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The goal of every Heifer project is to help families and children achieve self-reliance. They do this by providing them the tools they need to sustain themselves.
Heifer gives a hungry family the training it takes to feed themselves and their children; to give a young girl a chance at an education; to empower a woman to have a voice in her community. Together, we can change the world, one family, one community, at a time. And it all starts with a gift.
Heifer gives a hungry family the training it takes to feed themselves and their children; to give a young girl a chance at an education; to empower a woman to have a voice in her community. Together, we can change the world, one family, one community, at a time. And it all starts with a gift.
Heifer empowers families to turn hunger and poverty into hope and prosperity – but their approach is more than just giving them a handout. Heifer links communities and helps bring sustainable agriculture and commerce to areas with a long history of poverty. Their animals provide partners with both food and reliable income, as agricultural products such as milk, eggs and honey can be traded or sold at market.
When many families gain this new sustainable income, it brings new opportunities for building schools, creating agricultural cooperatives, forming community savings and funding small businesses.
When many families gain this new sustainable income, it brings new opportunities for building schools, creating agricultural cooperatives, forming community savings and funding small businesses.
The core of their model is passing on the gift. This means families share the training they receive, and pass on the first female offspring of their livestock to another family. This extends the impact of the original gift, allowing a once impoverished family to become donors and full participants in improving their communities.
About Dan West
Dan West was a farmer from the American Midwest and member of the Church of the Brethren who went to the front lines of the Spanish Civil War as an aid worker. His mission was to provide relief, but he soon discovered the meager single cup of milk rationed to the weary refugees once a day was not enough.
And then he had a thought: What if they had not a cup, but a cow?
That "teach a man to fish" philosophy is what drove West to found Heifer International. And now, nearly 70 years later, that philosophy still inspires our work to end world hunger and poverty throughout the world once and for all.
About Dan West
Dan West was a farmer from the American Midwest and member of the Church of the Brethren who went to the front lines of the Spanish Civil War as an aid worker. His mission was to provide relief, but he soon discovered the meager single cup of milk rationed to the weary refugees once a day was not enough.
And then he had a thought: What if they had not a cup, but a cow?
That "teach a man to fish" philosophy is what drove West to found Heifer International. And now, nearly 70 years later, that philosophy still inspires our work to end world hunger and poverty throughout the world once and for all.
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WWO works to have institutionalized and children at risk must be integrated in their own communities. They transform the lives of orphaned children to help them become healthy, independent, productive members of their communities and the world.
To accomplish this, they take the following steps:
About Jane Aronson
Dr. Aronson has been a pediatrician since 1986. She has had a solo pediatric practice in Manhattan specializing in adoption medicine since 2000, evaluating well over 10,000 adopted children to date, and has conducted medical missions to orphanages in Russia, Romania, Bulgaria, China, Vietnam, Ethiopia, Haiti and Latin America. Dr. Aronson is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Cornell University, Columbia University, and Mt. Sinai School of Medicine and also teaches at the Mt. Sinai School of Public Health and Yale University Global Health Program.
Since 1997, Dr. Aronson has provided direct services to orphaned children through her non-profit organization, Worldwide Orphans Foundation (WWO), which began its work by commissioning Orphan Rangers —volunteer university students and healthcare professionals —to provide services to children at field sites. To date, WWO has sponsored over 160 Orphan Rangers in 14 countries. WWO is currently active in Bulgaria, Ethiopia, Haiti, Serbia and Vietnam.
To accomplish this, they take the following steps:
- Identify the unique needs of orphaned children in institutional and group settings around the world and address those needs through medical, developmental, psycho-social and educational programs that are respectful of cultural norms in each setting;
- Nurture orphaned children with the love and attention that is every child's birthright, so they may grow, learn play and, ultimately, lead productive, dignified adult lives.
- Encourage strategic partnerships with like-minded organizations, both in-country and internationally, so WWO can extend its reach, use its resources effectively and ensure sustainability.
About Jane Aronson
Dr. Aronson has been a pediatrician since 1986. She has had a solo pediatric practice in Manhattan specializing in adoption medicine since 2000, evaluating well over 10,000 adopted children to date, and has conducted medical missions to orphanages in Russia, Romania, Bulgaria, China, Vietnam, Ethiopia, Haiti and Latin America. Dr. Aronson is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Cornell University, Columbia University, and Mt. Sinai School of Medicine and also teaches at the Mt. Sinai School of Public Health and Yale University Global Health Program.
