One key reason for Heifer’s success is that it provides people not just with temporary relief but with an opportunity to help themselves on an ongoing basis.

A Cow, Not a Cup

Heifer International’s Work to End Hunger and Poverty

by Kathy Juline

eatrice Biira was hungry as a child. Growing up in the village of Kisinga, located in the western part of Uganda, she and her family survived mainly on a diet of cassava and sweet potatoes. There was little else to eat nor much reason at all to hope. Certainly there was no opportunity for Beatrice to go to school, though she desperately wanted an education. The family just could not afford it. Then something happened that would change her life profoundly.

In 1991, Heifer International gave one goat to each of 12 families in Kisinga. Beatrice’s family was one of the recipients. Her mother was able to sell enough goat’s milk to send Beatrice, then 10, to the local elementary school. Winning a scholarship to a high school in Kampala, the capital of Uganda, Beatrice went from there to attend a prep school in the United States and then entered Connecticut College in New London, Connecticut, on a full scholarship.

Majoring in international development, Beatrice, who will graduate this spring, has received commendations from the dean of her college for excellent progress. A fun-loving young woman and a dedicated student, she also finds opportunities to be of service.

During the summer of 2007 she served as an intern in the Quincy, Massachusetts, office of the Clinton Foundation, where she worked on the Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative (CHAI). She says in a letter telling of her recent experiences that this work “was a challenging and rewarding experience. . . . HIV/AIDS is not foreign to me, as so many of my friends in Uganda suffer from this disease. Therefore, it never felt like going to work every day, but more like I was going to find treatment and care for a friend.” The program to provide antiretroviral drugs through CHAI is active in Uganda.

Beatrice is the subject of a bestselling children’s book, Beatrice’s Goat, and has appeared as a guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show, 60 Minutes and Good Morning America. An active spokesperson for Heifer International, she also gives talks to various groups. In her letter she relates: “I’ve done a few speaking engagements during the past six months. I spoke at several schools in Plymouth and at the Church of the Pilgrimage, my church in Plymouth, and all groups raised over $5,000. I spoke to volunteer and donor groups at Overlook Farm.” Overlook Farm, in Rutland, Massachusetts, is one of three Heifer centers in the United States. Others are the Ceres Education Center in Ceres, California, and Heifer Ranch near Little Rock, Arkansas.

The inspiring story of Beatrice Biira and the gift from Heifer International that changed her life attests to the wisdom of Margaret Mead’s counsel: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world.”

A Cow, Not a Cup

Offering its recipients a source of food rather than short-term handouts — “a cow, not a cup” — Heifer International has achieved amazing success in fulfilling its mission to work with communities to end hunger and poverty and care for the Earth. One key reason for Heifer’s success is that it provides people not just with temporary relief but with an opportunity to help themselves on an ongoing basis.

Founded in 1939 by Dan West, a farmer born in Ohio in 1893, this organization, initially called Heifers for Relief and later renamed Heifer International, has been in operation for only a little longer than six decades. During this time it has helped 8 1/2 million people in more than 125 countries around the world, from Haiti to Denmark, from Pakistan to Cameroon, from Peru to Ukraine, from the Philippines to the United States — to anywhere help is needed.

It began simply with an idea. Dan West, a conscientious objector during World War I, served as a Church of the Brethren relief worker in Spain following the Spanish Civil War. Day after day he doled out the limited rations of milk, forced to choose who would receive some and who would not. Observing the poverty and hunger there, and thinking of his own daughters back in the United States, healthy and well fed, he wanted to do something to help the hungry refugee children. It troubled him to see that as fast as he gave milk to them, they drank it and it was gone. There was never enough, and continuing to ship more milk into war-torn Spain was not economically feasible. He knew the children would starve unless something could be done.

Then one day, an idea flashed into his mind: “They don’t need a cup, they need a cow.” He had found a solution. By bringing cows to Spain, milk could be produced there and the cows would have offspring that could be shared with other families.

Guided by values of self-reliance, education, sustainability and peace, the organization founded by Dan West went to work fulfilling its mission to end hunger permanently by providing families with livestock and training. On June 14, 1944, the first shipment of 17 heifers left York, Pennsylvania, for Puerto Rico, going to families there whose hungry children would soon have their first taste ever of milk. During the following three years, Heifer shipped cows to China, dairy goats to Japan and pigs to Ecuador. It was only the start.

Pass On the Gift

The gifts provided by Heifer now reach around the globe. This phenomenal expansion is the result of an agreement Heifer recipients make to “pass on the gift” to someone else. In this way the impact of each gift is significantly multiplied.

