Tag Archives: Pass on the Gift

Lucio of Peru Shares His Knowledge

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Remember Lucio? He lives on a farm in the practically barren Andean Highlands of Peru, and I was lucky to meet him on my trip this past August. (Two other blog posts here and here about Lucio and his farm.)

Lucio is a great example of the determination and innovativeness of Heifer’s project participants. A constant agricultural experimenter, Lucio has many gifts to share. His primary way of doing so is by holding workshops on his property, where he can show other farmers how to grow vegetables in greenhouses (potatoes are traditionally the only crop successfully grown in this area, so this is a really big deal), harvest fish sustainably from a stream, breed alpacas for only the finest qualities and collect alpaca manure for use as biogas.

We recently had staff from our Heifer Peru team, and I discovered they have a video that will help bring Lucio to light in a way my own words cannot. It’s a little on the long side, but I think it’s worth it.

Heifer Gifts Transform Communities

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Are you giving the gift of a sheep this holiday season?

Watch this video by Heifer Peru highlighting a Pass on the Gift ceremony of creole sheep. Every gift from Heifer continues on through our Pass on the Gift model, making our work truly sustainable. In Peru, and many other countries where we work, it is quite common for communities to continue this unique process of sharing resources long after Heifer’s project work has ended (like 11 years longer). Heifer International Americas Area Program Vice President Oscar Castaneda put it well when he said, “Transformation is when Passing on the Gift is no longer a commitment, but a way of community living.”

The Dance of a New Life in Bangladesh

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story by Puja Singh
video by Geoff Oliver Bugbee for Heifer International

In this short video, adhibashis (tribal) women dance arm-in-arm to the crescendo of drums in a Passing On The Gift ceremony where 15 cows were passed on to new families in need in Holdibona, western Bangladesh. This celebration of life — something that tribal people all over the world are experts in — oozes into this Heifer project event. It is not long before more women in headscarves join the synchrony. Islam discourages women from living out of the boundaries of their home. Taking part in public dancing is one of many such prohibitions. But the women in headscarves, watched by men, children and visitors, still join their sisters in the hearty footwork.

The Increasing Community Capacity for Holistic Development Project in Holdibona, Vashapara, Moradighi and Gopalpur villages incorporates 223 tribal and Muslim families, into a project that aims to achieve food security, gender equity and self-reliance through livestock, agricultural inputs and training. Poverty, religious differences and natural disasters pose a threat to this relatively-new nation separated from Pakistan in 1971. Heifer partners with local non-governmental organizations to fight such woes through its values-based holistic community development model.

Heifer Uganda Farmers Pass on the Gift to Ugandan Youth

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Would you be surprised if I told you Ugandan kids don’t want to be farmers? Probably not. Kids in the United States don’t often mention agriculture as a career goal, either. Unfortunately for us, we’ve had kind of an “oops” moment as our farmers grow older, retire and die off, having passed on little or none of their agricultural knowledge. Granted, much of the farming done in the United States is on huge (huge!) farms using enormous machinery, so we’re already far removed from the time when most of our population was directly involved in agriculture. In fact, agriculture only comprises 1.2 percent of our Gross Domestic Product and accounts for less than 0.7 percent of our labor force.

In Uganda, however, agriculture makes up 22.5 percent of the GDP and occupies 82 percent of the labor force. In a country with more than a third of its population living in poverty and one of the highest population growth rates in the world, being able to feed its own people needs to be a priority for Uganda.

So what’s Uganda to do when the reality is that their youth are showing a declining interest in agriculture?

That’s the question taken on by Shamim Okolloh, a Clinton School of Public Service student. In her most recent blog post, she wrote:


The Challenge: How do we get the youth interested in farming vs. office jobs and change their perception from viewing it as a dirty job for old people deep in the village to one that can be a source of livelihood and food security, a means to create jobs, and opportunity to make Uganda a food basket for the region?


The Idea: Get the students out of the classroom where agriculture is theory based (and mostly geared towards just passing exams) and have them meet with farmers in the area (peri-urban) who can share their stories on the benefits, opportunities and challenges of farming.


Heifer farmer demonstrates banana plant propagation.

