Tag Archives: Staff Traveling

Empowerment in Peru: Reflections from a Study Tour Leader

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In September, we posted a series of guest posts by Ian Hands, a participant on a Study Tour to Peru. Sarah Donaghy, a member of Heifer’s Education team and the leader of the trip, reported back on camera some of the experiences the group had.

Heifer Crew at Top of the World

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Photographer Geoff Oliver Bugbee recorded this view of Mount Everest and the Himalayas on his iPhone on a recent flight from Nepal to China during CEO Pierre Ferrari’s visit of projects in both countries. I took the still shot below.

The flight landed in Lhasa, Tibet China, before continuing on to the delegation’s final destination of Chengdu, China. Heifer has several projects in Tibet, some which offer yaks to help families improve their nutrition and income. For more information, go to www.heifer.org.
Check back here for a look at Heifer project visits in China in the coming days.

The Economist Mentions Heifer Participant

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I had quite the surprise the other day when I sat down to read it: “Hey, I met that man!”

Posing with Heifer Africa staff and Laban Talam (on my left).
If you click over to this section, you’ll see mentioned Kabiyet Dairies and Laban Talam. Kabiyet Dairies is part of our East Africa Dairy Development (EADD) Project, and I met Talam on my visit to Kenya this past December. Talam’s farm and family are indeed as prosperous as The Economist mentions. When I asked Talam if he would be willing to come to the U.S. to provide testimony to the difference Heifer has made for his family and community, he gave me an enthusiastic, “Yes!”

Laban Talam (center in gray shirt) shows us around his farm.

Goat Power: Heifer CEO Tweets Live from the Field

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Heifer CEO Pierre Ferrari in Padampur, Nepal with a family that belongs to the Heifer project cooperative and are beneficiaries of a goat project there. Photo by Geoff Oliver Bugbee.
Our new CEO, Pierre Ferrari, recently visited Heifer projects in Nepal to see the progress that families have made through implementing Heifer’s 12 cornerstones of development.
Throughout his travels, Pierre tweeted  about the ways goats can greatly improve the lives of  Heifer project participants. We thought you might enjoy this list of his tweets:

@HeiferCEO’s 18 Ways Goats Change Lives

Nepal: Goat power: placing this amazing small ruminant in well prepared farming families can produce startling results. Know why?
1-Goat programs set a rapid and meaningful stage for the deepening of community bonds through Passing on the Gift. Marvelous
2-Eliminating imports will improve animal health, improve humane treatment of animals
3-Nepal imports close to a million goats a year! Major import substitution oppty for farmers
4-Goat marketing /selling much simpler and quicker than vegetable selling.
5-Goats on the hoof are non-perishable unlike fruits and vegetable reducing marketing risks
6-Breeds have been optimized over years limiting losses and improved conversion rate of fodder to weight
7-Goats r savings available for immediate cash in an emergency
8-Goat farming can be managed collectively improving efficiency
9-Goat waste useful as fertilizer and soil improver
10-Rupee return per hr work is much higher than veggie farming
11-Animal based foods excellent nutrition very compete and bio available
12-Water usage is moderate
13-Oppressed groups, displaced ethnic groups find quick lifts and pride
14-Taking care of goats is a gateway to establishing gender equity in couples
15-Cultural acceptability of goat raising
16-Fodder can be grown in marginal pieces of land not displacing food for humans
17-They thrive in pens which is ideal for very small holder farmers
18-They multiply up to 6 kids a year!

If you’re on Twitter, follow @HeiferCEO or @Heifer.

Biogas is Important for Rural Children

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From my trip to Uganda, I was able to see firsthand why biogas is so important in poor rural communities. So far, I’ve shown you why it’s important for women and for the environment. Now, I’d like to show you why it’s important for rural children.

The very first farm we visited was that of Miriam and Wilberforce Muwonge in the Ntaawo Ward, Mukono District. Miriam and Wilberforce live with their three children and six grandchildren on about one acre of land. The family had already participated in a Heifer project, from which they received one dairy cow. They had little money for fuel for cooking and lighting, but they had plenty of cow manure. Since Heifer Uganda installed their biogas unit, they have been saving the equivalent of U.S. $10 a month on fuel costs. The children are not only able to attend school, but they are also able to study at night in their home.
In contrast, while driving to another field visit the next day, we passed three boys carrying loads of firewood on their heads. These were not the children or grandchildren of Heifer participants. They most likely do not get to attend school, because they are busy gathering firewood and probably water.
As a mother, I was understandably drawn to the children I saw on this trip. To see the difference Heifer makes in the lives of children was amazing. They look healthy, their clothes are cleaner, they go to school, they read books. The gifts of a dairy cow and a biogas unit, and the accompanying training, sure go a long way.

Biogas is Important for the Environment.

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According to Mongabay:


From 1971 to 1987, Uganda lost 50 percent of its forests, including virtually all of its primary forests.

Between 1990 and 2005, Uganda lost 26.3 percent of its remaining forest cover, and deforestation continues today at a rate of 2.2 percent per year, mostly due to subsistence farming, cutting for fuelwood, and colonization by the burgeoning population.

While Uganda is famous for its mountain gorillas, it is home to some of the highest concentrations of biodiversity in Africa. More than 5,000 plant species are found in the country along with 345 mammals, 1,015 birds, 165 reptiles, and 43 amphibians.

We definitely saw evidence of deforestation and land clearing for fuelwood.
Here’s the healthy side of the road.
And here’s the clearcut side of the road.
The fence is kind of ironic, no?

A stash of wood.
Pierre Ferrari

A video to show the scope of the pile:



These five-foot bags are full of charcoal,
which is made from the wood that’s been cut.
A bag of coal might last a family a few weeks.

