"I will donate £10 towards building an irrigation system at a vegetarian orphanage in Kenya but only if 200 other people will do the same."
— Chris Anderson (contact)
Deadline to sign up by: 1st January 2006
203 people signed up (3 over target)
Country: United Kingdom
More details
We would like to raise £2000 for the extension of the irrigation system at the vegetarian orphanage in Kenya. This would enable a further 5 acres of land to be used for vegetable production.
HIPPO is involved in projects mostly in Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, and Uganda), but also sends vegan food aid to Russia, Bosnia, and Croatia. Requests for information about HIPPO's past and current activities are welcome. Donations should be in the form of cheques made payable to HIPPO, or details for direct payment to our bank account will be provided on request. Our address for all enquiries and donations is: HIPPO, The Old Vicarage, Llangynog, Carmarthen SA33 5BS, U.K. and our email address is HIPPOCHARITY@aol.com.
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Chris Anderson, the Pledge Creator, joined by:
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I would love to make donations as part of some Xmas presents for friends and family. Is that something that can be done? (i.e. a certficate saying 'a donation has been made in your name...')
I have asked Neville from HIPPO if this is possible. Unfortunately, this is a very busy time for them and they cannot produced certificates like this.
We have more crops than ever before but more than ever is being fed to animals - 95% of US soya goes to feeding animals.
Hippo and Vegfam have real solutions.
HIPPO is a great initiative - Good Luck with it - the cheque is in the post (or it will be tomorrow!)
Perhaps the Oxfam spokesperson was addressing the issue in rather superficial terms to communicate with a general audience in the UK but Oxfam partners on the ground are not stupid.
And the idea that the image of a goat wrapped in Christmas gift paper should be seen as communicating the idea that abuse of animals is the essence of the project makes about as much sense as would my interpreting the use of Hippo's hippo as a celebration of the hippo's responsibility for killing more humans in Africa every year than any other large mammal.
In fact Hippo sounds a very worthwhile project.
"The festive season is approaching - full of celebrations, parties, fun and laughter. Everyone is looking for present ideas that are slightly different from the norm and ethical gifts have become increasingly popular over the last couple of years.
Animal Aid is asking people to think twice before donating money to charities that supply 'developing' countries with live animals. There are much better, more economical and efficient ways of helping.
Farming animals is a wasteful, unsustainable and expensive way of producing food. Supplying cows and goats to impoverished people with limited resources just adds to their burden. All farmed animals require proper nourishment, yet surely it is not sensible to devote agricultural resources to feeding animals when they could be used to feed people.
Animals also consume large quantities of drinking water - a precious commodity that, in much of Africa, is in critically short supply. The evidence from such schemes to date indicates that the animals are often kept in highly challenging circumstances, which leads to a great deal of sickness and early death.
Poorer countries do not need aid in the form of live animals. They require sustainable, drought-resistant crops."
You can't bring in an argument like "Supplying cows and goats to impoverished people with limited resources just adds to their burden." without implying not only that the aid agencies concerned are stupid but also that impoverished people who keep livestock are also stupid. Is that what AnimalAid is actually saying?
Poorer countries certainly do need sustainable, drought-resistant crops (where poverty is in fact drought-related). But that doesn't mean they don't also need properly cared-for livestock or for that matter good schemes for irrigated vegetable production.
Send A Cow is a charity that is involved full-time in this sort of donation; therefore they has the necessary expertise to deal with it. They are not jumping on the bandwagon, as so many other charities have done lately. They have 20 years experience in this field. Don't let other organisations' irresponsibility put you off the fantastic work they do.
There will be no more people.
Irrigation = Water= plants= food=shelter=oxygen=protection against desertification=very cost effective use of money for people and environment.
Just weigh up the costs of send a cow and training vs irrigation and benefits.
Especially look at the benefits come the next drought - SAC's advice? Sell the cow - hmmmm great long term strategy that one!
Look at the devastation in Brazil from favouring cows over sustainable crops - recognise that landscape ??? more and more like Africa every day.
The economics don't add up long term.
This pledge could help many more people for a much longer period of time per £ - please support it.
Foods such as flour and margarine can be fortified with B12 and there is the additional option of vitamin pills. In fact, while plants cannot synthesise B12 themselves, recent research has discovered that they can absorb it from the soil. The B12 content of soil (and the corresponding B12 content of the plants grown in it) is affected by differences in organic matter, soil type and amount of microbial life. Much more research needs to be done, but it may prove possible to obtain healthy levels of the vitamin from plants alone that have been fertilised with treated human manure (Such manure - a sane and practical answer to the human waste problem - is used for plants in many parts of the world).
If none of these options can be taken up by impoverished populations, then - instead of sending cows and goats -
aid packages of vitamin supplements can be provided.
The substantial cost of breeding animals and training local people to care for them, along with the continuing cost of feeding and providing water and veterinary cover for the animals, is an incomparably bigger logistical and economic challenge than getting B12 into the diet.
Thank You
Joy Howell
Also is there a way of paying this by Gift Aid?
Lesley Dove
thanks
Joy