Since 1997, Dr. Aronson has provided direct services to orphaned children through her non-profit organization, Worldwide Orphans Foundation (WWO), which began its work by commissioning Orphan Rangers —volunteer university students and healthcare professionals —to provide services to children at field sites. To date, WWO has sponsored over 160 Orphan Rangers in 14 countries. WWO is currently active in Bulgaria, Ethiopia, Haiti, Serbia and Vietnam.
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This foundation is committed to improving the lives of impoverished women and children in sub-Saharan Africa. We strive to provide sustainable solutions to problems of hunger, abuse, lack of education and inadequate healthcare.
- Provide emergency food assistance to those in and around Athi River.
- Provide education opportunities to those children and adults who desire it.
- Improve the health status of the community within culturally permissible parameters through hygiene education, disease prevention, HIV/AIDS awareness, and pre/post natal care.
- Make available sustainable means for the women of the community to have control of their own lives and futures via income-generating activities.
About Ed Colina
Ed Colina has been involved in education for twenty-six years. A graduate of St. Xavier High School – Class of ’72 and Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio he received a degree in Theology in 1976 and later a Masters in Education. He began his teaching career in the inner city of Covington in Northern Kentucky. After eleven years of teaching, Ed became an Elementary Supervisor for the Diocese of Covington, Kentucky. Eleven years later he took on the administration of the largest Catholic elementary school in the diocese.
Ed Colina has been involved in education for twenty-six years. A graduate of St. Xavier High School – Class of ’72 and Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio he received a degree in Theology in 1976 and later a Masters in Education. He began his teaching career in the inner city of Covington in Northern Kentucky. After eleven years of teaching, Ed became an Elementary Supervisor for the Diocese of Covington, Kentucky. Eleven years later he took on the administration of the largest Catholic elementary school in the diocese.
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Since their organization's began, SOTENI International has continually expanded the ways in which they are able to help.
When a group of American and African volunteers formed SOTENI, each member was passionately committed to preventing HIV/AIDS and to reducing its effects. At that time, the mission was simple: Empower orphans of AIDS to lead the fight against AIDS and to prevent another generation from succumbing. SOTENI International became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit group in 2003, allowing for tax-deductible contributions.
SOTENI International's primary focus is maintaining current programs in partnership with the Villages of Hope and SOTENI Kenya by: 1) fund-raising for operations to support current and future programs in the Villages of Hope, and 2) enhancing their organizational infrastructure.
When a group of American and African volunteers formed SOTENI, each member was passionately committed to preventing HIV/AIDS and to reducing its effects. At that time, the mission was simple: Empower orphans of AIDS to lead the fight against AIDS and to prevent another generation from succumbing. SOTENI International became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit group in 2003, allowing for tax-deductible contributions.
SOTENI International's primary focus is maintaining current programs in partnership with the Villages of Hope and SOTENI Kenya by: 1) fund-raising for operations to support current and future programs in the Villages of Hope, and 2) enhancing their organizational infrastructure.
Six Guiding Principles
- Sustainability through local leadership, infrastructure development, and economic solvency
- Opportunity to better the lives of AIDS orphans and other vulnerable people through local, national, and international initiatives
- Training of persons with HIV/AIDS, and other stakeholders, to lead the fight against AIDS
- Epidemiology to design, evaluate, and replicate programs that reduce the incidence and/or severity of HIV/AIDS
- Networking to harness the "time, talent, and treasure" of others to help achieve SOTENI's mission
- Interdependence that connects and enriches us all as we work to heal the effects of AIDS and stop its spread in our lifetimes
SOTENI Root
Led by physician-epidemiologist Victoria Wells Wulsin, SOTENI Kenya began in 2003. The group developed the model of Villages of Hope, with the goal of establishing a sustainable, grassroots community. A locally elected management committee led this community, supporting children affected by HIV/AIDS, especially those heading families. The group found that the best way to empower those needing help was to strengthen their communities, and, in turn, the communities could empower vulnerable people.
This discovery led to our dedication to community development. In 2004, SOTENI Kenya opened three more Villages of Hope: Mituntu, Mbakalo, and Ugunja. Contributions, both financial and in-kind, exceeded $250,000 as volunteers and interns from five continents joined the grassroots volunteers.
