Help Stamp Out Hunger on May 10th

Did you know that 35 million Americans are hungry or living on the brink of hunger? For the 14th year, Campbell Soup Company and the United States Postal Service are partnering with the National Association of Letter Carriers to co-sponsor Stamp Out Hunger, the nation's largest, single-day food drive.

The event delivered over 70 million pounds of food in 2007. Though thousands of local post offices will be participating in the program, some are unable to. To find out whether your letter carrier is participating, search the USPS website for the contact information for your local post office.

WiLD Women Change Communities!

Please watch the video about Mona Shrestna, a 2003 WiLD campaign participant in Nepal. Mona is part of the Narayani Mahila Bachat Samuha, which translates as "Women's saving group." In a village where the men had owned everything, her group received two goats, which produced offspring to sell. Eventually, her group saved enough to open a shop and send children to school. The group is now in its fourth generation of offspring, and continuing to enrich the community.

"Before Heifer my life was filled with darkness. We were like slaves in our own homes." — Mona Shrestna

What a WONDERFUL way to support and empower women!

Kiva Update

I was so excited to get an update on one of the women who Jenn and I helped loan money to, through KIVA. We are SO PROUD to be involved with Dr. Bonyo and her gynecological practice and want to support her work as much as we can. She is not only improving her business, but improving the lives of families in her community. Thank you KIVA for giving her (and us) this opportunity!

Dr. Bonyo has been a practicing gynecologist since 1984. Her clinic currently handles over 30 deliveries per month and she has three children of her own. She used her first loan from her MFI to purchase a spectrophotometer and a caloritic meter, allowing her to perform urine and liver function tests at her clinic rather than go through the cumbersome process of outsourcing all lab work. Her second and third loans, both helped purchase an X-Ray machine. For her the loans have been “a dream come true,” her clinic can now perform almost all routine gynecological services as well as other basic medical surgeries and treatments. Her brand new X-ray machine, is the pride of the clinic and has fully solidifed her private practice as a premier medical facility for reproductive care. In the past two years her staff has expanded from 22 workers to 35, and she has also added additional beds. If she receives a fourth loan, she hopes to purchase an ultrasound scan of her own to replace the one she used to borrow from a friend until recently when she had to return it.
Kisumu Medical & Education Trust (K-MET)
Posted by Colin Chazen from Kisumu, Kenya Jun 11, 2007

Ready for Christmas

Jenn and I sat in the living room and wrapped presents for several hours last night after the boys went to bed. It was so great to put them under the tree and not see that bare little tree anymore. We still have some more things to wrap up, but we got a really good start. We wrapped all the kids gifts (except the boys) and got my families stuff finished. We still have a couple of things to buy this weekend, but then we are finished! She talked me into letting her open her gift early. It wasn't all that hard, since I was wanting her to see it and make sure she liked it. She does! :) I got her an anniversary band. She has been wanting something more dainty and feminine than the rings we got this summer. I am just glad that I did ok. *whew* LOL

Heifer International

Remember the movie Pay It Forward from 2000? Staring Kevin Spacy, Helen Hunt and Haley Joel Osment. The idea was to make the world a better place by doing something nice for someone as a way of “paying back” the something nice done for you by someone else. In other words “pay it forward, not back.” Pay It Forward’s idea about making the word a better place isn’t a whole lot different from Heifer International’s Passing on the Gift cornerstone principle. Each family that receives a Heifer animal and training “passes on” offspring to another family. This passing on can continue for generations, and change the lives of entire villages. Click to see a video “Passing on the Gift”The best gift is one that can keep on giving and one that really makes an impact on those receiving it.

Make a donation today! Give the life-changing gift of a Heifer International animal.

"Nothing Can Defeat Me"

Help me in giving to Heifer International.

Philister Randiki and her family were in a situation so hopeless that Heifer made an exception by giving them two animals, but when she was asked if there was anything too painful to talk about, Philister said with a smile, "There is nothing that can defeat me."

At 72, Philister was the first of four wives to a husband who died of AIDS. The other wives also died of AIDS, leaving 10 sons, six of whom have died of AIDS along with their wives and three of their children.

Philister was left to care for the 18 surviving children.

"All the orphans, even the ones who left, are coming back to me," Philister said. "Love and the force of love is so strong."

But before Heifer appeared, Philister admitted that she was scared and confused about caring for so many children.

"We were starving and could barely manage to put one meal on the table," she said. "We gave the children porridge, but it was dry and had no nutrients."

With the gift of their dairy cows, Philister's family began receiving up to 20 liters of milk a day. They consume half and sell the other half to buy food."I would not be alive today without this gift," she said. "Before Heifer I was sick and worn out from trying to care for my family alone. Now there is food and money and my sons and daughters have returned."

Philister recently died of recurrent malaria, still the number one killer in sub-Saharan Africa. But her family is still together. Those who have survived are caring for each other. They are learning how to protect themselves from HIV/AIDS and are sharing their story with others.

Give to Heifer International and you are giving a gift that continues on throughout the years, affecting not only one person, but so many. Heifer International does so much more than put food in the mouths of hungry people. Heifer helps people feed themselves.

The goal of every Heifer project is sustainability – project partners achieving self-reliance.
And year after year, as partner families “pass on the gift” of knowledge and one or more of their animals’ offspring to others in need, they become links in a network of hope, dignity and self-reliance that helps hundreds of others care for themselves.

Spending

Ugh. Just thinking about the holiday season is giving me stress. Every time the boys see a toy commercial it's "I want that!". I hate how the holiday season has just turned into a big money suck and is more about presents than spending time with family.

I seriously do not have more than a couple hundred to spend on Christmas this year and it is just going to have to do and I hate feeling guilty about it or upset that people might feel slighted. How crazy is that!?

I also want to go to Sears or Penny's and get the boys pictures made soon. Cards with pictures are what this year's gifts are all about! :)

Microloans

I just wanted to tell about something I saw on FRONTLINE WORLD the other night. It was amazing. It is called KIVA and they set up funding for microloans to business people in Uganda. The loans are for small amounts of money (to us in the US) and everyday people can go online and agree to fund the loans for the business people.

It is just AMAZING! Their server has been down since the program aired, but I encourage people to check it out. It is www.kiva.org.