Heifer Peru participants are learning to care for guinea pigs and maintain gardens, which will help support their families when the coffee harvest is slim due to coffee rust, disease or plague. Guinea pigs provide protein and additional income. Alfalfa, cabbage, celery, onion, spinach and other vegetables grown sustainably in bio-gardens support nutritious diets for families and their livestock.
Martina Sanchez Barrios, 26, with one of the family’s guinea pigs. Photo by Jake Lyell Photography
Earlier this week, Hurricane Sandy barreled through the Caribbean Sea and up the eastern seaboard leaving a path of destruction. In roughly 10 days she caused damage to countries in the Caribbean, including Haiti, most of the eastern United States and finally dissipating up the Canadian coast.
Haiti project participants participating in community meeting. Photography by Dave Anderson, courtesy of Heifer International
But for us at Heifer, Hurricane Sandy’s destruction hit close to home. Haiti was one of the hardest hit countries in the Caribbean with large losses, including homes, livestock and agriculture. Project participants working with Heifer Haiti have a new set of challenges before them. In addition, Heifer’s Washington, D.C. office, and Overlook Farm learning center, in Massachusetts, were closed.
And while Haiti is dealing with the aftermath from the storm, Heifer Haiti staff gave us a silver lining when they informed us that homes we help to build as part of a previous project had withstood the storm.
The good news didn’t surprise me; it confirmed that Heifer’s work addresses the needs of project participants. Heifer is not a relief organization, but rather we work with families and individuals through long-term development to support their efforts of building sustainability for themselves and in their communities. We cannot predict disasters but we can prepare people for the aftermath. When individuals have the tools and the capacity, they can—and will—overcome the challenges from Mother Nature.
This is Heifer’s sustainable approach to ending hunger and poverty—one family, one animal at a time. It’s not temporary relief. It’s not a handout. It’s securing a future with generations of people who have hope, health and dignity.
Project participants in Haiti. Photograph by Dave Anderson, courtesy of Heifer International.
Earlier this year I visited Haiti and experienced the vibrancy, passion, and drive of the communities involved in Heifer Haiti’s Rural Entrepreneurs for Agricultural Cooperation in Haiti (REACH) project. The effects of Hurricane Sandy will not deter them. Their desire to bring change to their communities motivates them. You can encourage their efforts by providing support to Heifer’s Disaster Rehabilitation Fund.
Photography by Dave Anderson, courtesy of Heifer International.
At Heifer International, “sustainability” is much more than a buzzword. It’s at the core of everything we do. If our work didn’t improve the environment, we wouldn’t be caring for the Earth, would we? As I mentioned in my blog post Thursday, Heifer’s work can be viewed through three lenses of sustainability. This post is the third in a three-part series to examine what genuine sustainability looks like at Heifer International. Read Part 1 here. Read Part 2 here.
Unplanted earth, like this garden in Cameroon, is vulnerable to soil erosion. Photo by Jake Lyell, courtesy of Heifer International.
By 2050, the Earth’s population is expected to reach 9 billion. If the percentage of hungry people remains at the current 13.1 percent, there will be 1.2 billion hungry people in 2050. Of course here at Heifer International, we’re not planning on letting that forecast become a reality. But the fact that there will be 9 billion people on the planet in 38 years is daunting to say the least. At 7 billion strong, we can already see the strain we humans put on the environment in many ways.
A common symptom – and cause – of global poverty is poor agriculture practices. Soil erosion and deforestation are but two examples. Climate changes, including drought and severe weather shifts already hurt the world’s most poor and vulnerable.
If we are to help millions of families feed themselves and the growing world population, we have to do everything with environmental sustainability in mind. Organic farming methods, zero-grazing pens, biogas units and water cisterns are all examples of how we achieve the “Caring for the Earth” part of our mission in every project we do, no matter the size.
Sustainability in Peru: Dolores Delgado's organic farm. Photo courtesy of Heifer International.