Two wonderful Heifer International project participants–Mrs. Makoba & Mr. Wamimbi were more than happy to Pass on the Gift of knowledge to the next generation of 33 students and nine teachers. Here is a little of what the six-hour experience was like.


What gift are you passing on to the next generation?

~Shamim O.

Give a HEIFER Heifer: It’s the Sustainable Thing to Do

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There’s a reason animal gifts are popular right now. The idea is fun; the animal is cute, easy to give as an alternative gift and is readily available from several organizations that all tout it as a means to help impoverished communities become self-sustaining. But it takes more than an animals, and only one organization works to that end–Heifer International.

For more than 67 years, Heifer International has recognized the cow, goat, sheep or rabbit is but one of the ingredients needed by a family or community to become self-sustaining. Along with that animal must come training: in animal care and management, in how to use its byproducts–muscle and manure, for example–for benefit.

And there must be values training, which is the very core of our successful model of sustainable development. These trainings, in sharing and caring, nutrition and income, improving the environment, full participation and gender equity that empowers both men and women together, create the social capital that contributes not only to the success of the participating family, but also to the community.

Only Heifer requires project participants to Pass on the Gift–giving the first-born female offspring of their animal, along with the training they have received–to another family. There are communities where pass-ons are in their fifth, 10th, even 13th generation. So the gift of a cow isn’t really the gift of a single cow with Heifer. It’s the gift of a herd.

There’s no question that other organizations that provide animals to families in need do good work, but livestock inputs are but one item of the smorgasbord of work these agencies do. Giving livestock and training is all we do, and we do it exceptionally well, according to evaluators from Western Michigan University, who visited more than 139 Heifer projects in 20 countries and interviewed 5,000 Heifer program participants.

In their summary, evaluators stated, “In virtually every evaluation, the evaluators noted improvements in nutrition, agriculture, income, hope and opportunity, access to health care and medicine, livestock management. And mentioned in nearly every report was Heifer’s signature, Passing on the Gift (POG) program.”


Heifer’s work lasts much longer than the mere delivery of the animal as well. Projects and work with families, by Heifer country staff (who are native to the country), last years, not days or even weeks. And even before an animal is delivered, the family spends up to a year training, building safe and sturdy animal sheds and learning to grow food for the animals that don’t impinge on the family’s own gardens and food.

Since 1944, we have worked with and helped ignite transformation for more than 71 million people in more than 125 countries around the world. That’s a true track record for an organization that began its journey with a shipment of three heifers–Faith, Hope and Charity–to Puerto Rico.

Animals as alternative gifts are easy and cute, but only Heifer International considers the animal a catalyst to the heavy lifting that the families provide every day to pull themselves up out of poverty and into prosperity.

So give a Heifer animal. Because you know you’re giving so much more when you do.

Can’t decide which animal to give? Check out our series highlighting some of the options from our Gift Catalog:

Give a Goat: It’s the Poor Man’s Cow
Don’t BE a Heifer, GIVE a Heifer
Share a Sheep: Ewe Will Be Thanked
Llamas and Alpacas: Your Black Friday Alternative
Pick a Chick on Cyber Monday
Give Trees: The Perfect Alternative Gift for Vegetarians

Oh! And use our new Facebook “Like” button to show your friends you like us.
You Really Like Us.

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.”

Heifers In Flight: Delivery of 70 Heifers from Ireland to Romania a Huge Success

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At approximately 1:45 pm today, 70 purebred cows landed at the airport in Timisoara, Romania. These heifers flew from Ireland to be integrated into a food security project for orphans and poor families in central and western Romania through a partnership between Heifer International and Bothar Ireland. Bothar is part of a network of non-governmental organizations that use livestock in development aid. It is also sensitive to children’s needs and has experience helping children in Central and Eastern European countries.

The cows are Holstein Frisian and were brought to Romania to ensure the necessary milk for institutionalized children and rural families without income. The heifers came from Shelton Abbey Prison in Ireland, raised by prisoners living under an “open prison” concept, which allows them to raise livestock.
Twenty heifers will go to Caminul Felix orphanage in Oradea. Following Heifer’s Pass on the Gift model, each of the children who receives a cow will pass on the first female offspring to another orphan.
According to the Romanian National Authority for Child Protection, 80,000 to 100,000 children between 0-18 years are institutionalized every year. The daily food allocation for orphan children is about $2.80, which is not enough to provide proper nutrition. Through the Milk for Orphans Project, daily nutritional supplements will be provided on a long-term basis for the children, meeting their dietary needs and improving their general health. The project will ultimately serve more than 5,000 children from orphanages in central and western Romania.
Milk processing will be ensured by the Animal Breeders Association in Corusu, which operates a milk collection center, built with the support of Heifer Romania.
The remaining 50 heifers flown in today will reach poor rural families in Rasca commune, 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 the 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.

