Tag Archives: Staff Traveling

Heifer Ukraine on the Moooove

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The Heifer Ukraine team (all 16 of them) are hard working people. And they don’t mind working under less-than ideal circumstances. Like their offices.

Pierre Ferrari, Pietro Turilli, Clinton School of Public Service student (and Heifer translator) Anatoly Shatkovskyy and myself were all warmly welcomed into Heifer Ukraine’s offices last Tuesday; we experienced a high degree of togetherness as we joined Golden Talent nominee Iryna Paviluk and the Heifer staff in a space better suited for about three or four bodies. Fortunately, everyone who works at Heifer is someone you don’t mind being very, very close to (see photos). We watched presentations from Heifer project managers in a small office dominated by a table overflowing with the products of the projects—honey, cheeses, sour cream, milk, hand-knit sheep’s wool socks, butter, literature.

Big presentations in a small room (old office).
Tour of the new Heifer Ukraine office building.

Immediately after the presentations (and sampling the delicious products, of course), we drove a few minutes to Heifer’s new offices. Situated on the second floor of a modern 23 story building in Kiev, Heifer Ukraine’s new offices will be ready early in 2012. The staff is ready NOW. They’ve begun the arduous task of packing everything that goes into creating, administering and documenting Heifer projects… you can see a few binders on the brand spanking new shelves already.

Join Heifer HQ in wishing the Ukraine team continued success in their new, bigger and efficient offices.

(Left to right) Svitlana Fedchyshena, Pietro Turilli, Viktor Teres, Pierre Ferrari, Natalia Zaharkiv
Pietro Turilli, Pierre Ferrari, Viktor Teres, Tetiana Nychyporenko, Iryna Paviluk, Natalia Zaharkiv, Anna Pidgorna and Svitlana Fedchysena toast the new office.
A Ukrainian tradition: tossing coins on the floor of a new dwelling for good luck.

"The Father of The Co-op Movement in Dnipropetrovsk"

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Pietro Turilli, Heifer’s Vice President for Heifer’s Central/Eastern Europe area, told me, “you’ve got to talk to this guy. He’s our biggest supporter. He made all this possible.” I’m intrigued. So in a brand new, high-tech barn with roll-up plastic walls and heated, automatic drip waterers, I spent a few minutes with the diminutive man Alexei Sakarchuk, a cancer survivor and persistent fighter. Ukraine Program Director Anna Pidgorna translated for me.

“I am the founding father of the co-op movement In Dnipropetrovsk Oblast,” he told me humbly (if “humble” can be applied to a statement like that).

BF: How did you get started with co-ops?
AS: I started this in 2000. I addressed Ukraine’s government with this problem but no one listened. I went to parliament, other branches… They dismissed me.
After the Internet, I learned about a Canadian project being implemented
in Lviv. I went there and met Viktor Teres [Heifer's Ukraine country director]. Together, we prepared a project proposal for Heifer and it was accepted. Since 2006, we are partners. So in 2006, the first co-op was started in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Andriivka village.
BF: Were you always a supporter of co-ops?
AS: Before that, we were on the Soviet collective farm system. “Co-operatives” existed, but they were not real
co-operatives. They were bad. These were state entities. They did not hold to co-operative principles. There was no transparency, no honesty, no opportunity to elect members, no “someone helps you-you help someone back.” It just did not exist. NOW it exists.
Right now, there are three in Dniproperovsk and there will be a fourth by the end of the year. We did not establish them by force. We tried to convince them [members] by showing them good examples such as this one. This is a very good example. The farm that you saw in Olexsandrivka [under construction-- the ground breaking in another post] will be super.
BF: Are they all dairy co-ops?
AS: Most are dairy, but there is also one vegetable co-op. they produce vegetables without any pesticides or chemicals.
BF: Certified organic?
AS: Not yet. It’s only two years old. We did sample analysis for water and soil quality. We brought in California red worms to process manure. We also used biological agents– we don’t use pesticides or herbicides; we use environmentally friendly control mechanisms.
BF: Have you always been a farmer?
AS: I was never a farmer!
BF: Then why did you decide to get involved in this?
AS: Because I have a brain and a heart. And a will for people to live better. I don’t want anything for my pockets. A lot of our leaders think only of gaining more income. That’s unfortunate.
BF: You have a good brain and heart.

Co-op pioneer Alexeii Sakarchuk explains the layout of the
Heifer demonstration farm at Olexsandrivka village
with Heifer Program Director Anna Pidgorna.
Alexxi Sakarchuk oversees the Cossacks preparing material
for the time capsule at Olexsandrivka demonstration farm.