Dolores Delgado’s farm in Peru is a great example of how our project participants are improving their own lives while also improving their environment. Right from the start of her involvement in the project, Dolores began turning guinea pig waste into organic fertilizer for her vegetable and fodder crops. Her farm was an oasis in a tough part of the world.
At our headquarters in Little Rock, Arkansas, we do our best to “walk the sustainability talk.” Our building has a Platinum LEED rating, we have installed solar panels to help meet our energy needs, we have a giant water cistern to harvest rain.
Learn more about how Heifer International works to achieve environmental sustainability.
Tell me in the comments section below: What does genuine sustainability look like to you? What improvements do you think we could all make to help make our work have more lasting impact, our donations go farther, and our planet Earth last longer?
Do you want to help impoverished farmers in Peru learn new ways to thrive in the face of climate change? Give to our project now.
At Heifer International, “sustainability” is much more than a buzzword. It’s at the core of everything we do. If your donation isn’t going to make a lasting difference, what’s the point of giving? As I mentioned in my blog post Thursday, Heifer’s work can be viewed through three lenses of sustainability. This post is the second in a three-part series to examine what genuine sustainability looks like at Heifer International. Read Part 1 here.
Heifer’s work is made possible through the contributions of individuals, families, congregations, civic groups, schools, private foundations, corporate partners, government entities and others. What a shame it would be if these generous gifts, once given, became obsolete. The beauty of our model, however, is that the original recipients of a project’s livestock, agricultural resources and training are committed to Passing on the Gift in equal quantity and quality.
Sustainability through Passing on the Gift in China. Photo by Russell Powell, courtesy of Heifer International.
Watch Alton Brown explain how gifts to Heifer International exemplify sustainability through Passing on the Gift:
This process happens a minimum of one time per project. Would you believe that the average project’s gifts are passed on for five or six (livestock) generations? In Nepal, some projects have Passed on the Gift 13 times. These extra pass-ons aren’t at the requirement of our project staff; they happen because families and communities are so transformed by these gifts, they want to keep paying it forward. Now that’s making a donation last.
Check back on the Heifer Blog tomorrow for Part 3 of this Sustainability at Heifer series. Better yet, subscribe to the blog by email or RSS feed and keep up with Heifer every day.
Want to give the gift of genuine sustainability? Visit our online gift catalog now.
At Heifer International, “sustainability” is much more than a buzzword. It’s at the core of everything we do. If you’re not setting out to do work that lasts, why bother at all? As I mentioned in my blog post yesterday, Heifer’s work can be viewed through three lenses of sustainability. This post is the first in a three-part series to examine what genuine sustainability looks like at Heifer International.
One of the defining factors of our work is that, when our projects are over, and direct involvement with participating families is finished, the improvements they have made in their own lives through our gifts of livestock and training are maintainable. Small farming families have the physical resources, knowledge and motivation to not only stay at their current level of improved livelihoods, but also to continue making improvements.
The Kitomarys on their 1.5 acre organic farm, nine years after receiving assistance from Heifer. Photo by Kelly MacNeil, courtesy of Heifer International.
This form of sustainability is so important, and it’s how we know our efforts truly work. Take for example the Kitomary family of Tanzania, about whom Kelly MacNeil wrote on the Heifer Blog. They received their gifts of animals and training nine years ago, and they continue thriving on their one-and-a-half-acre farm after all these years. They are educating all six of their children, which would not be possible had they not continued applying what they learned in the Heifer trainings to make the most out of their very small plot of land. The Kitomarys are the living definition of sustainability.
Check back on the Heifer Blog tomorrow for Part 2 of this Sustainability at Heifer series. Better yet, subscribe to the blog by email or RSS feed and keep up with Heifer every day.
This weekend in Atlanta, Heifer and Oglethorpe University will host our first “Sustainability Summit.” I am excited to take part in this event, which I know will be a meaningful and impactful program, connecting Heifer’s important work with donors, volunteers, students and others in the Atlanta community.
