Geofrey Okello Makes a Home With Heifer's Help
 Geofrey Okello was just 18 years old when his parents died of AIDS in 2002, leaving him in charge of his five younger brothers and sisters. As head of the household it fell to him to find a way for them to survive. For a long time it was hard. Then a neighbor helped him get connected with Heifer International. Heifer gave him a high-production Friesian dairy cow and trained him to care for it and make it productive. He named the cow Margaret, after his mother. Today Geofrey is 22 and successful. All his siblings are in school, and the family is better fed. And he has plans to fix up his house so the roof won't leak and rats won't come in through holes in the floor.
Today his small yard has changed from hard-packed red clay to a garden of fertile plots producing organic squash, greens, beans, papayas, bananas and other fruits, which he learned to grow through Heifer International training. He keeps the little pole barn where Margaret lives spotlessly clean. The timbers are hand cut and all the branches have been carefully shaven off so nothing sharp could puncture a lumbering cow or her tender calf. He prides himself on the four gallons of rich milk that Margaret can produce in a day.
"Taking care of our cow and garden is really helping me forget about the sadness of losing my dad and mom," Geofrey said. "When I realize the wonders like paying bills for water and electricity, and putting our home in a good condition, I just feel like life is moving on, and it's good for me," He pays his siblings' school tuition with income he earns from selling milk, and now believes someday he too will reach his dream of getting a diploma.
"There are others just like me because the AIDS epidemic goes on. There are so many orphans and sick family members. Soon I will pass on a calf. In Heifer's plan, everyone that receives training and an animal gives this gift to another family in need."
Now Geofrey is a role model for others. "I feel so good about doing this. I am proud when visitors come and see my success, and they know there is hope for them, too."
He said he valued the training that he had received from Heifer. "Heifer International has done a great job for us. One thing I have learned is to care for the environment. We love our environment; we don't want our country to be a desert in the future. I've learned to plant more trees around. To plant things like calliandra, this gives fertility to the soil. I've learned so many things from Heifer, like looking after the grass which has to be fed to the animal. I didn't know how to plant this grass, but when the extension staff gave us that knowledge, I learned a lot. Heifer has done a great job teaching me."
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Heifer's work is bringing new hope to AIDS victims and their families. Hear their stories
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HIV/AIDS
By The Numbers
15 million children have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS. That's more than the combined total of all the children under the age of five in 48 of the 50 states in the U.S.
96 percent of all HIV cases are in the developing world.
25 million in Sub-Saharan Africa are HIV positive.
Every 60 seconds a child dies of HIV/AIDS related diseases.
14,000 people contract HIV worldwide every day.
75 percent of all the young people infected are women and girls.
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