From the very beginning of Heifer’s work, each recipient, or project partner, has been asked to pass on their gift animal’s offspring, or the equivalent in training or resources, to another family in need. This practice is a fundamental element in the organization’s philosophy and a key factor in its success. As Heifer International president Jo Luck writes, “Since our first shipment of dairy cows to Puerto Rico more than 60 years ago, we have developed multiple ways to combat hunger and poverty while caring for the Earth. But some things haven’t changed, like the practice of passing on the gift.”

The practice of passing on the gift is more than a method of expanding the number of recipients, however. It highlights Heifer International’s emphasis on community and mutual support. Passing on the gift forms a community of people whose lives have been changed and who are helping others. When recipients give an animal offspring to a family, they teach the family the skills and knowledge they have acquired. A widening circle of sharing grows as the new recipient eventually becomes a donor of their animal’s offspring and a teacher to others as well. The entire village is positively impacted.

A Holistic Approach

Just as Heifer fosters a unified spirit of cooperation between donor and recipient families, it also fosters a holistic approach in the use of resources. One way it does so is through farming practices that make full use of everything on the farm. Nguyen Buu Chau, a farmer and member of Heifer Vietnam’s dairy project, operates an integrated dairy farm in the village of Long Hoa in Vietnam. On his farm, which serves as a model for other farmers in the village, everything — cows, worms, ducks, rice fields and fruit trees — works together in a complex integrated ecosystem. All living things are connected and nothing is wasted.

Heifer emphasizes the importance of agricultural practices that improve the environment. The type of livestock brought into a particular area is selected for its positive impact in terms of soil erosion, forestation, pollution and watershed conditions. In many cases, cows or goats are not well suited to the environment or culture. The range of gifts provided by Heifer includes snails, bees, yaks, guinea pigs, alpacas, water buffalo, pigs, chickens, rabbits, camels, trees and plant seeds.

Heifer’s holistic approach is evidenced also in the full-circle impact of the support it provides. Nikiema Aminata is a member of a Heifer-funded women’s poultry association in the African nation of Burkina Faso. Through Heifer’s gift of chickens, she is helping her community to survive the drought-caused famine that devastated her village a few years ago. Money from the sale of eggs pays for both food and education, including literacy training. The women in Aminata’s poultry association attend classes to learn how to read and write, how to take care of the environment, and how to manage their crops. As a result of this education, the women of Burkina Faso’s Heifer group are developing leadership and decision-making skills, enabling these women to pass on the gift by creating a healthier, more prosperous future for their children and for their community.

Passing on Peace

Heifer extends its help to communities damaged by natural disasters such as drought, but also to those ailing from political conflict. One example of this type of support is the Heifer Albania Peace Project. Heifer International is working with local government officials, the United Nations Disarming Program, and the directors of agriculture and food in two districts. The focus of this project is to foster a spirit of peace and understanding by encouraging local people to hand over weapons in exchange for cows. Heifer Albania has distributed 140 dairy cows in exchange for weapons, and the recipients are given training as well.

In Kosovo, where warfare has left widows and orphans, cows are being provided to improve nutrition and also to reduce isolation by bringing war widows together into community. In Armenia, youth are being trained in peacekeeping skills. These are only two illustrations of how Heifer is helping countries in Southern Europe and Asia to develop a more stable economy after years of war. Just as in 1960, when Heifer shipped cows to express American friendship during the Cold War, the vision of a peaceful world continues to guide Heifer’s work.

An Enduring Vision

In establishing the Dan West Fellow Award, the board of the Heifer Foundation acknowledged the vision of Heifer International’s founder with these words: “Throughout his life, Dan West maintained a deep commitment to helping the poor, hungry and those in the margin of the world. His vision guides this organization and speaks to the simplest and most basic principle of charity — helping people to help themselves.”

Through its numerous and often large-scale projects around the globe, Heifer always works at the personal, grassroots level. In this way it offers an empowering opportunity for people all over the world to partner with it to improve their lives, strengthen their communities, care for their children and acquire an education. People who once were hungry and impoverished as a result of war, famine or natural disaster are gaining not only food and education but also a sense of worth, dignity and hope.

The remarkable result of one man’s desire to help others and the vision that his desire prompted, Heifer International is changing the world for the better. With a cow, not a cup.

To learn more about the work of Heifer International, visit their website, www.heifer.org.

This article first appeared in the January 2008 issue of Science of Mind magazine.





