First Year Seminar Students Make Charitable Gift to Filipino Village
12/14/2007
The Comparative Literary and Cultural Studies (CLCS) First Year Seminar donates a water buffalo to a Filipino family.
After reading a short story, “Saving the World: One Chicken at a Time,” by contemporary author Barbara Kingsolver, several First Year Seminar students came up with the idea to make a charitable donation to Heifer International, a humanitarian assistance organization with a mission to end world hunger and protect the earth through a strategy of livestock, training and “passing on the gift”. Once a family has established its own new, improved standard of living, it is required that they continue the principles of Heifer and “pass on the gift.” A ceremony is held in which one member of the community shares part of his or her bounty with another person in need. Where Heifer donates just one flock of chickens, an entire village can be saved from poverty.
In poor Filipino villages, water buffalo provide work power for planting rice and potatoes, much needed milk for nutrition and manure for fertilizer and fuel. A farmer can plant four times more rice with a buffalo than by hand. Water buffalo also haul heavy loads to the market, where the sale of extra produce brings in vital income for clothing, medicine and school. By renting their buffalo to neighbors, families can earn money for improvements in life-style. The CLCS First Year Seminar raised and donated 250 dollars to Heifer International, and a water buffalo has been purchased for a Filipino family in need. The students are happy to know their gift can bring so many benefits: the “helping hooves” can lead a hungry family out of poverty and give them a chance for a bright future filled with hope and free from hunger. Heifer International, an Arkansas-based non-profit initiative, has been helping the world’s poor help themselves for almost 60 years. The idea is simple: provide sustainable assistance by teaching a community in need to provide for itself.
Visit www.heifer.org to learn more about the organization, and help a family in need.
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