Bringing Uganda to Orange County

By Casey Neese

October 3, 2019

Last Updated: August 2, 2010

by Catherine Scott, Community Volunteer Coordinator


Since 2004, Heifer International’s incredible volunteers have educated thousands of people at southern California's Orange County Fair about how animals help end poverty and hunger. Each summer, Centennial Farm generously donates prime exhibit space for Beyond Our Borders. This exhibit will be featured at the Orange County Fair from July 16 to August 15, and includes replicas of family homes from Thailand and Uganda, along with appropriate animals from these regions. We have a very popular and friendly goat named Oreo at our ‘Uganda station’, as well as a chicken living under the home in Thailand.


Our goal at the fair is not only to remind fair visitors that half the world’s population lives on less than $2 a day, but also to introduce them to Heifer’s sustainable solution. Children and their families who visit our exhibit learn that goats in Uganda provide families with delicious milk, as well as nutrient-rich manure for the soil. Visitors to our Thailand section learn how water buffalo make excellent living tractors, and that chickens can provide a family up to 200 eggs per year. We also have numerous educational games (egg trivia), hand puppets, animal pins, and story book readings for children of all ages.


If you’re planning a visit to the Costa Mesa, CA region, please stop by Millennium Barn on the OC Fairgrounds and spend a few minutes “Beyond Our Borders” with Heifer International. Special thanks to the hundreds of volunteers who always make this event such a success.


If you use foursquare, you can also check in from our Beyond Our Borders venue. Look for it in your search when you're at the OC Fair, or find it here.


Volunteer Lindsay Duvall with Oreo the goat at Heifer's Beyond Our Borders exhibit.