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	Stan Ives, a member of Chaparral Agriculture and Livestock Association in southern New Mexico, discusses the challenges of growing foods in this harsh, windblown area. The day the Heifer Central region volunteers and staff visited last February, winds were over 50 mph. Providing protective greenhouses is just one of the ways Heifer is assisting small farmers in the area. Photo by Jennifer Johnson © 2008

One key reason for Heifer’s success is that it provides people not just with temporary relief but with an opportunity to help themselves on an ongoing basis. A Cow, Not a Cup Heifer International’s Work to End Hunger and Poverty by Kathy Juline eatrice Biira was hungry as a child. Growing up in the village of Kisinga, located in the western part of Uganda, she and her family survived mainly on a diet of cassava and sweet potatoes. There was little else to eat nor much reason at all to hope. Certainly there was no opportunity for Beatrice to go to school, though she desperately wanted an education. The family just could not afford it. Then something happened that would change her life profoundly. In 1991, Heifer International gave one goat to each of 12 families in Kisinga. Beatrice’s family was one of the recipients. Her mother was able to sell enough goat’s milk to send Beatrice, then 10, to the local elementary school. Winning a scholarship to a high school in Kampala, the capital of Uganda, Beatrice went from there to attend a prep school in the United States and then entered Connecticut College in New London, Connecticut, on a full scholarship. Majoring in international development, Beatrice, who will graduate this spring, has received commendations from the dean of her college for excellent progress. A fun-loving young woman and a dedicated student, she also finds opportunities to be of service. During the summer of 2007 she served as an intern in the Quincy, Massachusetts, office of the Clinton Foundation, where she worked on the Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative (CHAI). She says in a letter telling of her recent experiences that this work “was a challenging and rewarding experience. . . . HIV/AIDS is not foreign to me, as so many of my friends in Uganda suffer from this disease. Therefore, it never felt like going to work every day, but more like I was going to find treatment and care for a friend.” The program to provide antiretroviral drugs through CHAI is active in Uganda. Beatrice is the subject of a bestselling children’s book, Beatrice’s Goat, and has appeared as a guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show, 60 Minutes and Good Morning America. An active spokesperson for Heifer International, she also gives talks to various groups. In her letter she relates: “I’ve done a few speaking engagements during the past six months. I spoke at several schools in Plymouth and at the Church of the Pilgrimage, my church in Plymouth, and all groups raised over $5,000. I spoke to volunteer and donor groups at Overlook Farm.” Overlook Farm, in Rutland, Massachusetts, is one of three Heifer centers in the United States. Others are the Ceres Education Center in Ceres, California, and Heifer Ranch near Little Rock, Arkansas. The inspiring story of Beatrice Biira and the gift from Heifer International that changed her life attests to the wisdom of Margaret Mead’s counsel: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world.” A Cow, Not a Cup Offering its recipients a source of food rather than short-term handouts — “a cow, not a cup” — Heifer International has achieved amazing success in fulfilling its mission to work with communities to end hunger and poverty and care for the Earth. One key reason for Heifer’s success is that it provides people not just with temporary relief but with an opportunity to help themselves on an ongoing basis. Founded in 1939 by Dan West, a farmer born in Ohio in 1893, this organization, initially called Heifers for Relief and later renamed Heifer International, has been in operation for only a little longer than six decades. During this time it has helped 8 1/2 million people in more than 125 countries around the world, from Haiti to Denmark, from Pakistan to Cameroon, from Peru to Ukraine, from the Philippines to the United States — to anywhere help is needed. It began simply with an idea. Dan West, a conscientious objector during World War I, served as a Church of the Brethren relief worker in Spain following the Spanish Civil War. Day after day he doled out the limited rations of milk, forced to choose who would receive some and who would not. Observing the poverty and hunger there, and thinking of his own daughters back in the United States, healthy and well fed, he wanted to do something to help the hungry refugee children. It troubled him to see that as fast as he gave milk to them, they drank it and it was gone. There was never enough, and continuing to ship more milk into war-torn Spain was not economically feasible. He knew the children would starve unless something could be done. Then one day, an idea flashed into his mind: “They don’t need a cup, they need a cow.” He had found a solution. By bringing cows to Spain, milk could be produced there and the cows would have offspring that could be shared with other families. Guided by values of self-reliance, education, sustainability and peace, the organization founded by Dan West went to work fulfilling its mission to end hunger permanently by providing families with livestock and training. On June 14, 1944, the first shipment of 17 heifers left York, Pennsylvania, for Puerto Rico, going to families there whose hungry children would soon have their first taste ever of milk. During the following three years, Heifer shipped cows to China, dairy goats to Japan and pigs to Ecuador. It was only the start. Pass On the Gift The gifts provided