Heifer's Cornerstones

If you ask Heifer project partners, "What are the most fundamental principles upon which you build your life?" many would answer "Heifer’s 12 Cornerstones for Just and Sustainable Development." Used for more than 65 years, these 12 Cornerstones guide communities to self-reliance.

Cornerstones stimulate group wisdom and personal insights, and they keep people's hearts, minds and actions balanced, focused and productive. Our 12 Stones video outlines the meaning and purpose of each Cornerstone, and their impact on our projects in the field.

	Passing on the Gift allows families who received Heifer gifts to become donors as they pass on these gifts to other families in need.		Genuine Need & Justice ensures that those most in need are given priority in receiving animals and training.

	Accountability means that we are mutually accountable to the communities we serve for how we achieve common goals.		Improving the Environment through sustainable farming techniques, reforestation, and tree-saving biogas is at the core of our projects.

	Sharing & Caring embodies the belief that global problems can be solved if everyone commits to sharing resources and caring for others.		Full Participation is expected by all participants. Leaders at the grassroots level should involve all members in decision making.

	Sustainability & Self-reliance is the goal for families we work with so that they will continue to thrive after our support ends.		Training & Education are key to ensuring that animals are well cared for and that self-reliance is achieved by project participants.

	Improved Animal Management means that project participants learn how to keep their animals safe, healthy and productive.		Spirituality is expressed in common beliefs about the value and meaning of all life, a sense of connectedness to the earth and a shared vision of the future.

	Nutrition & Income are the rewards Heifer expects recipients to reap from their gift animal through the consumption and/or sale of products such as milk, eggs, cheese, honey and wool.		Gender & Family Focus encourages women and men to share in decision making as well as in the benefits the animals and training bring.

You can support Heifer's work with women and communities by giving a gift today.

Passing on the Gift:

HOW IT WORKS: After their projects are established, families that received resources from Heifer—such as livestock, seeds or training—pass on these gifts to other families in need in their community. This allows them to help others as they have been helped, and to share the resources that they now have in abundance.

IN ACTION: In what specific ways has someone helped you or your family in the last month? Perhaps someone pitched in with childcare during an emergency, brought over a meal or simply listened to a problem you were struggling with. Using the spirit of that gift, how can you pass it along to someone else in need? Whether reaching out to old friends or to a stranger, the idea is to help someone in the way you've been helped, a way that might not have occurred to you before.

Genuine Need and Justice:

HOW IT WORKS: This Cornerstone helps guide Heifer's work so that we provide livestock and training to those with a genuine need. That means adequate nutrition is iffy and money for medicine and education is scarce. In many cases, poverty is a result of discrimination and racism. Heifer seeks to facilitate justice by empowering those who are disenfranchised because of their ethnicity, sex or social status.

IN ACTION: Genuine need exists everywhere, not just in developing countries. So does discrimination and bias. Be generous with your time and resources, and be mindful of respecting people from different backgrounds.

Accountability:

HOW IT WORKS: Participants in Heifer projects, including Heifer staff, partner organizations and the communities being helped, are mutually accountable to each other and must work together to achieve common goals. Heifer provides livestock, supplies, expertise and support, while project participants reciprocate with hard work and a pledge to pass on what they learn and receive.

IN ACTION: We're all part of communities, from the family level to the global level, so we must be accountable for the resources we use and the actions we take. Taking responsibility for our place in the world can take many forms: Recycling, volunteering and taking a genuine interest in the people and happenings around you are just a few. Make a list of ways you can be accountable to your family, friends and community and refer to it throughout the year.

Improving the Environment:

HOW IT WORKS: Caring for the Earth is a huge part of every Heifer project. Animals are chosen based largely on how appropriate they are for the local environment. Will they overburden or pollute the water supply? Will it be difficult to find or grow abundant fodder? Reforestation is a facet of Heifer projects in denuded areas, and manure and crop residues are used to reinvigorate anemic soil.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Environmental degradation is a problem to which we all contribute, so we all have a responsibility to help the Earth heal. Be mindful of how your choices of what to eat, how to travel and where to live affect people, animals and ecosystems around you.

