Heifer Aids African Poor

Resident Tours International Project's Progress In Zambia

Sara Steinlage carries firewood as part of her chores at the Go Women Go Community group in Mpomgwe, Zambia, on Nov. 3. Steinlage took a 12-day trip that showcased Heifer International projects in Kenya and Zambia.
Sara Steinlage carries firewood as part of her chores at the Go Women Go Community group in Mpomgwe, Zambia, on Nov. 3. Steinlage took a 12-day trip that showcased Heifer International projects in Kenya and Zambia.

When Centerton resident Sara Steinlage arrived in Kamisenga, Zambia, it was to a celebration.

    Hundreds of people gathered for a passing of the gift ceremony where families sponsored by Heifer International give their animal’s first female offspring to another family in their community. Fifty four heifers and four bulls were given to families, and 19 heifers and one bull were passed on by those who had animals to give.

At A Glance

Heifer International

Heifer International was founded in 1944 when Indiana farmer Dan West and his neighbors sent dairy cattle to Europe. Heifer International is active in more than 40 countries and supplies 30 types of animals in an effort to provide sustainability and self-reliance to families. The bulk of its donations arrive from late October through mid-January, said Marleen New, director of corporate and foundation relations, as individuals sponsor an animal for Christmas or corporate donors hit tax deadlines. Heifer International is active in the Arkansas Delta and in Appalachia in the United States, New said. Not every project involves an animal; some provide training.

Sponsorships vary in price and can include:

• Flocks of chicks, ducks or geese, $20

• Honeybees, $30

• Trio of rabbits, $60

• Goat, sheep or pig, $20

• Llama, $150

• Water buffalo, $250

• Heifer, $500

• Camel, $850

SOURCE: Staff Report

    Women in cotton skirts and bright T-shirts danced outside the van Steinlage and others rode in. As Steinlage and her fellow travelers stepped out, they were mobbed by people who slipped white sponsor T-shirts over their heads, backpacks and camera bags. They were hugged and thanked. People sang and danced.

    “We arrived literally as rock stars,” Steinlage said.

    Steinlage, a technical consultant for large poultry operations through Elanco, visited Heifer International projects in Zambia and Kenya in a 12-day tour in October and November. Elanco, the animal health division of Eli Lilly, sponsors three Heifer International projects in Zambia, which the group inspected. Steinlage said she has returned as an ambassador for the work there.

    “You see the pictures, but it’s hard to believe people live so basically in 2012,” Steinlage said.

    She was amazed by the people she met who every day walk miles to fetch water for their families, and who often house their animals in better fashion than their own families. The animals were in good condition, Steinlage said. Farmers everywhere care for their livestock, she said. “They know if they care for those animals they will take care of their family. And that’s really not different if you’re in Zambia or Northwest Arkansas,” Steinlage said.

    Farmers in Zambia told Steinlage because they have a Heifer animal, their children will get an education. Another told her manure was the best gift she had received as it revived her garden.

    After one presentation, a couple of women ran after members of the group and thanked them saying, “You’re going to make us rich.” Theirs is a different definition of rich, Steinlage said. Concrete floors, a tin roof, electricity, the ability to send a child to boarding school and end the cycle of poverty, those things make them rich.

    Glenn Moehling, Elanco senior director of corporate responsibility from Indianapolis, Ind., also went on the trip.

    The little things Americans take for granted struck him one afternoon as he stood with a Zambian family outside their dirt floored, thatch-roofed hut. The sun started to go down and Moehling realized they would not be flipping on a light switch or driving down to the grocery store for a forgotten item. Roads were bad. There was no plumbing, no running water. Life revolved around supplying food for the family, Moehling said.

    “I go to my refrigerator and pull out a couple pieces of bread and I have something to eat,” he said. “We were in a country where people can and do starve to death.”

    A donation may seem small, but it can make a big impact on the life of a Zambian family, Steinlage and Moehling said.

    Heifer International is a country development organization that uses animals as a tool, said Marleen New, the organization’s director of corporate and foundation relations in Little Rock.

Fast Facts

Zambia

• There are 13,817,479 people who live in Zambia, which is slightly larger than Texas at 467,655 square miles.

• Climate alternates betwen periods of drought and tropical storms from November to April

• Life expectancy is 52.57 years

• Only 2.4 percent of the population reaches age 65 or older

• Women give birth to an average 5.85 children

• There are 1.9 hospital beds and 0.05 doctors for every 1,000 people

• There is a high risk for infectious diseases in Zambia, including bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A and typhoid fever.

• Zambia is 10th in the world for AIDS-related deaths. An estimated 13.4 percent of adults are infected with HIV/AIDS

SOURCE: CIA Fact Book

    Before families can join a Heifer project, they have to form a community and set goals for that community. Before they receive an animal, they get an average of nine months of training.

    “When you’ve lived all your life and you’ve never gone beyond your village, you don’t really have a vision of what your life could be,” New said.

    Training includes basic hygiene. In Zambia, Heifer has partnered with Village Water to build hand washing stations called tippy-taps, a plastic container suspended in a wooden frame tied to a foot-operated pedal. The no touch splashes of water after latrine use have cut diarrhea. Villagers were taught to build drying stations at shoulder height to keep their clean dishes out of easy reach of animals.

    Some training is animal oriented. In Zambia, Heifer teaches a zero- g razing theory. A cow is fed and housed in a concrete-floored pen. Goats are housed in a raised structure with a slatted floor. Farmers take them out for exercise, but the pens allow them to collect the valuable manure and lock the animals away safely.

    Heifer also teaches farmers to diversify their crops. An in-country staff of agronomists, veterinarians and nutritionists function like an extension agency, coming up with the best local solutions.

    The gift of an animal is not meant to be a burden, New said.

    Passing on the gift gives families who had nothing the dignity of giving to others. Most families don’t just give one animal. Those gifts and the training they receive help shape a community and bring cheer.

    The new year is shaping up with speaking engagements for Steinlage. She told her son’s first-grade class about the trip, about the children who played with a soccer ball made of plastic bags and twine and about the difference a cup of milk from the family cow can make for a child. She has met the people who received the gift, Steinlage said.

    “It really makes a difference,” she said.

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