Self-reliance

Heifer International fights poverty around the world by providing farm animals, along with animal husbandry training, to the residents of poor communities.

The 62-year-old organization operates in 35 countries, including the United States. Its mission, "Ending Hunger, Saving the World," is to help the communities become self-reliant. By many accounts it is successful.

At a workshop last week at First Presbyterian Church in Cape Girardeau, participants learned how to give presentations about Heifer's mission. At the Heifer Ranch in Perryville, Ark., teenagers learn about poverty in simulated conditions. They spend a night in an hut with no air conditioning and must share resources like water, firewood and food with other "villages" on the ranch.

Heifer International does not have any programs in Missouri but is thinking about putting one in the Bootheel, home to some of the most impoverished counties in the United States. More information about Heifer International is available at www.Heifer.org.