Tag Archives: Pigs

A Widow Struggles for Family Life

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YouenSophea, Yoeun Sophaort, and Soeu Samai (Sopheap’s nephew) have lunch at theirkitchen.

by Heifer Cambodia

Anlong Sa — a poor rural village in Phnom Leap commune, Preahneth Preah district, Bantey Meanchey province — is inhabited by 146 families who rely on traditional agriculture (including rice and livestock), fishing and making bamboo baskets for their livelihood. However, the village faces many challenges including poor quality of agricultural products and services, natural disasters, lack of education and poor sanitation and hygiene. Low education and literacy are factors that lead to domestic violence while social norms put women in a lower status then men, and a lack of job opportunities lead to high migration for work and the problem of human trafficking and HIV/AIDS.

Khuon Sopheap, 42, is a poor widow in this village who has experienced a very hard life since her childhood after her mother died when she was 8 years old. Her father then married another woman and moved to live in another village, leaving her to live with her poor aunt Rath Tong (now 56 years old). Sopheap had no chance to attend school due to poverty. She got married to Muth Sa Oeun at age of 17 in the hope of building a happy family. However, her husband helped little in doing farming and earning income to support the household. He spent most of his time drinking alcohol and wasted the family property, plummeting the family into a worse situation. Sopheap divorced her husband in 2005 when he migrated to work as laborer in Thailand and took another wife there. A huge burden is laid on her shoulders as she has to take care of all children alone.


A mother of five children (four daughters and one son), Sopheap has struggled in earning income to feed her children, her aunt Rath Tong and three nephews. The household’s main source of income is from making bamboo and rattan baskets for sale. All her family members get involved in making the baskets for family income generation. However, after paying for some production materials including bamboos and metal wire, the family is able to earn only 115,000 Riels (about US $28.75) every three months from selling the baskets. Her family also owns one hectare of rice land. But rice yield can feed the family for only seven months after harvest. As income from bamboo and rattan baskets is not enough for support family life, her family has to borrow money from others and sell their labor.


“I have many children that rice yield on 1 hectare of land cannot feed us enough. We were poor in family planning as we did not know how to do birth spacing,” said Sopheap. Her family has not enough nutrition in their foods. Her family rarely has meat in their meals as they have no money to buy meat. They have fishes, fresh-water shellfish, snails or frogs that they catch from the field and river. For the family’s vegetables, Sopheap’s aunt Rath Tong picks morning glory and water lilies from the river and edible leaves from the jungle.


The family’s poverty and debt prompted her eldest daughter, Yoeun Chann (22), to drop out of study at grade 2 to help the family earn income. She got married to Che Rithih (27), who helps doing farming and catching fishes to feed the family. They now have an 8-month-old baby girl, Ruon Choeung. 


Then because Sopheap had no money to support her children for scholastic materials, her second son, Yoeun Khol (20), and her third daughter, Yoeun Sopheap (17), stopped their study at grade 4 and grade 5 respectively. Currently, Khol has migrated to sell his labor in Thailand while Sopheap helps produce baskets and sometimes sells her labor in the crop harvest of other villagers. 


“I don’t want my son to work in Thailand as he might be risky to any bad acts while staying far away from home,” said Sopheap. “However, after joining the group, I plan to enhance livestock production and grow vegetables so that my son and daughters will have jobs at home.”


“I am very sad that I cannot pursue my study,” said Sopheap, adding, “However, I want to be trained in sewing skill as a tailor in the future. With this career, I will be able to earn more money to take care of my poor mother.”


Because of the dire poverty of families like Sopheap’s, Heifer Cambodia implemented the “Community’s Empowerment and Environmental Protection Surround Tonle Sap Lake” project in July 2010. This project was launched in partnership with Cambodian Human Resource Development (CHRD), a local NGO. The project aims to improve income, promote environmental sustainability and involve the whole community in development activities. Twenty-five families were selected to receive piglets, horticulture seeds, fruit trees and other agriculture equipment along with training. In June 2011, Sopheap’s family was one of 25 additional families to be included in the project, and they received piglets and other resources through a Passing on the Gift™ ceremony in October 2011. 


