The Luckiest Girl

Beatrice was destined to become another statistic in Africa, a woman without education or much chance of social mobility. But then a goat donated by schoolchildren in Connecticut changed her destiny. Heifer International is a program that encourages church groups and schools to raise funds and donate livestock to the poor in developing nations. A goat reached Beatrice’s village in Uganda, her parents could make a living by selling the goat’s milk and that extra income allowed Beatrice to attend school. Older than the other students, she worked hard and won scholarships to high school and later Connecticut College. Of course, as New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof points out, the story is one of perseverance, generosity and luck and it’s naïve to expect that donating farm animals or goods can solve a problem complex as global poverty. But the model program also shows how a small gift or tool can trigger a chain reaction of happy events and work wonders for some communities. – YaleGlobal