Heiffer project

[Guest guest]

OK, I know that I am going to get spammed for this but...

 

I was a Peace Corps volunteer in the Dominican Republic a few years ago. I

lived in a VERY rural, remote area without roads, electricity, running water

(i.e., plumbing) and all the other wonderful things people associate with

extreme poverty. Included in this poverty was a lack of education, my good

neighbor argued with me about man walking on the moon and that the earth really

was flat...

 

Part of this education was the reality of what poverty means for a human body.

They ate mainly rice with a few beans, not enough for a balance protien, lots of

plantains and fruit from the trees in the forest that they lived in. I ate it

too and quickly grew tired of all the avocados during the peak season... Most

folks had parasites and knew that they had them... they did nothing for them.

They would only get them again and all the talking in the world would not

convince anyone to put bleach, which they used with glee when washing clothes in

the river, into their drinking water. Parasites also came from walking barefoot

in the mud, but for anyone who has tried to walk in flip flops in clay mud up

hill, you'll understand why they didn't bother. Malnutrition causes the belly

to bloat, the hair to turn yellow, babies to miscarry... The leading cause of

death of small children is diareaha caused by parasites. My two neighbor kids

both nearly died of that while I was there... not much anyone could do...

 

Meat, well, it was a rarity. Chicken was the favorite as it was the least

likely to go bad before it was all sold or eaten. Big animals, like cows and

pigs, were not only harder to keep up in the mountains, but they went bad faster

as there was much more of them in one animal and no refridgeration. A single

chicken would feed 4-5 families of 8... it was not used as a protien source, it

was used as a rare treat and as flavoring for the increadibly mind numbing

repetitiveness of beans.

 

The animals they did raise, they usually sold, except for the chickens, which

they either ate or used for eggs. The money would go to helping them buy the

rice and oil and kerosene and the bleach and shoes and the rare doctor visit.

Yes, they could sell fruit gathered in the forest, and they did. They lived in

a chocolate forest and sold the fruit of this in town. It doesnt' go bad and

brings a decent price and is easy to ship out of the hills on a mule. Avacadoes

and oranges and other stuff... well, if it is 120 degrees outside, the fruit

mashes easily... how much do you think makes it to market? Cows and pigs,

however, are a bit easier. You can raise one on a hillside next to your house

pretty easily feeding it the leftovers from the field and grass that they

chopped with machetes down in the lowlands. When the animal was big enough, it

walked out of the hills on its own and made it to market healthy and ready to

sell. They could make MONEY. Not to buy a new DVD player with or the latest

tennis shoes... they used that money to LIVE.

 

One day, my wonderful neighbors, who lived a whole 4 feet away from me in a

little shack, they came over and asked me if I was interested in eating fresh

coconuts. I LOVE coconuts, fresh and green off the tree... and they knew it was

my favorite food in the world. So, I said yes. I had just eaten my lunch of

pasta, they probably knew that too, but I love coconuts. So, we were sitting

there by our houses, eating the coconuts the Lucio had opened with his machette,

when it dawned on me... these were a treat for me, but they were all my dear

friends had to eat at all for lunch.

 

So, while I respect your ethics and your desire to live by what you believe

while trying to do something good buy helping to provide animals to people who

do truely need them... But please understand that for many people in this world,

to kill or not kill an animal to eat simply is not an option. The option is to

live or not to live, or to watch your child die, or be mentally handicapped from

malnutrition or lack of medicine... Please give, but please let them make the

decision on how to use your generous gift.

 

Sorry if I am on a rant, but these folks that are so poor are more than numbers

on TV in some distant land, they were and always will be my neighbors, people I

love and cherish and consider my family....

 

Genie

 

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Genie,

What a wonderful and insightful story. Two thumbs up for you and your compassion

to be able to see this and your strength to convey it. I agree completely with

you. If one is a vegetarian for compassion reasons, then how can you jusify and

nation starving to death when meat is there only option. I think one who has

the wise heart has the abitlity and knowledge to be able to find the middle way

as well as the time to know when to stand by an ethic.

Its enteresting when you said..