Sopheap takes good care of the piglets, keeping them healthy by applying simple techniques she gained from training. One piglet is fattened for sale in the next four months while another is raised for reproductive purposes. She gets up early each morning at 5:00, fetching water from the river, which is located about 50 meters from her house to clean the pigs and pen. Then she feeds them with help from her daughters (the pigs are fed three times a day, morning, afternoon and evening). She starts making bamboo baskets at 8 a.m. and continues her work until 8 p.m.


“I am so busy at my daily works from morning till night,” said Sopheap. “I sometime prepare foods, but sometime my daughters do it. Though I am busy, I allocate my time for attending literacy class, but not regularly because sometime I have to finish the baskets to sell for foods.” Sopheap has joined a group savings program. She puts 2,000 Riels (about US $0.5), in group saving every month. She has attended technical and non-technical trainings, including the 12 Cornerstones, animal husbandry and vegetable growing.


The family shares household chores. in the early morning, aunt Rath Tong brings along with her a packed lunch and goes to the jungle about two kilometers from the village to collect rattans for producing baskets. She returns home at 3 p.m. Sometimes she goes to catch fish with her fishing net, traps and hooks. She also has an old, small boat as a means to catch fish.


A flood hit Sopheap’s village last October and lasted until early November this year. Her vegetable garden was washed away while her rice stalks were completely destroyed by the flood. Her family had to work hard to restore everything after the floodwaters receded.


Sopheap’s other two daughters, Yoeun Sopea (13), and Yoeun Sophort (10) are currently studying at grade 3 in a primary school, which is located about 2 kilometers from the village. They have the afternoon class, lasting from 1 to 5 p.m. In morning before school time, Sophea and Sophort help their mother by cleaning animal pens, feeding pigs, cleaning the house, preparing lunch, and making the baskets.


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. 

House of Ms. KhuonSopheap’s family. Its roof and walls were built with thatches.
KhuonSopheap cleans and feeds her pigs.
YoeunSophea fetches water from the river (about 50 meters from the house) to help clean the penand pigs.
KhuonSopheap and her daughters make bamboo baskets.

After the Quake: Chang Julan’s New Life in China

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Chang Julan and members of the Heifer China self-help group in Fuxing Village help rebuild homes after the Sichuan earthquake.  

by Heifer China 

Chang Julan, with four other family members, lives in Fuxing Village, Longtan Township, Lizhou District, China — one of the Sichuan earthquake disaster areas. In the process of rehabilitation, they reconstructed the family’s swine facility and rebuilt their house. The family was in debt. Her husband, Yang Yongguang, did odd jobs to support his family, and that’s the only income the family had. What’s worse, poor health had been a perennial problem for his parents. Poverty hit the family.

After joining a Heifer project, Chang Julan became a part of a self-help group and received four sows and some farming materials. Through the self-help group, Chang participated in activities, and learned Heifer’s concept and 12 Cornerstones. In the meantime, she joined Fuxing Village Pig Breeding Association, in which she acquired skills of pig breeding and upgraded her pig facility through trainings she received. In the past three months, she received 13,000 Yuan income through selling more than 20 piglets. Moreover, by growing seeds provided by Heifer China, she grew corn, rice, peanut, sweet potato on 6 mu land. She made a harvest of 1,000 kg of corn and 2,500 kg of rice in September this year. She also educated children to be self-reliant and sent her care to elders as required by Heifer’s 12 Cornerstones.

With the help of other group members, Chang built a new house in early 2011. In addition, the local agricultural bureau granted allowance to build a biogas unit, and the government funded a drinking water project to solve human and livestock water issue. This Heifer project not only raised her family’s income, but also provided her opportunities to take part in the self-help groups’ cultural activities. The community is getting more harmonious than before and her family is living a better life. Speaking of the future, Chang wishes her son would study harder and her parents would become healthier. She also looks forward to getting a better harvest, more pigs and income to pass on the gift to other farmers.

In the video below, Chang harvests sweet potatoes, walks us through her upgraded swine facility and demonstrates her new rice milling machine.

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. 

Chang Julan in her newly-rebuilt home in Lizhou District, China.
Chang Julan’s family worked with a self-help group to build this new swine facility.  