Heifer and Others Invest in Haiti

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This post was written by Heifer Vice President of Philanthropy Cathy Sanders.

 

I recently spent five days in Haiti at an Invest in Haiti Conference organized by the Clinton Foundation and the InterAmerican Development Bank. More than 900 people from 35 countries attended along with Heifer Haiti Country Director Hervil Cherubin and myself. Hervil is a Haitian who returned to his country after the 2010 earthquake to be a part of the solution.

Private businesses hoping to move Haiti forward while also making a profit were there en masse. The opportunity for business in Haiti is very strong. It was an interesting few days where we made contacts for future partnerships with the Haiti government, private sector and other non-governmental organizations. We talked and talked about Heifer’s commitment to Haiti, announced at the Clinton Global Initiative in October ($15 million over five years). Heifer has been in Haiti since 1999 and continues to operate ongoing projects.

We were fortunate to meet with the Minister of Agriculture to engage him in our plan. He liked the concept of the breeding centers for goats and cows that we are planning to build in the north and in the south. I was also fortunate to see a project that ended last year and saw how the addition of cows and an irrigation canal system really improved this community’s life and livelihoods. They are now selling milk in the town, all their children are going to school, and the irrigation system allows them to appropriately water their crops of okra, plantains and beans. This infrastructure enables the community to grow enough to sell extra produce for money. I asked them if they believed the Heifer project helped them have a sustainable life, and the answer was a resounding Yes! I then asked them what elsed they needed. The answer: More cows!

The community we visited was beautiful with a view of the mountains many would pay millions to have. People all have cell phones, but there’s no electricity in the village. I don’t think they care about electricity because when I asked if they had it, the project director shrugged his shoulders and said no. The kids were eating sugar cane out of the field, and the men cracked open a coconut and let us drink the water straight from it. Then we ate the meat of the coconut–delicious! They were obviously a happy group of people.

My observations about Haiti are that it is a beautiful country that has been ravaged by natural disaster, with a stunning population. This is not a war zone, but rather a society that was already in trouble, then the earthquake and hurricane took out a lot of the infrastructure. But, they are a functioning society (okay, not like we think of in the U.S.). This is a country ready for business! They are a hard-working and industrious people. There are many in poverty. Many are living in tent cities in Port au Prince, and many others live in cinderblock houses. The living conditions are atrocious, and it extends into the country as well. Heifer hopes that by providing a livestock supply chain with a good income potential, more young adults will be enticed to go back to the country to live, thus making their lives and that of their families better and relieving pressure on the already strained city (which has a population of two million).

There are many Haitian-Americans living in New York, Boston, Miami and across the United States. I ask and challenge all Americans to help Heifer make an impact in Haiti. Hervil told me as he dropped me off at the airport, that now I know what we are fighting for. Having seen it for myself, I can tell you that these are deserving, hard-working, spirited people who need assistance getting started. Heifer will be here to help. We need you to help, too! Please go to our website, www.heifer.org to see how you can help, or email me at philanthropy@heifer.org.

A Taste of Ghana

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Fresh coconut water…
…from a really fresh coconut.

One of the most fun parts of traveling for Heifer is trying all the new cuisines. I’ve tried some pretty weird stuff in my travels—goat brains just to name one—but for the most part I’ve loved getting to taste the foods of the world.

Yams with stewed yam leaves in spices (in the pots) laid
out for lunch. 
red red

Ghanaian food hasn’t disappointed, either. As you would expect, rice is a staple and available almost anywhere. Jollof rice is good if you like to spice things up a bit. A couple of my favorites have also been red red, a bean stew made with red pepper and red palm oil, and kele wele (pronounced “killy willy.”), which are fried plantains on the not-too-sweet side.

Grasscutter soup.

But I also really wanted to try grasscutter. It’s a local delicacy and, not to sound cliché, but, When in Rome, right?

As I took my first bite Roland waited for my reaction. “Any meat to compare it to?” he asked.  “Not really” was my answer. It truly has a flavor of it’s own. No “it tastes like chicken” from me. Also, if someone tells you it tastes like chicken? They’re lying.
It wasn’t bad, though. Kind of like goat, and my apologies to the goat lovers out there, but goat just is not my favorite. It was served in a tomato soup, which actually enhanced the flavor.
So, will I be asking for it again? Probably not, but I had to try.

Ukrainian Media Like Heifer

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Yes, Pierre Ferrari is “good copy,” but I think there’s another reason that he’s been interviewed four-five times on his current trip to Ukraine. To paraphrase James Carville, “it’s the work, stupid.”

