From the Field: Education Multiplies Hope

Posted on April 16, 2013 by Chelsey McNiel

This weekly post shines a light on a handful of stories from Heifer.org’s “From the Field” section.

Heifer International’s Training and Education Cornerstone is the first stop on every participant’s journey to Passing on the Gift®. Education makes the achievement of self-reliance and sustainable livelihoods possible and gives project participants the tools to multiply justice and hope worldwide.

The Port Loko district of Sierra Leone suffers from seasonal bush fires, which consume fruit trees, cause water shortages and reduce crop yields. Heifer International is working with Kids Arise, a local non-governmental drama organization, to educate communities on the dangers of bush fires and preventative measures. Through drama and song, Kids Arise has helped decrease deforestation.

Kids Arise, a drama group from Sierra Leone, educates communities about deforestation and preventative measures. Photo by Valesius Koker

Renuka Begum, a 40-year-old wife and mother, did not receive a childhood education due to extreme poverty. After participating in trainings on Heifer’s 12 Cornerstones for Just and Sustainable Development, gender and justice and improved animal management, she began applying her education to improve her family’s livelihood. Her daughter’s education is now secure and Renuka is diligent in sharing, caring and participating in self-help group (SHG) activities.

Giving out recipes with her haricot bean sales gave Shushan’s business an innovative approach. Photo by Anna Arakelyan

Sixteen-year-old Shushan Khachatryan of Armenia presented a business plan and received a $100 grant to start her business through Heifer Armenia’s Young Agriculturists Network of Armenia (YANOA) project. She selected a business plan by applying what she had learned through YANOA, which increased her haricot bean sales. “When I was developing my business plan I took into account many details,” Shushan said. “Yet, in my simple business idea I invested an innovative approach. I decided to provide recipes of dishes prepared from haricots to all the customers who would buy haricots from me.”

Learn how you can multiply justice and hope worldwide

Sustainability at Heifer International: Part 3

Posted on October 14, 2012 by Pierre Ferrari

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.

Sustainability: Using natural resources to meet the needs of the current generation without depleting or compromising resources for future generations

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.

Sustainability at Heifer International: Part 2

Posted on October 13, 2012 by Pierre Ferrari

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.

Sustainability: The capacity to endure

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.

Sustainability at Heifer International: Part 1

Posted on October 12, 2012 by Pierre Ferrari

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.

Sustainability: Able to be maintained at a certain level

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.

Sustainability in Tanzania: Kitomary Family

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.

International Day of Peace 2012: Sustainable Peace for a Sustainable Future

Posted on September 21, 2012 by Brooke Edwards

Today is the International Day of Peace, when the United Nations calls on “combatants around the world to put down their weapons and try to find peaceful solutions to their conflicts.”

This year’s theme is “Sustainable Peace for a Sustainable Future.” From the UN’s website:

It highlights the fact that we cannot possibly think about building a sustainable future if there is no sustainable peace. Armed conflicts attack the very pillars of sustainable development, robbing people of the opportunity to develop, to create jobs, to safeguard the environment, to fight poverty, to reduce the risk from disasters, to advance social equity and to ensure that everyone has enough to eat.

I absolutely agree that armed conflicts make sustainable development efforts difficult, if not impossible.

But I think the reverse is also true: we cannot possibly have sustainable peace without sustainable development. How could peace possibly be sustained when 925 million people in the world are hungry?

Are you peaceful when you miss lunch by an hour? I know I’m certainly not. Imagine if you were starving, or watching your children, your elderly, your community starve.

Since I don’t have to fight to feed my own family, I work to help impoverished families around the world gain the ability to feed themselves and lift themselves out of poverty using methods that last. Deep down, I believe it’s the best way I can personally help bring peace to the world.

What do you do to promote peace? Tell me in the comments section below.

Full Participation and Self-Reliance in Honduras

Posted on May 1, 2012 by Brooke Edwards

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.

