All You Need is Love

You know that one cow can change the future for a family....But how about for a couple of orphans? How about for a community? Mrs. Blandina Bumbo in Uganda thought so-and she made it happen.

After careful preparation, Mrs. Bumbo received a pregnant Heifer International dairy cow. When the calf was big enough, she passed it on to another family in need, and she fed the cow's milk to her four children. Through her good management, others calves were born and sold for income to improve the family's life.

Blandina Bumbo could have stopped there, but she didn't. She heard about two little boys - Brian and Pius-whose parents had died of AIDS. The children were destitute. Blandina and her husband took them into their home and restored them to health with lots of love and nutritious milk. But that wasn't enough. Pius and Brian needed schooling and she had to find a way to provide it. Blandina looked at a nearby shed-built for the women in her Heifer group to meet in. She thought, "Why not use this for a nursery school?" She hired a teacher with money earned from her Heifer International cow.

Now, 30 children come to school every day. Fifteen of them are orphans like Pius and Brian. Every morning, Mrs. Bumbo fixes the children maize porridge made with milk-for many, the only hot meal they'll get. Because of Blandina Bumbo, Pius and Brian and 15 other orphans have a chance for a better life.

All it took was a lot of love and a Heifer cow.