Tag Archives: Sheep

From the Field: Optimistic Farmers

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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.

Rogelio “Rolly” Abes Jr., a 40-year-old Filipino farmer, was doubtful Heifer International would make a difference. But his perspective changed after joining a self-help group (SHG).

“The Cornerstones brought me to light,” he said. “I went home renewed and excited to start a new life on the right path.”

Rolly began caring for his community. His family taught others how to overcome hunger and poverty through Heifer’s Passing on the Gift® (POG) model. And he started a vermicomposting business – using earthworms to make compost.

He is committed to working with others. He dreams his SHG will become the Regional Center of Organic Producers. Rolly said Heifer returned their dignity so they could rise above poverty.

Rolly works with organic fertilizer on his farm. Photo by Leslie Pascua Jr., CORD Coordinator. Photo Courtesy of Heifer Philippines

Rolly works with organic fertilizer on his farm. Photo by Leslie Pascua Jr., CORD Coordinator. Photo courtesy of Heifer Philippines

Farmers in Armenia also believe Heifer is making a difference. Haykush and her family maintain a small garden and sell hay. They dreamed of raising livestock… but were never able.

Now they own a cow and its calf. Haykush makes cheese, butter and sour cream from its milk – a great tasting benefit. The family is confident in their new future.

Armen Zakharyan is just starting his new beginning. His family lives in a remote mountain village with about 420 people. Many of these families work together in a farmers cooperation.

The co-op reduces farmer’s expenses and provides practical training. Armen said, “Cooperative members’ belief and devotion is the most important thing in this initiative.”

Take action. Inspire farmers.

From the Field: Investing in Youth

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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.

The children of Heifer Vietnam project participants enjoyed a day of fun and learning on International Children’s Day. Youth under 15 years old received milk and cookies, notebooks and certificates of appreciation if they earned good academic records during the school year. The celebration helped inspire parents to continue working hard as they watched their kids laughing and singing together. Huyen Tran, 5, said her new notebook will help her study hard so she can make her parents happy and proud.

International Children's Day

Children of Heifer Vietnam beneficiaries celebrated International Children’s Day with games, cookies and soccer. Photo courtesy of Heifer Vietnam staff.

Last year, 12-year-old Aramayis Avalyan began investing in a sheep farm with a YES! Youth Club grant from Heifer Armenia. His mom prepares cheese from the ewe’s (a mature female sheep) milk and sells it to generate income. Aramayis said he couldn’t describe how happy he was when his ewe gave birth to its first lamb. “Every morning when the sheep goes to the pasture I take the lamb to the nearest field to graze,” he said. ”I release it there and it starts to frolic with joy and play with me.” Aramayis has already Passed on the Gift® to another club member.

Over the last four years, Purdue University’s Department of Animal Sciences developed a week-long training in partnership with Heifer Romania. Students lived and worked with farm families as they performed daily duties like milking cows, collecting fodder and treating animals. Heifer Romania incorporated its work and asked the youth to develop an action plan to help farmers capitalize on dairy products. This relationship has also contributed to building and renovating animal housing and livestock welfare environments in Romania.

Invest in the youth of the world.

From the Field: Passing on Perseverance

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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. Families who receive livestock from Heifer International also gain education and learn new skills, which teach them how to thrive after our support ends. When they Pass on the Gift®, they enable others to regain the dignity of providing for their family and the hope of developing stronger communities.

Neang Chhoeun, a 53-year-old farmer and self-help group (SHG) leader, lost his right leg in Cambodia’s civil war. Despite his disability, Chhoeun was determined to impact his neighbors by restoring a road in their community. “I find that Heifer’s 12 Cornerstones [for Just and Sustainable Development] work very well for my life,” Chhoeun said. “I apply them personally and I have improved incomes for my family and I have passed on the gifts to my neighbors to help them alleviate their poverty.” Heifer Cambodia helps amputees like Chhoeun with the challenges of living with physical disabilities.