Give the Original Piggy Bank

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Mr. Alyssi Eloundou Bathelemy and his wife Mrs. Kanse Ada Philomene
stand in front oftheir pig pen. Photos by Jake Lyell.

If Heifer animals are like “living savings accounts” for struggling families, the pig may well be the most interest-bearing. Each pig can provide a valuable source of protein, income from the sale of offspring and manure to nourish crops and soil.

Before receiving the gift of pigs and training in their care from Heifer supporters, Mr. Ayissi Eloundou Bathelemy and his wife Kanse Ada Philomene from Cameroon could hardly afford enough food for their six children and 13 grandchildren. Philomene almost died because she had no money to pay doctors, and her children were mocked for not being able to afford to go to school. Now she is able to plant watermelon, spinach and corn using the manure from her pigs as a rich, organic fertilizer. Their crop yields have improved so much that there has been enough money to pay for Philomene’s hospital bills and school fees for the children. Before Heifer, they only earned about $225 a year. Now they’re earning almost $750.


Fouda Marcelin, Bathelemy and Philomene’s grandson.

Health Care
Pigs can have up to 16 piglets in a litter, and piglets usually double their three-pound birth weight in their first week. With so many piglets, families can sell them faster, which means money from their sale at market. For many families, this money pays for doctors’ fees when health care is typically out of reach.

Resource Conservation
Pigs thrive on crop and garden waste and food scraps. Because of this, families don’t have to dedicate much land to grow food for their pigs. That means more food for the family to eat or sell. This also contributes to less waste per family.

Better Local Economy
With livestock, families need veterinarians. That’s why Heifer trains locals as Community Animal Health Workers so they can meet the needs of families raising livestock. Communities benefit from healthier pigs, so more families are lifted out of poverty as more pigs are passed on.

This holiday season, give a pig in honor of your Uncle Jim, the family accountant. And read more here about Heifer’s work with pigs.

Corrections made to this post 12/14/11.

Monsoon Floods Can’t Break Thai Village’s Spirit of Sharing

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Every year, monsoon floods create more damage in one of Heifer Thailand’s targeted project villages, Pha Sam Yod. The village is settled in a valley with a stream running through it.


One late night in mid-October, while all villagers of Pha Sam Yod were sleeping deeply, a voice from the loudspeakers announced that a massive flood was rapidly approaching the village. Residents rushed to gather their belongings, move their livestock to higher ground and save their own lives. They weren’t able to save everything before the village and road became submerged by water.


Two Self-Help Group (SHG) members, Bubpha Phupewnak and Nares Mulkate, each received one sow and two piglets from the Heifer project. Luckily, with help from fellow villagers, they were able to save their livestock from the massive floods. Since their families live close to each other, they put their pigs in one small pen that was away from high water.

In addition to being a challenging situation for humans, the flooding was no picnic for the animals. Sharing one small pen was uncomfortable, causing the animals to fight with each other, and Bubpha’s sow died. Losing her belongings and beloved animal made Bupha very sad, but neighbors and Heifer Thailand staff comforted her and plan to help her find a new sow.


Before the flood, other SHG members and villagers lost their chickens from a pandemic disease. Unaffected families willingly gave chickens from their healthy flocks to their neighbors who lost poultry.

The Pha Nok Kao people have to cope with natural disasters, but their compassion for each other is visibly increasing. Also, the disasters have provided lessons to be better prepared for the future and minimize their losses.

In Praise of Rural Women

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Today is International Day of Rural Women. In honor of the rural women with whom Heifer works, Elizabeth Bintliff, regional director of Heifer’s West Africa Program, wrote the following post.


Say the word “rural” and it conjures up all kindsof images, some positive and some negative; vast expenses of land, no modernfacilities, illiterate or ignorant people, poor, agrarian, scarce and more.When you put the word in the context of a developing country, and add thegender dimension, one begins to understand the enormous challenges that ruralwomen face.

It is for all these reasons and more that the UNGeneral Assembly established the International Day of Rural Women in 2008 to becelebrated on the eve of World Food Day. This day commemorates what the UN characterizes as “the critical roleand contribution of rural women, including indigenous women, in enhancingagricultural and rural development, improving food security and eradicatingrural poverty.”


