turk.
Roeum Yieb joined a Heifer project in 2010 and was quickly selected as the Literacy Facilitator (LF) to provide literacy classes to her self-help group (SHG). Before joining the project, Roeum Yieb was always quiet, immersing herself in household chores, taking care of children and having little interaction with her community. Training in Heifer’s 12 Cornerstones for Just and Sustainable Development opened her eyes, motivating her to help end illiteracy in her village. Her capacity and skills have been built through Heifer’s Values-Based Literacy Training of Trainers. She works hard to provide numeric and literacy skills not only to her fellow SHG members, but other villagers as well. She also covers issues like domestic violence, human and animal well-being, and strengthening solidarity in the community through Heifer’s Cornerstones.
Reoum Yiep (right) presents a memento to an outstanding literacy participant who earned a high score on the final exam.
Her family life has also changed since participating in the Heifer project.
“I can do all the activities to help the community with support from my husband, who helps with household chores,” said Roeum Yieb. “Before participating in the project, my husband never cared about the family’s health. He did not help in household chores, raising the animals or earning a family income, except through his government work. But he has changed his attitude after attending the Cornerstones training. Now he helps with cooking, taking care of the children, cleaning up the house and feeding the animals. He also helps explain for me the different meanings and difficult words in the literacy books.”
Reoum Yiep, Chuk Khut and their two children work in their home garden in Turk village, Rong Damrei commune, Baphnom district, Prey Veng province.
Chuk Khut added, “Before, I thought that household chores and feeding the animals were women’s daily jobs, not for men. But after attending the Cornerstones training, I understand now that the job is for both women and men. Since I have internalized the Cornerstones, I help my wife do work such as cleaning the house and animal pens, and feeding the pigs and chickens. Women and men have equal rights in doing the work, helping each other to make a happy family.”

Dil Maya Learns to Read

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Our Nepal-based communications officer Puja Singh sends this video from the field.

During a recent visit to Nepal’s Chitwan District, Heifer International COO Steve Denne met Dil Maya Chepang. Her family received goats and training through a Heifer Project in her village, and she learned to read through a Heifer-sponsored program.

Here Dil Maya shows Steve what she learned in the Heifer literacy class. Many women like Dil Maya are learning to read and write through Heifer Nepal’s Values Based Literacy Program.

Video by Mahendra Lohani.