Neang Chhoeun brought his community together to restore a dirt road, which will make travelling to their homes and market much easier. Photo by Nou Samnang, North-West Region Program Officer, Heifer Cambodia

Neang Chhoeun brought his community together to restore a dirt road, which will make traveling to their homes and market much easier. Photo by Nou Samnang, North-West Region Program Officer, Heifer Cambodia

Bilkis Begum’s family did not believe she could contribute anything of value, but through perseverance, she raised the family’s standard of living and changed their minds. With support from her women’s SHG in Teyarirchar village, Bangladesh, she received a young bull, education and gender equity training. These experiences helped Begum expand her family’s assets, improve their income and contribute to her community. She also successfully proposed that a preschool for poor families be established in her village.

Since 2010, the gift of sheep has given hope to 45 families in Lernantski village, Armenia. One resident said unexpected weather conditions make horticulture less and less reliable, but Heifer’s assistance is improving the lives of these diligent families. Grandpa Hovehannes of the Ohanyan family said, “Heifer’s assistance to us and to our community is indeed invaluable. The whole village is the witness of it.” The community continues to persevere despite harsh conditions and pass on gifts to other families in need.

Learn how you can help families persevere

Help End Hunger and Poverty With Your Homemade Sheep Money Box

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Every week we feature a fun and/or educational activity you can try at home or in the classroom. In the latest edition of World Ark magazine, there is a story about a project in Senegal, where Heifer will distribute in total 12,000 sheep and goats and 12,500 poultry to 5,500 families, estimated to be the largest such animal distribution in Heifer’s history. Today’s activity will teach you how to make your very own sheep money box, perhaps to save money to donate and bring real sheep to a family in need.

Photo credit: Priddy Books Blog

Materials You’ll Need:

  • 1 large plastic bottle
  • masking tape
  • ruler
  • 2 cardboard tubes
  • PVA glue
  • 1 sheet of black tissue paper, torn into small pieces
  • Black card
  • 2 stick-on eyes
  • 1 large bag of cotton balls

Draw a rectangle onto a piece of masking tape. Stick it on the center of the plastic bottle, then cut out the rectangle (with help from an adult). Remove the tape. Flatten the two cardboard tubes, for the legs. Draw a diagonal line across each tube, then cut along the lines. Open up the four tube pieces. Put glue along the flat rims, then rest the bottle on the top and leave to dry for a half hour. Put glue on the the legs and layer tissue paper pieces on top. Once these are dry, cover the front half of the bottle in the same way. Draw two ear shapes onto the black card. Cut them out and make a small slit in each. Fold over the slit and glue the ears onto the sheep. Glue on the stick-on eyes and add cottonballs around the sheep, starting at the ears. When the glue is dry, your sheep bank is done.

For more details on this activity and others, go to Priddy Books blog.

To read about the sheep distribution and project in Senegal, check out The Day the Sheep Came in World Ark online.

Fleece Navidad

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Editor’s Note: The following post is by Heifer Ranch volunteer Danielle Alleman. Stay tuned for our upcoming Heifer Blog series in 2013, Volunteer Voices.

Heifer Ranch Sheep

Heifer Ranch Sheep. Photo courtesy of Heifer International.

What are all those lime green lines on our sheep’s heads you ask? It means they are pregnant! Each and every one of our sheep had an ultrasound recently, and the news is in. We have 89 sheep pregnant at the moment, which means in the spring, BABIES. Lots of them.

This past October our livestock crew worked hard synchronizing, sorting, and supervising each of our 90 female sheep, or “ewes,” to get ready for the breeding season. Not only did we want all of our sheep pregnant, but we also wanted to make sure that they were going to lamb one specific weekend in March.

Why you ask?
Women’s Lambing Program!

Heifer Ranch Sheep

Photo courtesy of Heifer International.

Women’s Lambing is a program that happens each year here on the ranch and it is exactly what it sounds like – women from all over the country come to experience lambing and the miracle of birth, all while learning about sheep, farming, and Heifer’s mission.