For all the challenges they face, rural women stillhave to feed and sustain their children and families against innumerable odds. Theirdays often begin earlier than the sun rises and end long after the sun sets. Inbetween, they are fetching water – often across great distances, usuallybalancing heavy vessels on their heads, gathering firewood for fuel, workinghunched-over on farms to grow food using rudimentary implements, sometimes withbabies tied precariously on their backs. Life for rural women can be especiallydifficult, and the rewards of their labor are usually small.

The good news is that creating a better livelihoodfor rural women often requires little investment. The key ingredient is simply opportunity.

TakeDiana Asua, a 37-year-old wife and mother of three children, for example. Shelives in a rural community of Santa in Cameroon and is her husband’s secondwife. In addition to her own children, she is raising the six children of herco-wife, who is now diseased.


Dianadescribes herself 11 years ago as “a mere housewife who depended on my husbandtotally for everything about my upkeep and that of the family.  I was also engaged in farming, as any villagewoman would do.”


Agift of pigs from Heifer in 2007 turned things around for her. Soon, theavailability of manure meant better farm production, there we pigs to fattenand sell, there was income to pay for school fees and medical bills. There wasa path out of poverty. Inthe time since she first received her animals she’s sold 116 pigs and manykilos of vegetables.

“Ihave collected at least 120 bags or 12,000 kg of manure from my pigsty. If Iwere to buy this manure, it would have cost at least 480,000FCFA ($898.50). I nowproduce corn, beans and Irish potatoes on the same half hectare of farm andhave gotten another half hectare for cabbage, leeks and carrots. I started allof this after having gotten seeds from Heifer. I harvest at least 1000kg ofcorn, 50kg of beans, 150kg of Irish potatoes, 6,000kg of cabbage, 2000kg ofcarrots and 750kg of leaks yearly. All of these were reserved just for menbefore; now look at where I am as a woman.”

Lifeis tough for rural women. It takes a great amount of industrial spirit to eke alife in places where there is so little. Yet, a large percentage of the worlddoes it every day, in the remote recesses of the earth, in places that areoften un-named and uncharted.

Soit is meaningful that on the International Day of Rural Woman we all pausefor a moment to recognize the brave, industrious women who make it happen. It’simportant that we look at them, if only for a day but hopefully for longer andsay to them: “We see you, you are making a meaningful contribution to the world, and we acknowledge you.“

Heifer Makes Commitment at CGI Annual Meeting

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New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof (left) greets Heifer International President and CEO Pierre Ferrari at the announcement of Heifer’s $18.7 million Haiti commitment during the Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting in New York.


We got some pretty exciting news today at Heifer. Our commitment to help rebuild rural communities and to improve economic opportunities in Haiti was chosen to be part of the 2011 Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Annual Meeting. CEO Pierre Ferrari announced Heifer International’s commitment from the stage today.

The commitment will help 20,250 families increase their incomes by combining livestock and crop inputs for integrated farming, improved husbandry techniques, business training and community-building. The project —REACH, or Rural Entrepreneurs for Agricultural Cooperation in Haiti — will develop 150 breeding centers and provide training for 120 community health workers who, in turn, will train an average of 200 farmers each.

Under Heifer International’s five-year, $18.7-million commitment, Heifer Haiti will work with farming families, aid organizations, producers’ groups, municipalities, ministries and others to rehabilitate and strengthen the crop- and livestock-based livelihoods for farming families in Haiti’s Northwest, Northeast, Nippes, Grand Anse, Central Plateau and Southeast departments.

The project will include goats, cattle, poultry and pigs. Participants will use integrated farming to improve production and strengthen linkages with buyers and others, such as input suppliers, processors and transporters. Heifer will select the most successful farmers from its training program and provide them with additional support to start up 150 family-run centers to provide breeding services and an increased supply of quality animals in strategic regions.

A key element of the project will be to encourage farmers to view their livestock production as a business, which can become a sustainable source of income.

The breeding centers are expected to create 300 full-time jobs, and Heifer estimates incomes of project farmers and breeding center owners will increase between 100 percent and 220 percent over the current $50 per month average.

This commitment meets all three topic areas for this year’s CGI program — jobs, sustainable consumption and empowering girls and women—all of which are key components of our model.

