Daughters of Charity from the Evansville and St. Louis Provinces of the U.S.A. have learned how collaboration with Heifer International give self-sustaining gifts. What a difference a goat, or a cow, pig, rabbit, chicken, duck, llama, water buffalo makes, especially if you are one of the 842 million hungry people in the world.* Animal byproducts, such as milk, cheese, feathers, eggs, fur, and offspring can be sold by animal owners for needed income to purchase the essentials of life.
Daughters of Charity from the Evansville and St. Louis Provinces of the U.S.A. learned in May, 2004 how animals could be allies in the fight against hunger during a visit to the Heifer Ranch in Perryville, Arkansas. The Sisters, members of an interprovincial Advocacy and Social Justice Committee (ASJC), toured the Ranch to investigate whether Daughters of Charity might partner with the Ranch’s owner, Heifer International, to address hunger. Committee members included Sisters Patricia Connolly, Patricia Dunne, Margaret O’Dwyer, Mary Rogers, and Mary Walz.
The Sisters discovered potential for collaboration. Heifer International, a not-for-profit organization, is located in many of the countries in which Daughters of Charity serve. (See the chart below.) The Vincentian Family’s focus on battling hunger coincides with Heifer International’s mission of ending hunger and poverty. Heifer International’s grass-roots, collaborative approach promotes long-term solutions to hunger in a community-based, accountable, ecologically sensitive, and spiritual manner that matches our Community’s charism and mission especially as expressed in the new Constitutions.
The Sisters would like to know if there are any volunteers to translate this story in Spanish and French. If so contact Sr. Pat
Tags: Hunger
