Goat Changes Life Of Uganda Child
LOU ANN GOOD
Food And Family
Features Editor
LITITZ (Lancaster Co.) The
Iraqi War prevented Beatrice
Biira from" attaining a United
States visa, but more than 750
Lancaster Countians attending
Heifer International (HI) fund
raising dinners this week heard
how a goat changed Beatrice’s
life in Uganda.
“Some things in life are too im
portant not to share,” Ellen
Baber, local contact for HI, said
of Beatrice’s story, which has
been presented on the “Opra
Show” and on “Good Morning
America.”
Beatrice was a 9-year-old girl
growing up on war-tom Uganda,
East Africa. She desperately
wanted to attend school but her
family was too poor. She had
only one dress to wear and not
enough to eat when her family
received the gift of a goat from
HI.
The goat provided milk for the
family, and the kids were sold for
profit. The manure was used for
Heifer International representatives Pamela Stone and
Umaru Sule hold a copy of “Beatrice’s Goat," which tells
how the gift of one goat from Heifer International helped
her fulfill her lifelong dream to attend school.
biogas to create heat and light,
and the leftover fertilizer nour
ished the family’s garden plot.
One goat helped Beatrice’s im
poverished family become self-re
liant for food and income. It en
abled her to attend school. Now,
Beatrice is 19 years old and plans
to attend college in the U.S. to
become a veterinarian.
Beatrice is only one of more
than 4'A million people whose
lives are different because of HI.
For more than SO years, HI has
provided a gift of livestock and
training on its care. Each gift
multiplies because every recipient
promises to pass on the gift by
giving one or more or their ani
mal’s offspring to another family
in need.
The program began when Dan
West, a relief worker during the
Spanish Civil War, was ladling
out cups of powdered milk to
hungry children. Sometimes
there wasn’t enough milk.
West realized that if a family
had their own cow, they become
self-reliant and not need to de
pend on handouts. In return,
they could help another family
Rosalie Sinn of Heifer in
ternational said one animal
can change a recipient’s
life from poverty to pros
perous.
become self-reliant by passing on
the first female offspring.
At first, West had his friends
donate heifers with the concept,
“Not a cup but a cow.”
Since then, HI has provided
many different kinds of animals
depending on the country. These
include Uamas, rabbits, honey
bees, chickens, ducks, and much
more.
Heifer International supports
400 projects in 48 countries, in
cluding the U.S. that creates sus
tainable small-scale farm enter
prises to improve nutrition and
supplement income. Local com
munity groups conceive and
manage heifer projects, empow
ering them to solve their own
problems and equipping the next
generation to face challenges suc
cessfully.
“HI offers hope and love to
counteract war and sadness,”
said Pamela Stone, HI represen
tative.
For more information about
HI, call (800) 696-1918 or visit
the HI Website at www.heife
r.org.
Wayne County Plans
Spring Garden Expo
HONESDALE (Wayne Co.)
The Penn State Master Garden*
ers of Wayne County and Penn
State Cooperative Extension are
making plans for their second an
nual Spring Garden Expo at
Lakeside Elementary in Hon
esdale, Saturday, May 17.
Keynote speeker Joiene Brown, West Branch, lowa, is
Joined by chairman of the board Wilmer Hostetter, Oxford.
Banquet Speaker Dispenses
Wit, Wisdom On Farming
MICHELLE KUNJAPPU
Lancaster Farming Staff
NEW HOLLAND (Lancaster
Co.) Recently Mid Atlantic
Farm Credit conducted a string
of six annual stockholder meet
ings in Maryland, Delaware, and
Pennsylvania.
The events included a contin
uation of the patronage program,
a distribution of $17.9 million
based on last year’s earnings.
Almost 600 people attended
the meeting at Yoder’s Restau
rant in New Holland.
According to Bob Frazee, chief
executive officer, 436 new mem
bers joined the organization last
year. He also highlighted that
there were $4.8 million in claims
paid to purchasers of crop insur
ance.
The event will consist of com
mercial exhibitors along with ed
ucational exhibits and workshops
on a variety of gardening topics.
This years’ Garden Expo is fea
turing Ralph Snodsmith, host of
the “Garden Hotline” radio show
which is broadcast nationwide on
the ABC Talk Radio Network.
The Garden Expo planning
committee is actively seeking
vendors and exhibitors for the
event. Last year over SOO local
gardening enthusiasts attended
the Garden Expo and more are
expected in 2003. Those interest
ed in exhibiting at the Garden
Expo, please contact the Master
Gardener Program at the Penn
State Cooperative Extension of
fice in Wayne County at (570)
253-5970, ext. 239.
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 12, 2003-B5
Election ballots were also col
lected. Results will be tabulated
after the final meeting.
Renae Bender, Cochranville,
daughter of Roy and Ruth Bend
er, was recognized as one of three
scholarship winners from Penn
sylvania.
Other winners from Pennsyl
vania include Brent Landis,
Quarryville, and Katherine Har
wich, Kempton.
Keynote speaker Jolene Brown
combined laughter and insight as
she addressed the audience. She
encouraged the group to “pause a
minute and reflect on the good
things in our life.”
Brown highlighted her hus
band’s grandmother, “Grandma
Great,” who delivered wisdom
“wrapped in her old time say
ings,” according to Brown.
“If you are green you’re grow
ing, but once you’re right, you
start to rot,” is one of her sayings
that urge the listener to “learn
something new, stretch and grow.
Keep an open mind, look for new
ways to see things,” said Brown.
Another of Grandma Great’s
sayings is “beauty is only skin
deep, but ugly goes clear to the
bone,” said Brown. She illustrat
ed this by saying that “thoughts
affect behavior, which affects
habits, and hardens into charac
ter,” she said.
In closing. Brown urged the
audience to “celebrate the bless
ings we’ve been given, appreciate
the people we have around us,
and get some education along the
way.
“It is not what has been given
to you that counts, but what you
do with what you have,” she said.
Brown is active on her family
farm crop operation near West
Branch, lowa a Certified Speak
ing Professional (CSP), she has
made numerous guest appear
ances on television and radio.