If you didn't read Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times a few days ago, here's your chance. In his column, the Luckiest Girl, he writes about a poor African girl given a chance in life due to -- a goat. On a continent where education is difficult to obtain, particularly for girls from poor families, her family was able to send her to school due to money it earned from the sale of milk. The cow was supplied by Heifer International. This is the kind of story we can all connect to, even those who still don't understand why we send millions of dollars overseas each year to help build schools, vaccinate children and help to secure free and fair elections. It's the sort of "aid works" story that reassures me that my choice of career in international development is exactly the right one. It's the sort of story that I hope will inspire you the next time you are thinking about making a charitable donation or wondering if you can make a difference.
Photo courtesy of Heifer International website.
1 comment:
Great op-ed... I met a woman who worked at Heifer Int'l when I was speaking with SOS Children's Villages -- which is another really great non-profit that helps orphan kids all over the world... not just in developing countries, but also here in the US. It really does reaffirm why it is so important to give people the resources and tools to help better themselves.
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