<<But please understand that for many people in this world, to kill or not kill

an animal to eat simply is not an option. The option is to live or not to live,

or to watch your child die, or be mentally handicapped from malnutrition or lack

of medicine... Please give, but please let them make the decision on how to use

your generous gift.>>

because one of the quotes on the information I got from Heifer was from a man

that lives in a tribe that received water buffalo and he said " If I die, my

family will be sad and mourn my death. If my buffalo dies...my family will

starve. "

The more I read about this Heifer project the more impressed I am with their

ethics and work. Really interesting.

Very profound,

With kindness,

Beth

genie bottle <geniesflower wrote:

OK, I know that I am going to get spammed for this but...

 

I was a Peace Corps volunteer in the Dominican Republic a few years ago. I

lived in a VERY rural, remote area without roads, electricity, running water

(i.e., plumbing) and all the other wonderful things people associate with

extreme poverty. Included in this poverty was a lack of education, my good

neighbor argued with me about man walking on the moon and that the earth really

was flat...

 

Part of this education was the reality of what poverty means for a human body.

They ate mainly rice with a few beans, not enough for a balance protien, lots of

plantains and fruit from the trees in the forest that they lived in. I ate it

too and quickly grew tired of all the avocados during the peak season... Most

folks had parasites and knew that they had them... they did nothing for them.

They would only get them again and all the talking in the world would not

convince anyone to put bleach, which they used with glee when washing clothes in

the river, into their drinking water. Parasites also came from walking barefoot

in the mud, but for anyone who has tried to walk in flip flops in clay mud up

hill, you'll understand why they didn't bother. Malnutrition causes the belly

to bloat, the hair to turn yellow, babies to miscarry... The leading cause of

death of small children is diareaha caused by parasites. My two neighbor kids

both nearly died of that while I was there... not much anyone could do...

 

Meat, well, it was a rarity. Chicken was the favorite as it was the least

likely to go bad before it was all sold or eaten. Big animals, like cows and

pigs, were not only harder to keep up in the mountains, but they went bad faster

as there was much more of them in one animal and no refridgeration. A single

chicken would feed 4-5 families of 8... it was not used as a protien source, it

was used as a rare treat and as flavoring for the increadibly mind numbing

repetitiveness of beans.

 

The animals they did raise, they usually sold, except for the chickens, which

they either ate or used for eggs. The money would go to helping them buy the

rice and oil and kerosene and the bleach and shoes and the rare doctor visit.

Yes, they could sell fruit gathered in the forest, and they did. They lived in

a chocolate forest and sold the fruit of this in town. It doesnt' go bad and

brings a decent price and is easy to ship out of the hills on a mule. Avacadoes

and oranges and other stuff... well, if it is 120 degrees outside, the fruit

mashes easily... how much do you think makes it to market? Cows and pigs,

however, are a bit easier. You can raise one on a hillside next to your house

pretty easily feeding it the leftovers from the field and grass that they

chopped with machetes down in the lowlands. When the animal was big enough, it

walked out of the hills on its own and made it to market healthy and ready to

sell. They could make MONEY. Not to buy a new DVD player with or the latest

tennis shoes... they used that money to LIVE.

 

One day, my wonderful neighbors, who lived a whole 4 feet away from me in a

little shack, they came over and asked me if I was interested in eating fresh

coconuts. I LOVE coconuts, fresh and green off the tree... and they knew it was

my favorite food in the world. So, I said yes. I had just eaten my lunch of

pasta, they probably knew that too, but I love coconuts. So, we were sitting

there by our houses, eating the coconuts the Lucio had opened with his machette,

when it dawned on me... these were a treat for me, but they were all my dear

friends had to eat at all for lunch.

 

So, while I respect your ethics and your desire to live by what you believe

while trying to do something good buy helping to provide animals to people who

do truely need them... But please understand that for many people in this world,

to kill or not kill an animal to eat simply is not an option. The option is to

live or not to live, or to watch your child die, or be mentally handicapped from

malnutrition or lack of medicine... Please give, but please let them make the

decision on how to use your generous gift.

 

Sorry if I am on a rant, but these folks that are so poor are more than numbers

on TV in some distant land, they were and always will be my neighbors, people I

love and cherish and consider my family....

 

Genie

 

 

 

 

 

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