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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.

After reading our previous PaperTigers issue, “The Power of Children to Change the World”, Mrs. Whiffin updated me on the Kids for Kiva project taking place in her Grade 4/5 classroom at Anmore Elementary School. Mrs. Whiffin decided to show her students one way they could change the world and launched an integrated social responsibility unit based on Kiva’s micro-financing website, whereby students electronically assist people in poverty from around the world by providing them with small business loans. The concept of micro-financing is a phenomenon that’s grown in popularity in recent years given its ability to connect donors and philanthropists with budding entrepreneurs in developing countries. Two books featured in our previous PaperTigers issue - One Hen: How One Small Loan Made A Big Difference, and Give a Goat - are based on this concept and after reading about them on PaperTigers, Mrs. Whiffin has ordered them for the class.

Mrs. Whiffins states the Kiva Project doesn’t just tap into the social responsibility curriculum, but lessons in math, statistics, literacy, geography and leadership.

We are learning about the world and how we can make a difference. We have been lending to Kiva now for over a year. In the first year, we raised over $1100 as a class. This year, we have already reloaned the money that has come back to us (approximately $775). My students this year have also embarked on their own fundraising efforts to give them a chance to connect to the project. Amazingly, they have raised over $1300 so far!!! The fun part is making the loan! Each of us chooses a project and researches the region, community and business to determine which project we will support. The kids are so aware of the world! They also use statistics to justify their decisions and have become amazing at working with all kinds of numbers.

Mrs. Whiffin’s project has been a huge success and when it came time to write for the annual speech writing contest, one of her students chose to share her Kiva experiences. Check back tomorrow to read Georgia’s inspiring speech.