We hope the enterprise will serve as a model for the state to consider for replication, key to igniting the kind of transformation Haiti needs to become self-sustaining. Three hundred full-time jobs will be created and more than 83,000 will benefit indirectly.

REACH will revitalize rural areas by providing economic opportunities so farmers won’t have to migrate to urban centers. The plan will particularly target youth, who are increasingly leaving rural areas for work, leading to an “aging” countryside.
  
Livestock constitutes 30 percent of Haiti’s agricultural production and 26 percent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Heifer’s commitment will train farmers to better manage their livestock and to integrate them into a true farming system that provides protein, draft power and fertilizer to improve diet and nutrition and agricultural productivity.


In the video below, Heifer Haiti country director Hervil Cherubin shares more about this exciting new initiative.



In Thailand, a Heifer Family Goes from Day Labor to Self-Sufficiency

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Story and photo by: Thailand Lahu Baptist Convention,
Heifer Thailand Project Partner

Mrs. Matha Chaichawanakorn, 39, lives in Pa Yang Lahu ethnic village in Mae Fah Luang district, Chiang Rai province, Thailand. She lives with her husband, Mr. David Chaichawanakorn, and two children. One of their sons died as a teenager.

In the past, the family farmed and raised livestock, but their animals were unhealthy and the yield low. They also worked as day laborers for a small wage of 20–30 Baht, or $.70-$1, per day, which was barely enough to meet their needs.

In 1987, when a private organization promoted coffee plantations in the area, they adapted their farm to grow coffee. Although selling coffee beans generated a decent income, the family spent most of their earnings on food and other necessities.

In 2009, Heifer Thailand and Thailand Lahu Baptist Convention collaborated to implement the Improving Quality of Life and Integrated Holistic Development Project in Pa Yang village. Matha decided to join.

As project participants, Matha and other Self-Help Group (SHG) members received a series of trainings on topics such as Values-Based Holistic Community Development (VBHCD), Heifer’s 12 Cornerstones for Just and Sustainable Development, animal management, pig feed formulation, and gender training. She received three piglets and applied her new livestock management knowledge so well that she generated a significant income from her three pigs.

In addition to improving her family’s living conditions, becoming a project participant also boosted Matha’s self-confidence. She was once shy and unable to speak in front of a group, but now she is comfortable speaking in public.

Along with livestock activities and capacity building, the SHG formed a savings group and elected Matha bookkeeper.

Her family grows a kitchen garden, which reduces the family’s food expenses. They no longer rely on the mobile grocery shop. With a smile and determination, she shared, “I feel good about myself, that I’ve become more confident and can share my knowledge with others. I also share pig raising knowledge with my husband so he can help me look after the animals. Moreover, I feel happier because my family has a secure fund for the future.”

Want to help more families in Thailand like the Chaichawanakorns move out of poverty and into self-reliance? Contribute to our Empowering Marginalized Communities Project and help fund our work with ethnic minority groups in the mountains of northern and western Thailand.

Heifer China: Scenes from CEO Visit

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Video by Geoff Oliver Bugbee

A whirlwind two-day trip through Heifer projects near Chengdu, China, took CEO Pierre Ferrari and other staff members to visit successful rabbit and pig projects in Dayi and Beichuan County, China, one of the most damaged areas from a 7.9 magnitude earthquake that killed about 70,000 people in May 2008, and displaced or otherwise affected 15 million people in the area.

Three years after the quake, participants at the Beichuan project site continue to raise Heifer pigs for nutrition and income and live in new homes rebuilt with government help. They say that Heifer’s values-based model has helped them maintain the solidarity that came after the quake when everyone shared what little they had and worked together to get through the disaster.

“Other NGOs come after a disaster and soon leave. There’s a deeper commitment here,” said Li Yong, a regional government representative and Heifer partner. “The Heifer project provides very important income for these families. It’s whole community development.”

A smattering of welcome fireworks, well-practiced dancing by a women’s group and the sharing of food and drink throughout the afternoon illustrated the uniting effect of the project. Heifer China staff members led the community in an animated discussion about the interrelatedness of Heifer’s 12 Cornerstones in a self-review and planning meeting.

