World Ark Magazine - November/December 2008 - (Page 56)

Heifer Spirit Giving Resources, Giving Self Left: Lane visits a Heifer project near Ruhengeri in the Musanze District of the North Province in Rwanda. Photo: Eleanor Jasmine Lambert Right: Study tour participants pose with the Mulindwa family, whose cow produces enough milk to pay for a new bicycle and school fees for six children. Photo: Christian Nshuti “I DIDN’T KNOW THE vALUE OF A COW. A COW IS, WELL, IT’S PRETTy MUCH ME SAyINg THE EqUIvALENT OF My RETIREMENT FUND.” “When you factor in all that trust and love and hope, the whole reconciliation process is strengthened,” Lane said. “When I went to the passing on the gift ceremony, the people passing on had no idea whether they were giving to a friend they had known forever or someone who was a partaker in their greatest family loss; it’s tangible evidence of moving forward and sowing the seeds of love.” The impact of those cows shared among former enemies is visible everywhere, Lane said. “As I said to the people in the field who were so graciously hosting us, having us in their homes, the magnitude of grace in the act of giving the first-born calf. … It was just very profound. I don’t know what else to say. I was humbled by it and will need time to process the impact it had upon me personally.” Lane also said she could see a difference in the vitality of the children in the villages where Heifer is working. “You see the kids and their skin is so vibrant and healthy compared to those who have not been able to receive the benefits of the cows—protein from the milk and mineral-enriched vegetables from the garden.” Seeing Heifer’s work firsthand left Lane with a new understanding of hope amid impoverished conditions. “To bring the poor out of that kind of poverty is critical. The bottom line is we are all human and we have a basic set of requirements, and the unfairness of deep poverty is hard to witness without acting against it. Witnessing that kind of poverty within the frame of reference of Heifer’s work is profoundly inspiring,” she said. “Witnessing the indignity of hopelessness would have been quite another thing. For my daughter and me to behold some healing of those wounds made all the difference for me as her mother.” johnny moo’s HEIFER NIGHT AT By Jonelle Doughty, World Ark Intern o Pictured above: These cow-spotted shirts, courtesy of Johnny Moo’s, were worn by the children as they waited tables at the diner. 56 November/December 2008 | WORLD ARK www.heifer.org Photo: Patrick Carroll n April 7, 2008, 20 sixth-graders donned cow-spotted shirts, waited tables and spread the word about Heifer International at an American-style diner in Shanghai, China. The eatery, conveniently named Johnny Moo’s, agreed to donate 10 percent of the night’s sales to Heifer as part of a fundraiser designed by the students from the Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation Private School. After he presented a lesson on poverty in his social studies class, teacher Patrick Carroll’s students jumped into action and raised $3,700—enough to purchase seven heifers for seven poor families. http://www.heifer.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of World Ark Magazine - November/December 2008

World Ark Magazine - November/December 2008 Contents Letters For the Record The Good Life Asked and Answered Finding Peace in Africa Sierra Leone on the Mend The Roma: A People Apart Mixed Media Heifer Bulletin Heifer Spirit Calendar First Person

World Ark Magazine - November/December 2008

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