Although the program does not run until March of next year, the livestock team has been planning for this week for months. Three weeks of hard work went into this process, so that after the sheep’s five-month gestation period, we can have lambs for everyone to see! This is just one of the things that the livestock volunteers are responsible for, and one of the ways that Heifer is able to raise money and provide a worthwhile experience to the participants of this program.

Interested in learning more? More information on the Women’s Lambing Program can be found here.

Heifer Ranch Sheep

Photo courtesy of Heifer International.

Give the gift of sheep!

Christmas Wish List: The Secret Life of Sheep

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On Heifer International’s Christmas Wish List, we want you to look at Christmas gift-giving from a different point of view. From a sheep’s-eye-view, actually.

Christmas gift sheep

These guys are marvelous – they provide wool and manure for rural families, and even meat and milk in some cases. And the sheep will tell you all about it in this Heifer Christmas video shot in Ecuador.

Christmas list sheep

The sheep — they actually look like goats to me, but I’m assured that they are recently-shorn sheep — required a translator for the “baaaa”s, but Heifer took care of that for you. See what the sheep have to say, and then consider purchasing a sheep as part of your Christmas shopping.

Around the Web: Gifts, an Inspired Book, and Some Cool Cows

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Every Sunday we highlight some of the people who are funding our work creatively or helping us spread the word of our mission online. If you spot Heifer International while you’re surfing the web or know of a fun or creative fundraising effort, please share it with us here in the comments.

Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Nicholas Kristof says you can look to Heifer International for an unusual holiday gift in his recent post on the New York Times, Gifts That Change Lives.

For more unique gift ideas for the person who has everything, check out this blog post on Nanny Babysitter, 10 Alternative Gifts for the Person Who Has Everything.

Photo credit: Hartford Courant

Teresa Pelham bought a sheep (through Heifer International, of course) instead of “Large Plastic Items We Do Not Need,” and writes about it in the very entertaining Mommy Minute.

DJ Maht Wuyts will be playing music for 26.2 hours straight December 8 & 9 in this unique Mahrathon fundraiser for Heifer International. Rock on, Maht!

Moment magazine highlights our new Heifer at Hanukkah campaign with a post that starts simply: If you are still looking for an interesting Hanukkah gift this year, consider a goat.

Catholic San Francisco lists Heifer among the options in their story, A goat for Christmas? Options for non-consumerist gifts.

Photo credit: Iowa City Press-Citizen

Artist Marcia Wegman recently finished a book that includes paintings and stories inspired by a trip to Latvia to see Heifer International projects. “I hope (the book) raises an awareness about what Heifer does and what a difference they make in the lives of people in these countries,” she said. “And also shows people what a wonderful, beautiful part of the world it is.”

The Face of Malawi tells the story of Yohane Machira, a farmer who has a life full of optimism since he started raising goats he received from Heifer, despite his being HIV positive.

Photo credit: Abby Fortney, courtesy of vitamintalent.com

Vitamin T bought a few cows to help families send their kids to school, buy medicine and clothes, and improve their land. Read their entertaining post here.

Here’s some advice from Janet Bodnar on teaching kids to budget this season: Money Power: Kids can get financial education from holidays.

Heifer was also listed first in Forbes’ The A-List: What’s Hot for December 2012!

 

Hop On Over and Give for Easter

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Heifer Hoppy Easter Basket

Our ‘Hoppy’ Easter Basket is filled with shares of a sheep, heifer, goat, rabbits, and a flock of ducks and chicks. These animals give families milk, eggs and meat for nutrition and a source of income. And with additional income there is money for school supplies, medicine and doctor expenses, and improved quality of living. The ‘Hoppy’ Easter Basket offers the hope a family needs for a sustainable future. And this hope continues as each family passes on gifts of animals and training to another. A gift basket from Heifer this Easter lasts much longer and helps more families than the usual Easter basket filled with marshmallow chicks or chocolate bunnies ever could.

Check out the rest of what Heifer has to offer this Easter!

Heifer Easter Basket

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.”