According to the UN Population Fund, Uganda’s population is predicted to double by 2025 and available wood will reduce by a third per person. According to the Uganda National Forestry Authority, 97 percent of the population uses charcoal and firewood for cooking.

Alternative fuel sources, such as biogas, are critical to protecting Uganda’s environment.
I promise, only one more demonstration of why biogas is an excellent, appropriate alternative source of cooking and lighting fuel in countries like Uganda. And then, I’ll show you biogas in action!
(Photos by Dero Sanford.)

The Roads of Uganda

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The roads in Kampala, Uganda, really weren’t all that bad. I was told by lots of folks that Kenya is far worse off in the road department. But take a look at this video, and see what you think.

This is on our way from Kampala to one of the field visits. Again, I’m sure this isn’t the worst road in the world, but it’s one of the worst I’ve personally ever been on. Imagine having an emergency. Imagine being a dairy farmer and needing to get your milk to the chilling station in a short amount of time. For our project participants, these are issues they face all the time. I don’t know enough about the Ugandan infrastructure system to really make a statement here, but I do know lives would be easier if the roads were better. Can you imagine?
Oh, and if you made it to the end of the video, those are native Ankole cattle. Beautiful, but not the most productive for dairy (another post for another time).

Appropriate Technology Keeps Your Hands Clean

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I know I seem to keep harping on about biogas (and there’s more to come!), but that’s not the only form of appropriate technology we saw in Uganda. Here’s a clever hand-washing station on a farm we visited. It’s called a Tippy Tap, and it allows you to wash your hands without touching anything in the process.

We saw a couple of these on our trip, and they really make sense when running water isn’t available. Much better than a bucket, that’s for certain. We all know hand washing is a key way to stop the spread of many diseases. In a country like Uganda, which has a life expectancy of 52.98 years (yes, in large part a result of HIV/AIDS), avoiding disease like bacterial diarrhea is of the utmost importance.
Under Heifer Uganda’s holistic farmer training curriculum, families participate in a course on home hygiene. Farmers are trained to keep their homesteads clean and tidy and to ensure reasonable hygiene and sanitation. This practice goes on in many of Heifer’s projects worldwide.
The Tippy Tap is a local, cheap device that is affordable by all families. It was initiated by Heifer Uganda at this farm and others as one way of ensuring that family members and their visitors wash their hands with soap each time they use the pit latrine. In so doing, the possibility of spreading disease is minimized. The training and demonstration on how to make and use the Tippy Tap is done at one participant farmer’s home, and thereafter each participant goes back home and makes one for the family.
The water used is clean and safe, drawn from individual roof water tanks–simple water harvesting techniques introduced to families by Heifer Uganda. When available, community protected wells, communal boreholes, natural springs and sometimes piped water may be the family’s water source. The water sources, in most cases, are within walkable distances, and families ensure that the container has water in it at all times.

Biogas is Important for Rural Women

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How many times have you prepared a meal today? On a typical day at home, I’d say I use my stove or microwave three or four times. I cook eggs for breakfast, microwave oatmeal. Steam veggies for my daughter a couple of times, and cook dinner for my husband and myself. Until my trip to Africa, I hadn’t thought much about the convenience of being able to fix a warm meal any time I felt like it.
For the vast majority of families–women, really–in rural Uganda (okay, lots of countries), cooking means something entirely different.

Through the photographer’s lens, this scene has a romantic feel to it. It reminds me of camping. But camping usually only lasts a weekend, not a lifetime.
Cut and collect firewood. Start and maintain the fire. Breathe the smoke and soot. Teach your daughter the same.
Compare this:
With this:
Which would you prefer, day in and day out? Biogas is an affordable, accessible alternative that frees a woman from the tedium that comes with cooking over an open fire. It is better for her health, and for that of her children. Stay tuned to see other reasons biogas is important.

A Bit About Heifer Kenya

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I’ve been a bit out of pocket, haven’t I? After our day of meetings, we traveled to Nairobi with our Heifer Kenya colleague, Alex. I accidentally slept until 8 this morning and had to rush to grab breakfast. While Pierre met with USAID Kenya, he gave Dero and me some time to be tourists. Another colleague, Francis, took us to the animal orphanage and the Giraffe Centre. It was a real treat! After finally eating some traditional food, we headed to the Heifer Kenya office.

I absolutely love going to work at headquarters in Little Rock, but if I worked at this office, I don’t think I’d ever leave. The grounds are lush and lovely, and I think I’d insist on meetings outside in the shade. The buildings are small, older and charming.


Heifer Kenya office.


Pierre’s tree

The staff is so welcoming. This afternoon we have met with the Heifer Kenya staff, learning more about what they do here and putting faces to names I’ve heard before. It is such a shame, though, that I didn’t get to see the projects with Pierre at the start of last week.


Pierre discussing economies of scale and diversifying revenue.

In the short time here, I’ve learned about a pretty interesting technology. Maybe you’ve heard of it? It’s using solar panels to make ice… Crazy, huh? Here’s the thing–say you’re a dairy farmer in rural Kenya, and you have some cows to milk. If you take your surplus milk to a collection station or a chilling plant for it to be sold to a processor, you might only be able to make that journey once a day. Well, cows have to be milked twice a day, and with no refrigeration, you may be missing out on capturing income from the evening milking. Many farmers in this situation sell all of the morning milk, and their families wait to drink milk until the evening. Makes sense. But what if you have several cows?

Stay tuned, and I’ll dig further into this. Heifer Kenya has two of these solar ice units in use, and I really want to learn more about it.