Eliminate Hunger, One Heifer at a Time

In December my mom gave me a very unique gift. She had given, in my name, money to buy one goat for a family in Cameroon. When I saw the note describing the gift, I chuckled to myself and said, "What an unusual gift. She's given me a goat for Christmas!" When I actually realized what this gift meant, I was thrilled with the idea.

Heifer International (www.heifer.org)is an organization that has been around for 20 years. Their mission is to end hunger and poverty and care for the Earth. A noble idea, but difficult. Their concept is that if they give people the tools to sustain themselves, their giving will go much further than just giving money. If you give a family a cow, for example, you are not only giving them milk and cheese for their own family, but milk and cheese they can sell to buy other goods for their family. That is how Heifer International bagan, but they have branched out.

In Rwanda, with the help of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Heifer International has formed the East Africa Dairy Development Project, to help dairy farmers form cooperatives that will help them boost production, improve quality and more easily get their goods to markets.

In Chipas, the southern region of Mexico, many coffee growers were in seasonal poverty. That means that their income is not year round, as the rainy season approaches they have very little income. Over the past dozen years, many of the coffee growing communities have banded together to form co-ops, which has helped cut out the middle man and stablize prices. But even with a direct connection to the U. S., prices still fluctuated. Enter Green Mountain Coffee Roasters from Vermont, who began buying directly from the co-op. In concert with Heifer International and other agriculture groups, the communities are now provided with everything they need to make it trough the thin months; rabbits, fish, bees, mushrooms, and training in how to create local markets.

I like this idea of giving so much. Often we give to organizations and have no idea where the money is going or how it will be spent. Much is often used for adminstration. This organization brings home the old proverb, "Give a man a fish and you give him dinner. Teach him to fish and you give him food for life." Next time you feel like giving, this might be an organization to check out. If not for giving, just read about the great projects they're involved in. They're touching the lives of children and families all over the world.