Training for Recipient Families’ Children
While children living in the city can spend their winter holidays visiting libraries and museums, children living in remote rural areas can only stay at home during wintry weather.
However, this past winter was different for children in the Shanghuofang community. Heifer helped set up a library with many children's books in the village. Members of the Self-Help Group took turns to manage the library. From now on, this library will provide a place for kids to spend their leisure time. The children are happy and enjoy reading there.
In January, a team of three project partners braved the freezing weather to visit the Shanghuofang community to organize a training session for the children of recipients' families. The children enjoyed listening to the story of Heifer's founder, Dan West, and what "passing on the gift" means. When the project partners asked the kids to talk about the changes in their families after receiving livestock from Heifer, they eagerly said:"My family got "two cows.", "Sometimes, my mother has to do homework (production accounts booking). ", "We built a new barn. ", "Adults often learn to sing and dance."," My mother bought me a new dress." Through the training, the children learned to be grateful for what they had. One of the children, Wang Jiapeng, said "When I grow up, I will donate to help the needy to pass on the love."
During the winter holidays, the community also organized activities such as painting and writing workshops to assist the children in expressing their understanding of Heifer and reflect upon changes in their families and community. These activities embody one of the Heifer Twelve Cornerstones, which is "training and education" of communities where there are Heifer recipients.