Lisa Hill, Humanities, Science, & Environ, VA Tech: The photo I chose was taken by Antonio, a young boy from a village we visited one day after work. When I got off the bus at the village, Antonio had his arms outstretched and looking at me, expecting to be picked up and carried around. When I had him in my arms, he reached for my camera and started taking pictures of everything and everyone around him. After I got home and had a chance to look through my pictures, this one stuck out in particular. To me, this photo represents the CAFS cornerstone of Collaborative Teaching and Experiential Learning and the Heifer Cornerstone of Full Participation: One of the descriptions of Collaborative Teaching and Experiential Learning is “Improving learning and development of communities of co-learners”. This picture shows how our group was gaining knowledge and experiences from the Hondurans, as much as they were benefiting from us. We all played the role of teacher and the role of student throughout the week. The lessons we took away were extremely valuable, even if it was as simple as Antonio showing us how to laugh and smile after a long and tiring day or work. In this photo, I also saw the Heifer Cornerstone of Full Participation. When we were working on our project, every member of the family and every member of our group helped. Even the little children did their part by entertaining us. Additionally, when we worked, we worked as one group. It wasn’t the Honduras and the Americans working separately. Instead, we worked together, side by side to complete the job.

S. Myrick: I chose this photo because I believes it exemplifies the Heifer Cornerstone of Sustainability and Self-Reliance. It also displays the CAFS value of strong local economics. I picked this particular picture, because it shows the making of the farm school. The farm school will provide economic and communal opportunities. With the added education to the community, as a whole they can work together to build strong ties between each other and other communities. I believe with the school many more families will be able to provide for themselves. The school will give families a chance to not only become educated but to create job opportunities in their community. I find this picture to be more impacting because it displays labor within a community. Wilber, a man from the community, was helping build the school for others in the community. If he was paid, it is furthering the idea of building strong local communities. Overall, I think the education alone will strengthen the community but also create many more economic opportunities than imaginable.

VA Tech Students Transformed by Trip to Honduras

Posted on April 30, 2012 by Brooke Edwards

Following a recent Heifer Study Tour to Honduras, Virginia Tech students were given two assignments. First, sum up the experience in just one word:

Second, 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. Here is the first installment:

S. Abbott, Human Nutrition, Foods & Exercise; VA Tech: Cultivators of the earth are the most valuable citizens. They are the most vigorous, the most independent, the most virtuous, and they are tied to the country and wedded to its liberty and interests by the most lasting bonds. –Thomas Jefferson

This photograph was taken on the last day we worked in the Copantle community in Honduras. I like the way it captures Angelina and Michelle working alongside each other in Angelina’s garden. This image speaks to the Heifer Cornerstone, Sustainability & Self-Reliance. In the classes I have taken for the Civic Agriculture and Food Systems minor at Virginia Tech, we have had a lot of discussions about how “sustainable” agriculture should be defined, about the threefold social, ecological and economic components. Sustainable agriculture enables citizens to meet present-day needs without degrading the resources left for future generations. The agroecological principles we saw being put to use in Angelina’s garden and fields are sustainability and ecological stewardship in action. After our first day of work in Copantle, Angelina gave us a tour of her land and it was incredible to see the principles of ecological agriculture I have learned about being used in this Honduran community. The steep slopes that overlook Angelina’s community are planted with pineapple, banana, plantain, coffee bushes. The biodiversity here is intentional and incredible to see. Every plant chosen is there for a reason, which Angelina shared with us: the pineapple, for instance, provides natural terracing on the slope. This photo also embodies Food Security/Food Sovereignty, a core value of the Civic Agriculture and Food Systems minor. Food security essentially means knowing where your next meal is coming from. Food sovereignty refers to having access to food that is healthy and culturally appropriate, and that is produced in environmentally and socially responsible ways. A community with food sovereignty also has the ability to define their own food system. From what I saw in Copantle and heard from Angelina about her vision for continuing to build upon the resources that they have, I would say that this community is definitely on the right track for achieving food sovereignty. Heifer International’s mission is “to work with communities to end hunger and poverty and care for the Earth.” Seeing the civic agriculture in the Copantle community, thanks in no small part to Angelina’s tireless efforts, has allowed me to understand why “caring for the Earth” is a vital part of Heifer’s mission statement. Hunger and poverty cannot be eliminated if we do not take care of the Earth. Healthy communities are built upon healthy soils.

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