The land where Heifer International works in northern Tanzania is so parched in the dry season that dust devils assault the landscape. This is where camels can become lifesavers, as one man discovered.
Elijah Lemayan Sokino joined a Heifer International camel project ten years ago designed to deal with the effects of periodic drought in the area. His family, like other Masai, depended on goats and cattle for their livelihood, but in years when the rains didn’t come, the cattle died. For the semi-nomadic people, this was distressing and perilous.
Even though the new camels were big and unfamiliar, Elijah stuck with them. He learned to love them. When drought struck again a few years later, families who had dismissed the animals returned to him, seeing that the camels survived when their own cattle did not. Worried they would starve, Elijah redistributed his camels to them.
Now, the family’s camels produce milk that sells for a good price in nearby towns, and people in the area call Elijah “Mr. Camel.”
You can help other families get this kind of independence with the gift of a camel.
Some things you may not know about these amazing creatures:
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