“When I saw you working with the Cornerstones, I was thinking we should be doing the same back at headquarters,” Ferrari said in a speech to the participants. “It reminds me that when a project is over, it’s still important for us to stay in touch with the Cornerstones, to keep each other accountable.

“You had a terrible tragedy three years ago. It’s you who have rebuilt your community with commitment, sharing and caring, spirituality. You have made your community what it is today.”

In the video above, look closely at the faces of those who have a stronger, more connected community because of Heifer International projects. You may even recognize a couple of them, including Ren Xuping, dubbed the “Rabbit King of China” in a 1999 Wall Street Journal article, and his wife, Zhang Xuping.

Ren Xuping put the value of Heifer’s work in China well.

“I value most in life my many farmer friends. By Passing on the Gift I’m happy and we are happy together. If I only think for my own wealth then I am a lean tree standing all by myself; I cannot resist a strong wind. That is not good for social harmony for others to have to strain to look up at a lone, tall tree. Heifer helps us develop not just ourselves but also our community. It brings us all up together, a group of trees supporting each other.”

Bolivia: A Farmer with a Plan

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Story and photos by Carolee Riley,
Internal Communications Manager and Bolivia Study Tour Participant


“Everyone needs a plan,” said Savelio Lopez, a Heifer International project beneficiary who lives with his wife and young daughter in Potreros, a remote and isolated village located three hours from Tarija, Bolivia. “Every producer should have a plan. It is a good guide. But you need a community plan too. You must have both to be successful.”

Savelio Lopez does, and is.

Trained as a leader in sustainable agricultural production, Savelio attends sustainable agricultural trainings provided by a rotating fund from Heifer International and teaches these skills to others in his community. The funding from Heifer supports the “Improving Production, Processing and Marketing of Small Farmers’ Agroecological Products in the Department of Tarija” project, enabling Savelio and others in his community to attend trainings and purchase tools and materials for agricultural activities such as irrigation systems, vermiculture bins for composting and sheet metal for animal pens.


As a participant in Heifer International’s first study tour to Bolivia this past November, I learned that none of the land in this area is individually owned; it is owned by the community. Savelio and his family live on ¾ hectare of land that they requested and received from the community. They pay a monthly fee for access to drinking water, which gives them the right to 7,000 liters of water a month. They use 4,000 liters a month for themselves and the remaining water is used on their crops—peach trees, cabbage, squash, native potatoes, onions, oregano, chamomile, beans, kale and several varieties of flowers—and for their animals—pigs and hens. But it is not enough. At the time of our visit, the community was suffering from a drought. Every farmer we met in this area expressed a drastic need for rain. Crops that should have been over our heads and bright green in color were only a few feet high and were beginning to turn yellow around the edges. Despite these harsh conditions, Savelio’s spirit remains positive.

He and his family are able to eat the majority of the food they grow and sell the remaining fruits and vegetables at the market. Savelio’s family produces organic fruits and vegetables. He fertilizes his crops with pig urine along with a mixture of lime and sulfur. While he could raise the price of his organic produce at the market, he chooses not to do so. “If I raise the price of my organic vegetables, only those people with lots of money could afford them. Those poor families like mine could not afford to buy them. We’re not in this to make money,” said Savelio, “we’re in this to share with our community.”


Producing native seeds is a common practice here and crucial for the survival of the community, as this prevents community members from depending on external seed providers. For this reason, the community holds a seed fair on a regular basis for exchanging native seeds with other community members and for recovering native seeds that have been lost. Some of the native seeds include corn, peas and several varieties of beans and squash. It is a well-respected rule that native seeds shared at the seed fair must stay within the community. Savelio has grown potato plants from native potato seeds and is now able to produce his own native potato seeds.

There are four main pillars of sustainable production that Savelio says every community must have to be successful:
1) Production – Growing what people need to eat
2) Social aspect – Teaching what one knows to others in the community
3) Cultural aspect – Conserving natural seeds and food culture
4) Financial aspect – Earning money for family necessities such as clothing, and for Savelio, a backpack for his daughter to carry when she attends school.


It was clear to our study tour group that Savelio’s community has all four pillars in place.

