Name: Geneti Nemera
Title: Southern Africa Regional Director
Location: HQ
How long have you worked for Heifer? 8 years, 3 months
What attracted you to work for Heifer? I was attracted by the mission of Heifer. I wanted to be part of something and contribute to something that is bigger than me.
What has been the most memorable experience you have had while working for Heifer? The most memorable experience I had while working for Heifer was the time I met with a woman in Tanzania who once was a Heifer beneficiary and is now an investor, researcher and lecturer at Sokoini Agricultural University. She told me, "With the support of Heifer, I grew to my God-given potential. I really owe Heifer." She is regularly invited to the university to lecture. She keeps dairy cows and raises a variety of medicinal plants that she uses to treat external and internal parasites that infest her dairy cows.
My education includes: Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine from Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia; Post-Graduate Diploma in Planning and Administration from the University of Dortmund in Germany; Masters of Science in Planning from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana
My hobbies include: beekeeping, gardening, reading
My family consists of: Fantu (my wife), Solane (my daughter), and Bonsa (my son)
Something about me that you might not know: I did my first surgery at the age of 12, long before I went to vet school, after my chicken was attacked by a feral cat. The cat poked a hole in the chicken's chest and the chicken started to breathe through the hole instead of its mouth/beak. We had no vet service in the village, so I knew no help was coming. I watched the chicken suffer and wanted to do something about it. I told my dad what I wanted to do, and he supported me. So I loosened the skin from the unaffected area of the chicken's chest, pulled the skin together to cover the hole in its chest, and sutured the skin together. The tension on the skin not only covered the hole, but also brought the muscles together so they could heal. The chicken started to breathe through its mouth/beak immediately. I was so happy to see the progress. Within a few days, the wound healed and the chicken recovered completely. I was proud of the success. This experience may have been my motivation to become a vet.
What is the best thing about working at Heifer HQ? The best thing about working at Heifer is being a part of the great mission of ending world hunger and poverty, having an opportunity to contribute to it and seeing, actually witnessing, lives being transformed through Heifer's interventions.