I will be speaking about our efforts to scale up our work and how this will help us achieve our mission of ending hunger and poverty while caring for the Earth. Other speakers will include Betty Londergan, Heifer 12×12 blogger and Oglethorpe First Lady; Keo Keang, Heifer Cambodia Country Director, and Jeffrey Scott, Heifer USA’s Director of Social Enterprise Development.
Sok Pheary of Cambodia, gives her pigs fodder from her field. Photo by Russell Powell, courtesy of Heifer International.
I look forward to sharing with the Atlanta community Heifer’s incredible story and showing how our work can increase in reach and impact yet remain true to our roots in sustainability.
I know “sustainability” may seem like an overused term, to the point that it’s becoming watered down. But at Heifer International, it’s always been at the core of our mission and work. In fact, our work can be viewed as sustainable from three different but integrated lenses:
This weekend, in addition to sharing our work with Atlanta, I’ll host a three-part blog series covering these facets of sustainability and how Heifer applies them. I hope you’ll follow along and contribute your own thoughts about how genuine sustainability must not be allowed to become obsolete.
If you’re in the Atlanta area and want to attend the Sustainability Summit, there’s still time to register for some of the events. Go register now.
Following a recent Heifer Study Tour to Honduras, Virginia Tech students were given an assignment: Choose one photograph from the trip and explain why you chose it and which of Heifer’s 12 Cornerstones for Just and Sustainable Development it embodies. Over the course of this week, we’ll share these images and words to give you a look at how much of an impact seeing Heifer’s work in the field can have. Read other posts in the series here.
Nate Foust-Meyer, Crops, Soils & Environmental Sciences, VA Tech: The difference between ingenuity and necessity became blurry during my time in Honduras. The bio-digester we helped install was built gracefully. Pieced together with old tires, pvc , plastic sleeves, and a coke bottle it was effective, rustic and beautiful. It was seldom clean cut, but always worked and always used materials efficiently. In this image a heifer is feeding on corn stalks. The red apparatus in front of it is used to remove the outer fruit from the coffee beans. Since the picture was taken in March, the end of the coffee season and therefore the time when income begins to shrink, families whose only source of income or sustenance is coffee will likely begin to grow hungry–but others, like the one that this cow belongs to will do better. The education, training, and sense of empowerment that comes with a heifer project also brings a sense of security; knowing that their food is available and not unaffordable has freed the people in this community from the bondage of worry and fear. The sense of constant thrift and inventiveness is necessary to the people of rural Honduras. They use the supplies they have to feed those they love as best they can. It is their thrift that ensures their security.
Rial Tombes, Enviromental Policy & Planning, VA Tech: This picture was taken on the first day that we arrived in Trinidad de Copan. It was Tuesday evening, around 5:00, and one of the first things we did was walk down the dirt road from our hostel to visit the town boot maker. The Boot shop was small. A few people in our group decided to buy a pair. Those not getting their feet sized were milling around outside. It started to drizzle. We were still getting used to our surroundings and because of that felt like it was ok to look over walls into people’s backyard and look at their chickens, goats, pigs, etc.
In the distance, the group started to see a man riding down the road atop his horse carrying a bundle of corn. I can only imagine that he was on his way home from a long day of work in the fields. This man provided us all with a reminder that we were in Honduras, where having goats in your backyard, riding to and from work on horseback, and waking up to the crowing of multiple town rooster was normal. After our long journey from Tegucigalpa to Trinidad, it was this moment where I understood that I was not in Virginia anymore. I believe the CAFS cornerstone, Food Security and Food Sovereignty is showcased beautifully in this picture. This man is living his life with the hope of providing for his family and contributing to a strong local economy. Also the Heifer cornerstone, Sustainability and Self Reliance, is represented here because somebody had to harvest to corn and bring it to market or to the family table.
