The excitement was palpable as the Lower Schoolers headed into the gym for assembly to find a goal munching on some hay at the front of the room. The goat is a tangible symbol for Heifer International, a project helping to end world hunger and care for the earth, which is the current community service project in the Lower School. 

 

The goat, named Heidi, came to Brunswick with his caretaker, Bob, who has donated 80 goats through Heifer International. Heidi and Bob, along with Heifer International, were introduced to the boys by Connor Fitzpatrick ’09. Connor has been working with Heifer and planning this community service project with Mrs. Lindberg since the summer. Connor told the boys that Heidi lives on 1 ½ acres and sleeps on a platform in a shelter. Goats like to sleep raised from the cold or damp ground. An adult female goat, a doe, gives 2 ½  quarts of milk daily, or 10 glasses of milk. This milk would be enough to allow a family in a developing country to sell some milk and thereby have the money to send their children to school. Connor then introduced a Heifer volunteer, Cathy who spoke to the boys, showed a movie about several families who received animals from Heifer and then answered some questions.

 

The movie followed two families who were raising their Heifer animals donated by school children in the United States. It showed their lives of gathering food, water and firewood for themselves and their animals. The movie talked about the children who only wanted to attend school but whose parents were too poor until they received, in one case a water buffalo and in the other a goat. The milk from the animals and then the calf born of those animals enabled the families to buy clothing and send children to school. An interesting note is that the girl pictured in the film is now a senior at Connecticut College. That really exhibits the power of Heifer International. 

 

Click here to view the tally of animals which the Brunswick Lower School boys donated. 

For further information about Heifer International, go to http://www.heifer.org/