Full Participation:

HOW IT WORKS: Virtually everyone in communities where Heifer works has something to contribute. Heifer calls everyone to the table, especially women living in cultures where they have traditionally been excluded or undervalued. Decisions affect everyone, and therefore must take everyone's opinions into account.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Think about who will be affected by the decisions you make, and be sure those people's perspectives are taken into account. And more broadly, remember that the fight to end hunger and poverty calls us all to action. Educate yourself. Reach out. Donate. Enlist your friends.

Sustainability and Self-Reliance:

HOW IT WORKS: Short-term fixes eat up resources and don't help families learn how to provide for themselves in the long-term. Heifer projects focus on caring for animals and the Earth so that they continue to produce. Participants get an initial boost from Heifer, but help comes in the form of tools and knowledge that will allow them to make their own way.

IN ACTION: Be mindful of your weight on the planet. Could you tread more lightly? When you can, eat foods that are grown locally. Carpool or walk. Reuse and recycle. Be aware of the true price of what you buy. Was the person who made it fairly compensated? Was the air, water or soil polluted?

Training and Education:

HOW IT WORKS: Training and education are key to ensure that animals are well cared for, and that participants get the most out of their projects. Participants learn nuts-and-bolts skills such as how to build sturdy pens and grow fodder, but they also receive training in all 12 Cornerstones. Cornerstone training helps participants tap into their own wisdom and strengths, both as individuals and as communities.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: You can't solve a problem if you don't know about it, so stay informed of what's happening around you, both locally and globally. Encourage children's curiosity. Support making decent education available worldwide.

Improved Animal Management:

HOW IT WORKS: In order for livestock to be a healthy and productive part of any farm, Heifer first ensures that the species and breed is an appropriate fit for the area and for the families who will receive the gift animals. Project participants then attend trainings to ensure they can provide the animals with adequate feed, water, shelter and health care. When animals are healthy and productive, families benefit and there is a favorable impact on the environment.

IN ACTION: Training and preparation for livestock often takes the entire first year of a five-year Heifer project. Project participants learn animal health and husbandry, integration of livestock into the ecosystem and improvement of the environment. Preparations for animals include building shelters and planting fodder. Heifer also trains community animal health workers who can administer vaccinations and other medicines to keep gift animals healthy.

Spirituality:

HOW IT WORKS: Spirituality is expressed in common beliefs about the value and meaning of all life, a sense of connectedness to the Earth and a shared vision of the future. While Heifer International has its roots in the Church of the Brethren, the mission embraces people of all faiths, both as contributors and recipients.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: It doesn't matter where you go (or don't go) to worship, all of the world's great religions call upon us to give. Contribute time, money, expertise and goodwill whenever you can.

Nutrition and Income:

HOW IT WORKS: Heifer recipients enjoy improved diets and finances through the consumption and/or sale of milk, eggs, cheese, honey, meat and wool. Other Heifer recipients use draft power to increase crop yields or get products to market more easily. It's not uncommon for project participants to share extra milk with their neighbors or to loan out their oxen to help other farmers till their fields.

IN ACTION: Be aware of the impact your diet has on others. Do you know how your produce was grown and harvested? Were the workers who picked and processed your food paid a living wage? Whenever possible, opt for locally and sustainably grown fruit, meat and vegetables.

Gender and Family Focus:

HOW IT WORKS: In Heifer's work, gender equity is central to success. Men and women must work side by side in equally respected roles and responsibilities for a family to lift itself out of poverty, which is why Heifer confronts issues of patriarchy and inequality head on. Also, women are more likely to share the fruits of their education and success with their families.

IN ACTION: Encourage girls to study math and science, and support female entrepreneurs. Raise your sons to treat women as equals, and make sure you advocate education for both genders equally. Parents, teach your boys how to cook and teach your girls how to wield a hammer.