Last week, Kate Raworth of Oxfam International published an Oxfam Discussion Paper, titled “A Safe and Just Space for Humanity: Can We Live Within the Doughnut?” In the video below, Raworth uses illustrations to help explain the concepts detailed in her paper. Watch it, then continue reading below about how Heifer’s work fits right into the doughnut.
Here’s the part that really resonated with me:
Between the social boundaries and the planetary boundaries lies an area shaped like a donut, which is both safe and just space for humanity. And if global economic development is socially inclusive and environmentally sustainable, it would bring humanity into this space and allow it to thrive here.
If you’re already familiar with Heifer’s work, I imagine you’ll agree: This sounds just like Heifer.
Our mission isn’t only to end hunger and poverty. It is also to care for the Earth. Our methods have proven to be both beneficial to our project participants and, at the very least, protective of the environment. We often go beyond protecting the environment when project communities live in landscapes in need of restoration.
To apply Raworth’s illustration to Heifer: Heifer works to bring our participants and their communities up to the “social foundation” line without crossing the “environmental ceiling.” It’s all in our 12 Cornerstones for Just and Sustainable Development, namely Sustainability and Self Reliance, Improved Animal Management, Nutrition and Income, Genuine Need and Justice, Improving the Environment, and Full Participation.
We know it’s possible to live within the doughnut, because we have helped our participants do it for the past 68 years.
Here at Heifer, we have a set of fundamental principles to guide our work, called the 12 Cornerstones for Just and Sustainable Development. One of these Cornerstones is Sustainability and Self-Reliance, and for our project participants, the focus is two-fold: one is for families to continue to thrive after direct support from Heifer has ended; the other is to use their resources in a way that will not deplete or permanently damage those resources, so they and their successors can continue to benefit.
But what does sustainability really mean? As a writer, reader and skimmer of various texts, I know how easy it is to get caught up on certain words.
To say the least, sustainability is a hot-topic, jargoney word (in fact, it was on Advertising Age’s top list of “Jargoniest Jargon” Words of 2010. Here on Heifer Blog, we’ve even got two categories dedicated to it: sustainability and sustainable agriculture.
In an effort to help make sustainability a more digestible–and livable–concept, Douglas Gayeton and Laura Howard Gayeton embarked on a three-year journey across the United States to dissect and define the myriad of terms that shape what sustainability means, resulting in the Lexicon of Sustainability.
From the website:
The Lexicon project is based on a simple premise: people can’t be expected to live more sustainable lives if they don’t even know the most basic terms and principles that define sustainability.
It’s a pretty impressive project. Watch the above video to learn more about it, and check out this page to get their full, artful glossary of terms, which includes several we like to use here at Heifer (biodiversity, CSA, food security, to name a few). Their blog includes terms that aren’t included yet in the gallery, like food sovereignty, another Heifer favorite.
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Check out these easy ways you can begin to make more sustainable food choices:
1. Make a list before going shopping so you don’t buy excess. Why buy what you won’t use?
2. If you do buy more than you need, share with a friend. Check out this blog post on how one day I bought too many carrots and shared it with Brooke.
3. Buy foods that are seasonal. This also helps out on your wallet and food budget.
4. Buy local. When you purchase local food it not only helps your local community, but it also uses less resources to travel to your location.
5. Know when the foods you are buying are being harvested. If you do this, you can better plan for what you will buy and save money!
6. Cook more at home. By cooking at home you can control what goes into your foods and know exactly what ingredients are being used.
7. Grow a garden. Try growing organic tomatoes, herbs or even a fun vegetable in your backyard.
8. Bring your own bags to the grocery store. Even if you’re shopping locally and knowing what you’re buying, it’s always a good idea to use reusable bags that also help protect the Earth.
9. Skip the drive-through take out restaurants where the food is heavily processed.
10. Try new things. See a new type of fruit or vegetable at the farmers market or local grocery store? Buy it, try it and you might find something new you enjoy!