To ensure sustainability, each village included income-generating assets and activities ranging from the health center to beekeeping.
Led by physician-epidemiologist Victoria Wells Wulsin, SOTENI Kenya began in 2003. The group developed the model of Villages of Hope, with the goal of establishing a sustainable, grassroots community. A locally elected management committee led this community, supporting children affected by HIV/AIDS, especially those heading families. The group found that the best way to empower those needing help was to strengthen their communities, and, in turn, the communities could empower vulnerable people.
This discovery led to our dedication to community development. In 2004, SOTENI Kenya opened three more Villages of Hope: Mituntu, Mbakalo, and Ugunja. Contributions, both financial and in-kind, exceeded $250,000 as volunteers and interns from five continents joined the grassroots volunteers.
To ensure sustainability, each village included income-generating assets and activities ranging from the health center to beekeeping.
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Our partner has been badly affected. You can change a child's life by donating. All funds will go in full to this hurricane relief location and directly to Morgan's safe house.She has been in Haiti only 3 years and has helped thousands of children .Her group has personally reunited close to 300 children with their families and saving them from slavery and abandonment. Now with this hurricane, funds are desperately needed to help so many children that have lost there homes and families.
LFBS strives to help create a world in which:
Core Values
THE NUMBERS (as of October 2014)
About Morgan Wienberg
Morgan lived in a Haitian orphanage for 5 months over the spring and summer of 2011 and witnessed the hardships the children face. Yet despite the desperate conditions there, she remains full of life and love. She worked daily to gain access to health care, clean water for showers and food for her 70 roommates. Morgan currently lives in Haiti at LFBS’s transitional safehouse where she is caring for the children as if they were her own.
Morgan was Valedictorian of her High School and recipient of the Governor General of Canada Academic Award. She was awarded the Commissioner of Yukon Youth Award for her work as Director of Humane Society Yukon, Yukon Anti-Poverty Coalition, Food Not Bombs, and Social Justice Club. Rotary International has recognized her work with their Paul Harris Fellowship Humanitarian Award. She was a finalist nominee with the Berger-Marks Foundation in Washington, DC for demonstrating leadership in Social Justice; a guest speaker at the United Nations Youth Assembly and was a recipient of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal from the Government of Canada.
- any child who is a victim of neglect, exploitation, abuse, torture or any other form of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment will receive physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration
- such recovery and reintegration will take place in an environment which fosters the health, self respect and dignity of the child
- education and opportunities for self-sufficiency and self-determination are the rights of all
Core Values
- They believe that children deserve a safe and peaceful place to sleep, play and learn.
- They believe that childhood should be about learning and playing not work, slavery and abuse.
- They believe that all people are entitled to adequate shelter, food and clean water.
- They believe that it is a duty to help others to become independent.
- They believe that individuals can often be more effective than governments in promoting human relationships and world peace.
THE NUMBERS (as of October 2014)
- 94 children united with their families – 63 from situations of exploitation and abuse, 31 from the streets
- 18 homeless children seek refuge, healing and growth in our Safehouses
- 9 Haitian staff employed by Little Footprints Big Steps
- 6 tutors hired part-time in various communities across Haiti
- 12 families still need help building or renting a home
- Over 170 children supported for basic education
About Morgan Wienberg
Morgan lived in a Haitian orphanage for 5 months over the spring and summer of 2011 and witnessed the hardships the children face. Yet despite the desperate conditions there, she remains full of life and love. She worked daily to gain access to health care, clean water for showers and food for her 70 roommates. Morgan currently lives in Haiti at LFBS’s transitional safehouse where she is caring for the children as if they were her own.
Morgan was Valedictorian of her High School and recipient of the Governor General of Canada Academic Award. She was awarded the Commissioner of Yukon Youth Award for her work as Director of Humane Society Yukon, Yukon Anti-Poverty Coalition, Food Not Bombs, and Social Justice Club. Rotary International has recognized her work with their Paul Harris Fellowship Humanitarian Award. She was a finalist nominee with the Berger-Marks Foundation in Washington, DC for demonstrating leadership in Social Justice; a guest speaker at the United Nations Youth Assembly and was a recipient of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal from the Government of Canada.