by Heifer now reach around the globe. This phenomenal expansion is the result of an agreement Heifer recipients make to “pass on the gift” to someone else. In this way the impact of each gift is significantly multiplied. From the very beginning of Heifer’s work, each recipient, or project partner, has been asked to pass on their gift animal’s offspring, or the equivalent in training or resources, to another family in need. This practice is a fundamental element in the organization’s philosophy and a key factor in its success. As Heifer International president Jo Luck writes, “Since our first shipment of dairy cows to Puerto Rico more than 60 years ago, we have developed multiple ways to combat hunger and poverty while caring for the Earth. But some things haven’t changed, like the practice of passing on the gift.” The practice of passing on the gift is more than a method of expanding the number of recipients, however. It highlights Heifer International’s emphasis on community and mutual support. Passing on the gift forms a community of people whose lives have been changed and who are helping others. When recipients give an animal offspring to a family, they teach the family the skills and knowledge they have acquired. A widening circle of sharing grows as the new recipient eventually becomes a donor of their animal’s offspring and a teacher to others as well. The entire village is positively impacted. A Holistic Approach Just as Heifer fosters a unified spirit of cooperation between donor and recipient families, it also fosters a holistic approach in the use of resources. One way it does so is through farming practices that make full use of everything on the farm. Nguyen Buu Chau, a farmer and member of Heifer Vietnam’s dairy project, operates an integrated dairy farm in the village of Long Hoa in Vietnam. On his farm, which serves as a model for other farmers in the village, everything — cows, worms, ducks, rice fields and fruit trees — works together in a complex integrated ecosystem. All living things are connected and nothing is wasted. Heifer emphasizes the importance of agricultural practices that improve the environment. The type of livestock brought into a particular area is selected for its positive impact in terms of soil erosion, forestation, pollution and watershed conditions. In many cases, cows or goats are not well suited to the environment or culture. The range of gifts provided by Heifer includes snails, bees, yaks, guinea pigs, alpacas, water buffalo, pigs, chickens, rabbits, camels, trees and plant seeds. Heifer’s holistic approach is evidenced also in the full-circle impact of the support it provides. Nikiema Aminata is a member of a Heifer-funded women’s poultry association in the African nation of Burkina Faso. Through Heifer’s gift of chickens, she is helping her community to survive the drought-caused famine that devastated her village a few years ago. Money from the sale of eggs pays for both food and education, including literacy training. The women in Aminata’s poultry association attend classes to learn how to read and write, how to take care of the environment, and how to manage their crops. As a result of this education, the women of Burkina Faso’s Heifer group are developing leadership and decision-making skills, enabling these women to pass on the gift by creating a healthier, more prosperous future for their children and for their community. Passing on Peace Heifer extends its help to communities damaged by natural disasters such as drought, but also to those ailing from political conflict. One example of this type of support is the Heifer Albania Peace Project. Heifer International is working with local government officials, the United Nations Disarming Program, and the directors of agriculture and food in two districts. The focus of this project is to foster a spirit of peace and understanding by encouraging local people to hand over weapons in exchange for cows. Heifer Albania has distributed 140 dairy cows in exchange for weapons, and the recipients are given training as well. In Kosovo, where warfare has left widows and orphans, cows are being provided to improve nutrition and also to reduce isolation by bringing war widows together into community. In Armenia, youth are being trained in peacekeeping skills. These are only two illustrations of how Heifer is helping countries in Southern Europe and Asia to develop a more stable economy after years of war. Just as in 1960, when Heifer shipped cows to express American friendship during the Cold War, the vision of a peaceful world continues to guide Heifer’s work. An Enduring Vision In establishing the Dan West Fellow Award, the board of the Heifer Foundation acknowledged the vision of Heifer International’s founder with these words: “Throughout his life, Dan West maintained a deep commitment to helping the poor, hungry and those in the margin of the world. His vision guides this organization and speaks to the simplest and most basic principle of charity — helping people to help themselves.” Through its numerous and often large-scale projects around the globe, Heifer always works at the personal, grassroots level. In this way it offers an empowering opportunity for people all over the world to partner with it to improve their lives, strengthen their communities, care for their children and acquire an education. People who once were hungry and impoverished as a result of war, famine or natural disaster are gaining not only food and education but also a sense of worth, dignity and hope. The remarkable result of one man’s desire to help others and the vision that his desire prompted, Heifer International is changing the world for the better. With a cow, not a cup. To learn more about the work of Heifer International, visit their website, www.heifer.org. This article first appeared in the January 2008 issue of Science of Mind magazine.