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It has been just over a year since I went to Honduras on the Educator’s Study Tour with Heifer International, and I am feeling quite nostalgic.  As an ode to our adventure and my life-changing experience, I thought I’d post an article that I wrote at the request of a local magazine.  Soon after I submitted the article, they ceased to run that particular section, and it has gone unprinted.  It is time for it to be unveiled and shared…

A single cricket chirped outside, and I could hear the murmur of teachers in the next room. The sound of trucks, shifting their gears along the Pan American Highway, along with the anticipation for what lay ahead, made sleep difficult.  Earlier that day, our airplane flew carefully between two mountains and made a steep turn before an abrupt and hard landing on the short runway. The jolt was an appropriate welcome to what would be an adventure of a lifetime.

Over breakfast and a cup of rich shade grown organic coffee, we learned about the schedule for our week in Honduras.  We were on an educator study tour with Heifer International, an organization that works with communities all over the world to end hunger and poverty and to care for the earth.  Heifer gives families a source of food, rather than short-term relief.  Living Gifts, such as cows, chickens, bees, goats and sheep, provide recipients a sustainable source of nutrition and income through the consumption or sale of products such as milk, eggs, cheese, honey and wool.   One of Heifer’s key strategies is for these recipients to “pass on the gift.”  As people share their animals’ offspring with others – along with their knowledge, resources and skills – an expanding network of hope, dignity and self-reliance is created that reaches around the globe.  This simple idea of giving families a source of food rather than short-term relief caught on and has continued for over 60 years. Since 1944, Heifer has helped 8.5 million people in more than 125 countries.

During the next 7 days, we nearly lived on our bus as we traveled to projects all over the country.  Each community had its own story of how their lives had been transformed through their involvement with Heifer International.  Women told us about the school uniforms and food they were able to purchase from the sale of their piglets. One mom earned enough money build an enclosed kitchen with a fuel efficient stove for her family, and another was able to buy furniture for her home for the first time. At a bee cooperative, a young woman said that she was grateful to have a business so that she was no longer considered “just a housewife.”  Just like working mothers here, she was excited to get out of the house, meet other people and have something besides her home to give her pride.  Another woman beamed with delight as she declared that she had become an expert at breeding chickens, and was a mentor for all other families in the region.  A man named Jorge told us about the milk that his cow provides for his children, and how the protein is improving their performance in school; he then sang us a song to express his gratitude.

After several days of hearing their stories, we were surprised when we were asked why we wanted to be involved.  Already raw with emotion from Jorge’s song, I could hardly speak through my tears when I was asked to share my story.  I described my healthy cooking classes for children and my work to teach families how to cook and eat well together. By participating in this study tour with Heifer International, I hoped to collect personal accounts that would help me motivate my students to use food and cooking as a way of helping others within our local and global communities.  I also wanted to learn more from Heifer about how people work together to make sustainable food choices and protect the environment.

It was hard to avoid feeling the socio-economic chasm between our group, laden with cameras, sunglasses, insect repellant and raingear, and the families we visited.  At the same time, the similarity between all of us, regardless of location or financial status, was undeniable.  I watched as children sat with pride at the feet of their mothers and listened to stories of how their communities worked together to succeed.  I considered the impact that I have on my own children, as I work to grow my business while promoting sustainability at home.  My 7 year old daughter said that even though she missed me, she was proud of me for wanting to go to Honduras to learn how to help people, and she reminded me of the big event we did earlier this year to benefit families living in an emergency homeless shelter in San Rafael. I am excited about using my experiences with Heifer to further my work here in Marin County.

Michelle Stern is a mother of two and the founder of What’s Cooking (www.whatscooking.info), a certified green business that offers healthy and seasonal cooking classes and birthday parties to kids in the San Francisco Bay Area. In her online shop you’ll find unique sustainable gifts and party favors that encourage families to spend time together in the kitchen.