Toward the end of our visit on his farm, Savelio asked, “Would you like to see my five-year plan?” Seeing our eyebrows raise and heads nod, he quickly retrieved it from inside his house. When he returned, he unrolled the bright yellow paper and proudly showed us a detailed drawing of the five-year plan he created for his farm, which identifies where his farm is now and where he hopes it will be in 2015.


Some of his five-year goals include having more peach trees, expanding his green houses, building fencing for cattle, building a storage room, obtaining beehives for honey production, planting additional flowers and citrus trees (orange and lemon), planting live fencing to avoid soil erosion and planting trees that produce large leaves that he can use for ground cover to prevent frost damage in the winter months.

Savelio Lopez exceeded my expectations that day. There is no doubt in my mind that if I were to return to this wonderful place five years from now, Savelio Lopez will have exceeded his own expectations, as well as those of his community members.

A Promising Future in Thailand

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Yuri Lahuna and her husband Asu are living a vastly improved life since Heifer's projects have made their way into Thailand

















Photo by Russell Powell

KLON MAI, Thailand — Storm clouds approached from the northeast, piling up behind the mountains. The wood smoke from thatch-roofed kitchens blew horizontally, and banana trees flapped in the wind. Mothers stepped outside and called their children home from the rice fields below.

Klon Mai is perched in the remote mountains of far northern Thailand, less than a mile from the border with Burma, in the infamous Golden Triangle known more for its illicit drug trade than stability and self-reliance. Most of the 20 families in the village are members of the Luha ethnic group, who migrated from Burma before settling here two decades ago. When the first families arrived, there was no road, no water supply and no way to make a living. They survived largely on the corn and rice they grew.

Now, the main source of income for families in Klon Mai is tea. The Thai government planted a new variety of tea on the surrounding mountainsides and pays villagers to act as caretakers to the crop. Each family looks after about two acres and receives in return 15,000 bhat—about $500—a year.

A Heifer International project in Klon Mai is helping villagers supplement this meager income with gifts of livestock, seeds and training.

The Lahuna Family
As the sky darkened, Yuri Lahuna climbed the mud-slick trail back to Klon Mai from her family’s plot of tea, where she spent the morning clearing weeds.

Inside the corrugated metal door, her house was dark except for a bare fluorescent bulb and the light that filtered through the woven bamboo walls. Her 5-year-old son lay curled up on the sleeping platform in the corner.

Yuri and her husband, Asu, set up a small folding table and chairs on the pocked dirt floor. Over glasses of hot tea, they talked about their lives and involvement with the Heifer project in Klon Mai.

In 1993, Asu’s mother died while visiting family in Thailand. Asu crossed from Burma for the funeral, met Yuri and settled here.

As the sky outside began to spit rain, he described their situation in those early years. The village was garbage-strewn. The few pigs villagers had were allowed to roam freely, rooting up gardens and sparking arguments between families.

There was little work and little food. “For my labor, I could only earn 25 bhat a day,” said Asu. That’s less than a dollar. To make it through the dry season, the family was forced to forage for food in the jungle. “Sometimes, it wasn’t enough.”

Heifer Brings a Better Future
In April 2009, the Lahunas received five pigs and a water buffalo from Heifer International. Since then, their pigs have given them 12 offspring, and their water buffalo gave birth soon after they received it. They also received seeds for a vegetable garden and the supplies to build their own fishpond.

Now, say the Lahunas, they have enough food. “We can eat fish from our pond,” said Asu, or sell piglets for income. Last year, they even had a surplus of vegetables from their garden and were able to sell some to nearby villages.

“Since we became project members, I can see that our health has improved,” said Asu. “I think it’s not only because of more food, but, because we are more secure, our mental health is better also.”

Life is by no means easy for the Lahunas now. Yuri still has to rise at 5:30 every morning, cook breakfast and feed the animals before heading to the fields. But their life is improving.

Outside, the clouds passed and the relentless tropical sun returned. As the tea glasses were cleared and everyone prepared to return to work, Asu admitted that before joining the Heifer project, he didn’t think much beyond the immediate situation. “But I believe if we keep raising animals, growing tea and saving, we will have a better future.”

If they needed a sign of a promising future, the Lahunas have one: Their water buffalo will give birth again in December.