In fact, while Pierre was interviewed for a Ukrainian newspaper at one table in our hotel, county director Victor Teres was being interviewed at another table for a Ukrainian television network. I interviewed the interviewers afterwards to find out why.

Lena Shramko of “Kontrakty” magazine covers agricultural issues in Ukraine. She’s very selective about the people she interviews. When the head of the oblast (similar to a state) council suggested she talk to Heifer International, she followed through. Her impression: the work is very positive, especially in light of the difficulty Ukrainian farmers face in securing credit. The topic is very top-of-mind here, and was the subject of government-sponsored round table discussions this summer. “There’s not a lot of analytics on the subject and I was eager to meet someone new and hear what they have to say.” Lena left the interview interested and impressed; she will publish the interview and provide footnotes and background information on the organization in an upcoming interview.

Tetjana Motsyk covers European issues for UTR (Ukrainian TeleRadio Broadcasting). UTR broadcasts worldwide to the Ukrainian diaspora. Like Lena, she was also unfamiliar with Heifer, and came to cover the organization on assignment. Because her beat exposes her to international partnerships, she wanted to find out what Heifer is all about. With her interest in international development, she said she will tell her audience about Heifer’s mission, work, results and commitment in Ukraine.

OK, I’ll admit I was hoping both journalists would gush and wax eloquent about our work here, but that’s not what journalists do, right, Annie Bergman? But bottom line: there IS a great interest in our work here and that’s gratifying. These journalists are part of the international media; they’re interested, and they’re reporting. That in itself is a victory for Heifer. The more people know, the better. Feel free to share this link with your friends, by the way.

Rodents of Unusual Size Really Do Exist

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And not just in the fairy tale The Princess Bride. (If you haven’t seen it, go watch it now. You’ll understand.)

Photo by James Grooves















Actually grasscutters really aren’t all THAT big, but they are big in relative terms. And they are rodents. And though they wouldn’t attack a human, they do have very sharp teeth they use to munch down on grass, hence the name.


Jonathan Mensah, Heifer participant, feeds
his grasscutters.

In Ghana, they’re highly desired bush meat. Some even consider it a delicacy. That’s why, in 1999 when Heifer Ghana was just getting started, Roland Kanlisi the deputy country director, began looking into whether the grasscutter could be domesticated and used in Heifer projects.


And they could. A German NGO had actually begun doing just that in neighboring Burkina Faso just a few years prior.

Today, the grasscutter projects are some of the most successful in Ghana. And it really is fascinating to hear how Heifer helped pioneered the process, which has resulted in both successful farmers and a renewed environment.

Before Heifer helped domesticate the animals for farming, hunters used to either set poisonous traps for the animals or set bush fires to, quite literally, smoke the creatures out. Eating the poisonous meat would harm the humans, and bush fires often got out of control, burning nearby farmland and leaving the earth scorched.

Now, farmers in Ghana are raising them in tiered cages. Farmers like Jonathan Mensah keep upwards of 30 of the animals at a time and say the demand is very high for the animals. The grasscutter projects have been so successful, there are now 105 grasscutter farmers in just one area outside Accra, and it’s not enough.

It’s also rare to find people hunting them in the wild anymore. The environment is saved and the farmers are making a pretty penny, too. Not a bad deal if you ask me.


Read more about why Heifer is working to help other communities move away from bushmeat.

Heifer and Danone Partner to Strengthen Ukrainian Dairy

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Pierre Ferrari signs a certificate honoring the groundbreaking
of a new demonstration farm as part of a Heifer/Danone project
 near Andriivka village, eastern Ukraine. The document was
later placed in a time capsule. Danone Ecosysteme Fund
General Manager Phillippe Bassin is right of Ferrari.

Post and photographs by Bill Fitzgerald, creative director for Heifer International. 


