Heifer International, a
world hunger organization with headquarters here, today announced a new
two-pronged strategy to help fight the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Sub-Saharan
Africa. It will:
1. Provide livestock to increase incomes so impoverished families can
afford AIDS medication.
2. Teach sustainable farm methods integrating livestock with crop
production to add protein to family diets so the AIDS medicine will be
more effective. This strategy is based on the finding that Anti-
retroviral drugs used to treat AIDS are ineffective or even harmful in
people who are malnourished.
According to the United Nations, Sub-Saharan Africa has just over 10%
of the world's population, but is home to more than 60% of all people
living with HIV -- 25.8 million. In 2005, an estimated 3.2 million people
in the region became newly infected, while 2.4 million adults and children
died of AIDS.
Animal gifts from Heifer International provide two essential resources
for impoverished families in rural Africa who are impacted by HIV/AIDS:
needed income and nutrition. Increasing income allows people diagnosed with
HIV/AIDS to buy Anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs), and better nutrition that
includes animal proteins (milk, eggs and meat), helps people tolerate the
drugs. This ensures a better quality of life and a more hopeful future for
their entire family.
Please visit heifer/hiv-aids .
Heifer's approach addresses critical aspects of the pandemic:
-- Many of the most productive members of society -- adults in their
prime -- have already been lost to AIDS. They leave behind their
children and elderly parents.
-- Currently there are 15 million AIDS orphans around the world. With
increased effort to save lives of parents, Heifer provides hope that
the families will have a future and that life does not end with AIDS.
-- Strong immune systems are essential for the survival of those living
with HIV and AIDS. For families lucky enough to have access to
treatment, the drugs they're prescribed have serious complications, and
when patients are malnourished, the drugs are less effective.
-- Heifer's methods of integrated farming, growing animals and crops
together in agroecology projects, emphasize a diet rich in protein and
vitamins for people who are fighting the disease.
-- In addition to animals that produce milk or eggs, H
eifer also provides oxen for draft power to plow fields and take their products to market.
-- The gift of livestock helps crops get planted; income grows, and
communities are strengthened. The goal for most families is to afford
education for their children so they have opportunities for a better
future.
-- A single high-production dairy cow such as those provided by Heifer
can
produce four gallons of milk a day. What's not used by the family can
be sold for income so that they can afford ARVs.
Heifer's approach has been endorsed by Dr. Efraim Kabaija, Chief of
Staff to President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, who recently said that Heifer
would play an important role in alleviating Rwanda's crisis of malnutrition
because livestock, used in an integrated farming approach, can improve land
that has been depleted by overfarming: "The livestock is the provider of
direct ready- to-use manure for cultivation. It's the fastest way to get
people out of the vicious cycle of hunger. You are empowering them," he
said.
"It is the best way to fight poverty in the rural population of
Rwanda," he added.
Knowing that persons with HIV/AIDS need medicine and proper nutrition
for longer, more productive lives is only part of the equation. Merely
providing livestock is not the answer. When projects are implemented, they
must be holistic and take into account the cultural environment that can
impact their success. When implementing projects Heifer always works with
communities in full awareness of the local dynamics. Local community
groups, empowered to solve their own problems, conceive and manage Heifer
International projects, equipping the next generation to face challenges
successfully.
On the following pages are three compelling case studies of families
assisted by Heifer International to achieve greater self-reliance using
livestock as a means to increase their incomes and improve their nutrition
while coping with HIV/AIDS. Video interviews available.
Please visit heifer/hiv-aids.
They include Dr. Sahr Lebbe, Heifer's Africa program head; veterinarian
Terry Wollen, DVM, of Little Rock; Dr. Barry Colley of Little Rock, and Dr.
Jim DeVries, Heifer's head of international programs.
The mission of Heifer International is to work with communities to end
hunger and poverty and care for the earth. Since 1944, Heifer has helped
more than 7 million families in more than 125 countries move toward greater
self- reliance through the gift of livestock and training in
environmentally sound agriculture. The impact of each initial gift is
multiplied as recipients agree to "pass on the gift" by giving one or more
of their animal's offspring, or the equivalent, to another in need.
Heifer Internacional
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