As I talked about yesterday, Heifer International is a wonderful organization that encourages people to help each other. They have been around for almost 60 years, helping people to obtain a sustainable food source and income. Here’s a success story from their magazine World Ark::
Ganga Khanal, who lives in Nepal, said she was devalued because she could not give birth to a son. She felt powerless to change her life against the centuries of tradition in her village. When Khanal gave birth to two daughters, her husband married her sister and also brought the sister into the home. Khanal fought with her sister. Her husband hit her when she spoke up for herself. She never had enough to eat.
Khanal heard about a women’s group in her village that had savings and received animals and training. The group (Heifer International) was looking for more members. Even though her husband opposed the idea, Khanal strated Jagrit Women’s Group, completed the Heifer Cornerstones and animal management training, and received two black and white goats.
Here’s a quote from her (World Ark, Spring 2010, page 13): “Today I am something. I have substance; I have animals; I have crops,” Khanal said. “My group gave me the inspiration, the idea, and the confidence to do all this.”
Obviously, we cannot all go to Nepal and train women like Khanal, even if we want to. But that’s the beauty of Heifer International. They make it easy to help from your living room. On their website, you can purchase animals and products from their online catalog, such as: cattle, sheep, water buffalo, goats, knitting baskets, flocks of chicks, and a trio of rabbits. Depending on the amount of money you have, you can also buy shares of these. This means, that when Heifer International has enough people who buy shares of an animal, an entire animal can be given to a family. They also provide fundraising ideas on their website if you want to raise money with a group or even with your family or even at Vacation Bible School this summer (there’s a special program for that!).
Above is one of my favorite books, which I’ve talked about on here before, that tells the story of an elementary school class raising money to Give a Goat.
Add a Comment