Lundi Links is back after a long hiatus! I'm sure you've been wringing your hands over its unpredictability.
Today's theme is animal-related causes you can donate to or just learn about. First, we have HeroRATS, who use their super-smelling to seek out landmines, tuberculosis, and more.
Then there's the Carolina Raptor Center, which I never visited even though it was just steps from my door at Davidson! Not literally, but it was pretty close. They take care of injured birds and do education work. Similarly, Carolina Tiger Rescue is taking care of the big cats right near Pittsboro. Pretty cool, huh?
I completely understand when people say resources should go toward people before we worry about animals, but I want to highlight these organizations because, well, it's just cool. The next one, the big one, is not part of that argument because it uses animals to help people. Presenting The Heifer Project, my all-time favorite charitable organization! I wanted to work for them abroad after college, but it turned out they only employed locals. Let down as I was, I couldn't complain. Of course they should! That way, the people who are running the operation know the area, the land, the people, and the customs, and there's less of that icky white-man-coming-in-to-fix-things feeling. Plus, that job means much more to a poor local than it does to some post-college ne'er-do-well who wants an adventure. Seriously smart move, Heifer.
The organization, also called Heifer International, provides animals to communities who make proposals to them. That way, Heifer doesn't dictate what the community needs; they decide what will work and how they want to go about it. All the animals are used for something sustainable, like milk or wool or honey or eggs. They range in size from bees to elephants. The first animal donated was a heifer (a cow that hasn't had babies yet), and the recipients ate it. Understandable! They were hungry! But it's sort of a give-a-man-a-fish situation, and Heifer is all about teaching them to fish, so to speak. Since then, they make sure to train all recipients in how to take advantage of the animals' gifts over the long term.
I worked at Heifer's educational farm in California for a few weeks (my consolation prize for not being able to go somewhere more exotic), during which my admiration for the organization grew and grew. I really want to write a book about Heifer someday, possibly combined with other humanitarian projects that work really well and make sense.
You can be a volunteer at one of Heifer's farms in Arkansas or Massachusetts (I believe the Cali one has closed or transitioned to some other use, but I could be wrong), either on a live-in basis or as a local who comes in during the day. If your Christmases or your friends' birthdays have been a little "eh" on the gift side, think about giving donations in honor of someone, to Heifer or to any organization. I personally love picking out animals that someone will like. Baby chicks never fail to delight.
When I lived at the Heifer farm, our dining-room table and chairs had been won on The Price Is Right and donated to the center. We had a piano in the house, so I had my parents send me a bunch of sheet music and almost got the hang of "Hey Jude." We had chickens, ducks, geese, a water buffalo, goats, an ostrich, turkeys, a heifer, sheep, alpacas, and a few cats that were unaffiliated with the project. The ostrich, Sweet Pea, was like something George Lucas and Jim Henson would make together. The turkeys sounded like old church ladies at the end of the barn. The goats were my favorite, and I'd love to have one someday. Sheep are really stupid, alpacas extremely aloof, and when all of the animals were together, I got to feeling just a little jealous of Noah.
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