The arrival of the heifers was a huge success, according to Heifer Romania Communications and Public Relations Coordinator Laura Manciu. The animals landed and were transferred safely and without any problems. The airlift was a big media event, with more than 30 reporters from different media institutions. Mr. Valeriu Tabara, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development attended the event and gave a short speech in support of Heifer and Bothar’s efforts. 

Farmers in Peru Eradicate Their Own Poverty

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Today is the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.

From the United Nation’s website:

October 17th presents an opportunity to acknowledge the effort and struggle of people living in poverty, a chance for them to make their concerns heard, and a moment to recognize that poor people are the first ones to fight against poverty. Participation of the poor themselves has been at the center of the Day’s celebration since its very beginning. The commemoration of October 17th also reflects the willingness of people living in poverty to use their expertise to contribute to the eradication of poverty.

There’s a reason we refer to the families and individuals with whom we work as “participants.” It’s because they are participating in the eradication of their own poverty. More than that, they are helping end their neighbors’ poverty, too, through Heifer’s Pass on the Gift model. Yes, we provide our participants with gifts of livestock, and we train them at no cost to themselves. The real work comes from the participants, however. We are but facilitators in a process that empowers them to analyze their situation, determine what work needs to be done to improve it, and make that work happen. Livestock and training are tools that provide the “leg up” our participants need. Without their Full Participation (which happens to be one of Heifer’s 12 Cornerstones for Just and Sustainable Development), our successful model would fail.

Watch this short video about farmers near Andamarca, Peru, who have become empowered through Heifer’s model and now share their expertise in raising guine pigs and sheep with neighboring communities.

Meeting Urgent Needs in Cambodia

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Mahendra Lohani (fourth from right) with the Heifer staff who participated in last month’s co-mentoring workshop in  Cambodia.

by Mahendra Lohani, Vice President of Asia South Pacific Programs

Last month, I joined Shubh Mahato, country director of Heifer Nepal during his co-mentoring visit to Heifer Cambodia. Co-mentoring is an opportunity for our development experts from different countries to share best practices and learn from each other in a mutual, teacher-to-teacher dynamic. These meetings are always of immense benefit, and we used this occasion to organize an additional meeting at the country office in Phnom Penh to discus Heifer’s organizational priorities and plan to increase the size of our projects and help more families.

The Heifer Cambodia team reviewed their local context and formulated a concrete action plan with a clear timeline under each of Heifer’s three organizational goals: scale up program impact, grow and diversify revenue and support base, and strengthen core global operating systems. This action plan, which serves as the co-mentoring action plan for Cambodia Country Director Keo Keang for the next six months, is fully owned by the Heifer Cambodia team. We also discussed the new strategies with project participants and project partners in the field to have their input and action. It is exciting to note that the team is moving with high urgency to increase the project impact, speed up the Passing on the Gift® (POG) process, and improve cost efficiency.

Twelve of our Cambodia team members participated in the meeting, and the Cambodia  staff were very motivated to learn and discuss the four key principles of scaling-up our projects: speed, impact, quality and cost efficiency. The Cambodia team came up with ideas of ways to accelerate the POG process and empower communities in the early stages of project development.
 
Following the two-day meeting, Shubh and I traveled to the field to visit a women’s literacy class and to visit the homes of some participants of the Women Empowerment and Environmental Protection project. The visit went very well. The impact of the project shows potential for growth, including POG group formation and women’s empowerment through literacy classes, education, networking and collaboration.

I returned from Cambodia full of optimism about our work there. Our project participants are empowered and very confident, which is my dream to see. The Heifer Cambodia team has done a great job, and I am very proud of them. But, even though we have done great work, we also realize that it is still small in terms of the poverty in Cambodia, where more than 30 percent of the population lives below the poverty line.