Heifer President and CEO Pierre Ferrari addressed a regionalpress conference to publicize a new joint Heifer/Danone Ecosysteme project inDnipropetrovsk, Ukraine, on Wednesday 7 December. After the press conference, agroundbreaking was held on the first learning farm associated with the projectin Oleksandrivka, some 100 km from Dnipropetrovsk, the oblast (similar to astate) capital.
Danone Ecosysteme Fund General Manager Phillippe Bassin
addresses the Dnipropetrovsk (Ukraine) Oblast Council meeting
with Heifer President and CEO Pierre Ferrari.
The press conference was held during the DnipropetrovskOblast Council Meeting, presided over by Yevgen Hryhorovych Udod, Head of theOblast Council, and an effective and influential politician within theUkrainian state who happens to support this project.
Representatives of Danone and SOCODEVI and CIDA, twoparticipating development agencies based in Canada, presented to the council,visitors and local media. Several Heifer projects under the collective title,“Cooperative Learning Farm and Services,” represent a milestone for both Heiferand Danone’s Ecosysteme Fund, a bold experiment to invest in local people andeconomies around the world. So far, Danone has invested some 50 million Eurosin 40 projects around the world, but Heifer’s Ukraine efforts are the largest—about10% of their total.
The Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Council meeting, where the
Heifer/Danone press conference was held. The Heifer/Danone
project is a significant investment in the local economy
and is considered a pioneering project in the region.
Phillippe Bassin, General Manager of Danone Ecosysteme Fund,said during the press conference “All of this is not charity. It is businesssense. It’s in our business sense that this work is sustainable.” TheHeifer/Danone partnership is exciting because it connects desperately poorfarmers in Ukraine with markets for the products they create under the Heiferproject. Markets mean sales, and sales means income for these people who werestruggling in the wake of the collapse of collective farms in a former Sovietcountry.

“What’s key is co-creation—involving all thelocal players,” Bassin continued. Danone worked closely with Heifer staff andfarmers on quality levels for milk construction of milk collection centers,training of farmers and farm techniques. The result is dairy products that amultinational commercial enterprise (Danone) and local farmers are all proudof.

Pierre Ferrari receives a traditional Ukrainian bread at the
groundbreaking for the Heifer/Danone project
in Andriivka village, Ukraine.
Documents are placed for posterity into a time capsule
near Andriivka village by local farmers dressed as Cossacks.

Annie’s "Hello" from Ghana

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Annie Bergman, World Ark writer and regular contributor on Heifer Blog, is in Ghana this week. Internet connections are unsurprisingly spotty, so she passed along her first impressions of Ghana to me, with the promise of more (and photos) soon.

I arrived in Ghana on Sunday afternoon eager to get out and get going. This is my first trip to Africa, and with it came all of the nervesand jitters that go along with a first trip anywhere, foreign or not.
It didn’t hurt that I had heard nothing but rave reviews forthis West African country.  I had done myresearch and I felt prepared. But, like with each trip I take with Heifer, there’sonly so much that research can tell you about a country.
Other than the initial shock of the near-90-degree temperaturesin December, what has stood out to me about Ghana is that Ghanaians really areas warm and kind as people will tell you. I’ve been greeted everywhere with“You Are Welcome” and known each person has genuinely meant that statement. Forthis American who hears her elders talk about the demise of person-to-personinteraction and has rolled her eyes at such statements, such a small gesture assaying “good afternoon” makes me think maybe we really ARE missing out onsomething with our addiction to screens.
So far I’ve met with five Heifer farmers—two small dairyfamers, two grass cutter farmers and one goat farmer. I’ll tell you more aboutthese people in later posts because another thing I’ve noticed is thatGhanaians are quite enterprising.
I know I have much more in store for me in the days I haveleft, and I’m looking forward to seeing more of the country and meeting morefarmers as I make my way to Techiman tomorrow. But I already know I’ll betaking one thing back from my time here: greeting others genuinely. And I urgeyou to say “hello” or “good morning” or “good afternoon” even to a perfectstranger.
It may have more of an impact that you might think. 

Heifer Staff in Busan to Talk Aid Effectiveness

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The Fourth Level High Forum on Aid Effectiveness is taking place this week in Busan, Korea. United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and delegates from non-governmental organizations around the globe are among the participants.

HLF-4: Building a new global partnership for effective development from BusanHLF4 on Vimeo.

Heifer International has been represented at the forum by our Senior Director of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, Rienzzie Kern. Kern presented examples of Heifer’s work and outlined key lessons, opportunities and challenges.

Kern said:

Development professionals from around the world have gathered in Busan to consider ways and means to deliver development aid more effectively. The intent is to ensure that every dollar spent is yielding the desired results for the poor of the world. This is particularly important given the continued increase in the number of poor and hungry in our world. The group consists of ministers, heads of large donor agencies, delegates from nonprofit organizations and members of grassroots movements. Heifer was present to share its experiences in scaling up its program in partnership with the private sector. There is much thought now given to the potential that could arise if nonprofits partner with the private sector to more effectively build on synergies to feed the world.

Heifer Project Brings Prosperity and Peace to Malawi

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While preparing to receive dairy cattle, Heifer project participants were made fun of by doubting neighbors. Two years later, these successful farmers foster peace and share knowledge with those who mocked them.