Dallas Morning News/MCTWhile some students will be packing their bags to head home over spring break, five Cabrini students will be donating their time to educate themselves on the issues of hunger and poverty with Heifer International, in Honduras.
Starting Feb. 24 through March 4, junior accounting and Spanish major Lauren Peters, senior accounting and finance major Josh Lange, senior finance major Courtney Storey, sophomore accounting and finance major Rick Marx and sophomore marketing, Spanish and business administration major Mike Orloski, will witness how Heifer International works to end world hunger by providing hungry families with a renewable source of food, a “living loan” of an animal. The “living loan” can range from milk from a cow or goat, eggs from poultry, meat from rabbits or wool from llamas.
Ann Servey, associate professor of business administration and leader of the social justice trip to Honduras, hopes that when students return from the trip they will raise awareness about hunger and poverty based on their experience in Honduras.
“You can’t ignore poverty if you’re aware of it,” Servey said.
In June of 2005, Servey traveled with Heifer International to Zambia, Africa. It was after Servey’s experience in Zambia that she knew she wanted to bring Heifer International to Cabrini students so they too could experience what she did.
Servey said, “It’s an experience that you just want to share with everyone.”
For over 60 years, Heifer has helped more than 7 million impoverished families in 128 countries lift themselves out of poverty and achieve self-reliance.
Heifer aims to transform not just families, but the environment and community. One component that makes Heifer a success is that it provides extensive training in animal care, ecologically sound agriculture practices and community development.
Bernadina Maria Salgado, was a victim of Hurricane Mitch, which destroyed her house in the community on the banks of Nicaragua’s El Zopilote River.
Salgado a participant who used Heifer’s services, said in an interview reported on Heifer’s Web site, “I had no way to help provide for my family, but today, I am the breadwinner.”
Another important aspect of Heifer International is the “passing on the gift.” The “passing on the gift” is when families who receive an animal repay the loan by passing on one or more of the animals’ offspring to other needy families. The family passes on their gift to another family and so on. The end result is that one gift multiplies through the community.
Servey said, “‘The passing on the gift’ is truly amazing because families’ lives and whole villages have been changed, and then they can change the lives of other families and villages because of the gifts they have received.”
Currently, Heifer International provides over more than 27 types of animals that provide food or income to 57 countries and 29 U.S. states.
