DAY 1 - THEME
WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
“We cannot all do great things,
~ Mother Teresa
"There, but for the grace of God, go I.”
~ Anonymous
Real world problems?
DAY 2 – THEME
"If you give a man a fish he can eat for a day.If you teach a man to fish he can feed his village for a lifetime." ~ Proverb
EDUCATION
MAKES A DIFFERENCE
SELF-RELIANCE & DIGNITY
BEATRICE BIIRA WHERE IS SHE NOW?
WORLD FOOD
CONSUMPTION AND DISTRIBUTION
(How many graham crackers did you have?)
DAY 3 - THEME
Causes of Conflict and Poverty in America
(Living on the edge and invisible poverty)
"We have learned to fly the air like the birds
and swim the sea like fish,
But we have not learned the simple art of living together as brothers." ~Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
"I have the audacity to believe that people everywhere
can have three meals a day for the bodies,
education and culture for their minds,
and dignity, equality, and freedom for their spirits."
~Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Danni and Zoe
4/22/2015
Heifer Project in
Zimbabwe
Heifer Project International is an
organization that helps to end world hunger and poverty all around the world.
The Heifer Project empowers people to turn their hunger and poverty into hope
and success. Instead of just handing things to all the people in poverty,
Heifer teaches the people in poverty to grow crops, milk cows, and sell their
livestock. One of the projects they do is called Passing on the Gift. This
means that the families that received training and livestock will pass on what
they learned and shave what they have. The first female offspring from their
livestock is given to another family. Heifer’s goal is to help families by
providing them with tools that they need to endure their living conditions. The
founder of this amazing project is Dan West. West was a farmer in the Midwest.
During the Spanish Civil War, West went to the front lines to work as an aid.
He wanted to provide relief. West thought that only giving the men one cup of
milk was not enough, but if he gave them a cow, the cow would last for a long
time and provide fresh milk and meat. The “teach a man to fish” idea was what made
Dan West make Heifer Project International. This quote is still what inspires
the work at Heifer to keep going and end hunger and poverty in the world.
Sandura, Zimbabwe is one of the many
communities that Heifer has helped. During the 1970’s, Sandura was infested
with Tsetse flies that were causing all the villagers cattle to die. The Tsetse
fly incident left a huge amount of people from all over Zimbabwe without land
and livestock. In the 1980’s, Zimbabwe gained their independence. Even though
Zimbabwe was independent, the war had displaced many people. Several
Zimbabweans moved to Sandura in hopes of raising their standard of living by
farming. This was not a very good idea because Sandura was in a terrible state.
People were challenged and faced with starvation and poverty. Since banks were
turning down loan requests to buy cattle, the villagers had nothing to eat or
drink. They made barely enough food to feed themselves. Sandura was starting to
fall and become a very terrible place. One Sandura resident named Mr. Musandipa
had heard about the Heifer Project and how they helped communities in poverty.
Musandipa shared the news about Heifer to his community and formed a group of
90 people who applied for assistance. In 1999, the group of people received 90
cattle for 45 families for the Passing on the Gift project. By helping these 45
families in Sandura it helped many communities outside of Sandura too.
Esther Sibanda was one of the many people
in Zimbabwe that Heifer saved. Esther was a small and wise old lady who lived
in the Shona community in Zimbabwe. Heifer had provided her with 11 cows in
2007. Before Heifer came to her, she had just suffered from the loss of her
husband. When her husband died, she was afraid for the future and what it might
bring. Since she kept with tradition, her husband’s birth family took all of
his assets and left her with 2 cows, then one of the cows died. Sibanda had
lost all hope. When she received the cows from Heifer, it made a huge impact on
her life. Esther Sibanda now has 25 cows and is living a great life because of
Heifer. Sibanda’s story is like those of many other families. Because of Heifer
Project International, Sibanda and her 15 grandchildren were able to live
healthy lives and help their neighbors too.