World Ark Magazine - March/April 2008 - (Page 41) Yolmer Gutierrez Delgado Redefining Gender Roles in Peru In the desert-like conditions of Peru’s Piura region, rain is a stranger to the land and poverty is all too well known. It’s hard to make a living here, especially for women, who must struggle to survive in this harsh land and in a macho culture. One man, Yolmer Gutierrez Delgado, is making a difference by encouraging women to take leadership roles and training them to care for livestock. Delgado, his wife and three children were among the first to settle this unwelcoming land. He began working with Heifer in 1996 and has since been an outreach livestock worker, teaching people how to raise goats. He also helped establish a group to encourage civic participation and positive gender relations in this traditionally male-dominated culture, and he continues to organize trainings about health and education, especially for women. Delgado supported his wife and children as they became community leaders, and today the many women who serve as livestock outreach workers are helping to redefine gender roles. Jane Opolot Accomplished Advocate Recently widowed and diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, Jane Opolot of Uganda used her grief to lift herself and hundreds of others to self-reliance. Faced with a household of seven people and no savings after her husband died, Opolot started a self-help project with 50 other women, many of whom were also infected with HIV/AIDS, stigmatized and struggling. The women pooled their contributions to buy chickens. The sale of eggs and offspring allowed them to expand their operations to also raise pigs, but Opolot wanted to do more. With Heifer’s help, she added goat breeding, finally gaining financial security for herself and the other women she works with. The group Opolot founded now numbers 207. Photo by Darcy Kiefel Yolmer Gutierrez Delgado, an outreach livestock worker living in the village of Cucugara, Peru, organizes health and education trainings for local women. Some bricks make a wall. These make a difference. When you buy an Honor Brick to pay tribute to a friend or loved one’s graduation, anniversary, birthday or other celebration, you make a difference in ending poverty and world hunger. These bricks will pave the Honor Walk to the new Murphy Keller Education Center, an urban learning center where people from around the globe can learn how personal actions can end hunger and poverty. To reserve your bricks, log on or call today. 1 - 8 0 0 - 4 2 2 - 0 474 w w w. h e i f e r.o r g /b r i c k s www.heifer.org March/April 2008 | WORLD ARK 41 http://www.heifer.org/bricks http://www.heifer.org/bricks http://www.heifer.org
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