Is Cat Moving?

Having relocated to CO, NY, WA (and having considered moves to many other places) and then having "boomeranged" back to Alaska's Interior, I can safely say that the bloom of reinventing a life anywhere other than Fairbanks does not smell sweet. There are some great opportunities to work with this brilliant organization . . .but the ones I'm most interested in do not involve moving. My three-month trip to MA is about learning and being as useful as I can to this organization so I can return home to find ways to marry this work into my other avocations. Not only do I have much to learn about Heifer International and basic farm work, but I have much to learn about the indigenous people and cultures in the state I've so readily called "Home" all these years. I don't need to return to Africa's equator to find ways to learn from non-Western cultures or to be of use -- though a part of my heart remains there. I am interested in being responsible to my home community. This may involve supporting the fledgeling veterinary technology program here, raising awareness of Heifer, or helping start a local project (high hopes:)

For as much as I'm a dreamer, I'm also a realist. I admire this in Heifer International as well.

Choices

For as much as I want this blog to be filled with original posts, I can’t help quoting things of great relevance. The following two stanzas can work in the microcosm of a single life—or the globalcosm that Heifer is engaging in.

This query is from “The Art of Possibility” by Rosamund and Benjamin Zander

What assumption am I making,
That I’m not aware I’m making,
That gives me what I see?

What might I now invent.
That I haven’t yet invented,
That would give me other choices?

Projects in the United States

I requested the 2006 project profile for Heifer International and received a 75-page booklet that reads much like a course catalog for a university. There are projects all over the world, each briefly outlined and given names as varied as the people who incepted them: "APAC Women's Draft Animal Project(Uganda), Goat raising and Ginger promotion project(Nepal), Formulation of Animal Welfare Bill (Nepal- working with the Nepal Veterinary Council), Tsunami Victims Rehap project/Dignity Enhancement for People Living with Leprosy (Thailand), Orphanage support Farm Development Project (Armenia), Sheep Project (Azerbaijan), Cattle Project for Mountainous Region (Macedonia), Reversion to Sheep Breeding (Poland), Revival of Endangered Breeds (Ukraine), Recovering Crop Diversity with the Agroecological Approach and Reestablishing Community Governments (Ecuador)."

I am most thrilled, however, to see what is happening in the United States. There are about 86 US-based projects that cover the nation, including projects in areas affected by Hurricane Katrina, projects affecting the depleted land on Navajo reservations, projects in Brooklyn New York, and in other areas that most of us do not know even have the need. A project in Maine reads "Proffessionals work in partnership with reently resettled Somali immigrants and Latino farm workers in Lewiston, Maine . . ." The Navajo project 'Dine Doo Naldloosh Be lina NAlhilnaa' lists the animals provided by Heifer as

44 heifers
10 rams
11 goats
100 ewes
10 turkeys
10 geese
181 other poultry
5 rabbits
2 llamas

AND Two Border Collies !!!!

Here is one in Mississippi worth leaving off with:
"Beat IV Farmer's Livestock Cooperative (BIVLC) . . .the project is the oldest funded in the state. Over the last 15 years this project has passed on over 325 offspring of cattle, goats, pigs, and chickens. There are presently 19 families in the group. The project group is predominantly African-American with a good diversity of youth, senior citizens, and young adults all with an interest in continuing to farm and maintain ownership of their land."

The purpose of Overlook Farm

Some notable excerpts from my volunteer handbook:
"The purpose of a learning center is to transform individuals by providing progressive learning that contributes to a global movement for social change that ends hunger and poverty and cares for the earth. By 2010 learning centers will be a growing network of people, facilities and collaborative partnerships that also serve as a center for reflection, social action and sustainable living."
"The vision of Heifer Project International (HPI) is a world of communities living together in peace and equitably sharing the resources of a healthy planet.
The mission of HPI is to work with communities to end hunger and care for the earth;
'Passing the gift' is fundamental to HPI's approach to sustainable development. As people share the offspring of their animals, their knowledge, resources, and skills with others, an expanding network of hope, dignity and self-reliance is created that reaches around the globe.
HPI was founded in 1944 by Church of the Brethren educator, Dan West. Seventeen heifers were sent to Puerto Rico by boat. Soon not just heifers were requested and sent, but all types of livestock from bees to elephants. In the 1980's the livestock began to be purchased in the country where they are given. From the beginning, Dan West's vision encompassed all spiritual paths and all people that understood that to serve God, we serve our brothers and sisters."
". . . each family receiving an animal agrees to pass on to another family one of their animal's offspring, along with the training they have received. Groups define their needs and goals; HPI assists them with project planning , and received reports of their progress. HPI beleives that solutions to global problems lie in our ability to share what we have and care about others. We assist our partners in the selection of species and breeds, and provide training for their management. Livestock assist families in varied ways including protein sources, fiber, draft power, manure for soil fertility, as well as income for the family. HPI is committed to actions to increase mutual respect between men and women, this strengthening the family. HPI gives priority to traditionally disenfranchised groups who can benefit from modest support, and who include the poorest in their community in the group membership. Heifer's gift of livestock and training should assist communities in soil fertility, combating soil erosion, promotion of sanitation and biodiversity, and should not worsen environmental problems. Groups decide their own needs and work with local trainers for hands-on education."