CONWAY, Ark. (June 25, 2009) – For students in Dr. Jay McDaniel’s Ecotheology class, the learning didn’t end with the final exam. On May 16, McDaniel and six of his students flew to China for a Heifer Project Cornerstone Study Tour, to see firsthand the kind of sustainable economic development they had studied in the classroom.
The two-week tour gave the students a rundown of the work Heifer International has done in China. The students visited four villages in the Yunnan province, one of the most biologically and culturally diverse regions in the country, to meet with project partners and the villagers involved in the Heifer projects.
In the village of Mandan, the home of the Achang ethnic minority, the students were welcomed with music, dancing and fireworks. When the celebrations died down, the students learned about the Achang Community Participatory Development and Women Empowerment project, which provided 150 Achang families with sows and piglets, as well as training in environmental conservation and improved animal management.
The villagers also received training on Heifer’s Values-Based Holistic Community Development Model, which emphasizes the social aspects of sustainable living.
The visits allowed the students not only to see the Heifer Model in action, but to witness the changes Heifer’s principles had wrought in the communities. Through meetings with local families, the students heard dozens of success stories: fatter and healthier pigs, increased income, less smelly pigsties, more fertile soil.
“These people don’t have the luxury of pondering questions,” said junior Lauren Klaskala, an environmental studies and biology double major. “When we asked them, like, ‘What is the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen?’ or ‘What has been the happiest moment of your life?’ they had never thought about things like that. But they did say that, since the Heifer projects started, they’ve noticed that their community is more harmonious and there’s less quarrelling. I think their introspection is indicative of how much the change has meant to them.”
Biology professor Dr. Joyce Hardin also accompanied the students. As the chair of the Environmental Studies program at Hendrix, Hardin was uniquely qualified to help the students reflect on the way Heifer projects addressed environmental concerns.
“Becoming sustainable requires a complete lifestyle change,” Klaskala said. “People don’t realize that you don’t just do one thing. Just saying ‘I recycle plastics’ is not being sustainable. You need to make an effort in every aspect of your life in order to make your lifestyle – or your community, or an institution – more sustainable.”
McDaniel hoped the work with Heifer would encourage students to learn from the Heifer model.
“Heifer International encourages two kinds of harmony – harmony among people and harmony with the earth – both of which are so important to the world today,” McDaniel said. “The model combines a desire to eliminate poverty and environmental degradation with a respect for the creativity and wisdom of people who are poor in material well-being but who are rich with possibilities.”
A professor of religion, McDaniel was named to an Odyssey professorship last spring, which has provided him with funding to develop engaged learning experiences for Hendrix students. McDaniel will use his professorship to develop a partnership between Hendrix College and Heifer International. He is developing other programs as well, and he hopes Hendrix will become a place where students can be involved with Heifer International in various ways.
For more photographs and to read a day-by-day account of the trip, check out the China Odssey blog written by Samantha Long.
The students on the trip included:
Junior Katy Brantley, a biology major from Nashville, Tenn.
Senior Samantha Long, a senior sociology/anthropology major from El Dorado
Ashlyn Holeyfield ’09, an international relations major from Russellville
Junior Lauren Klaskala, a biology and environmental studies double major from Starkville, Miss.
Junior Christin Norman, a psychology major from Fayetteville, and
Junior Jamie Zarate, a religion major from Fulshear, Texas
Hendrix, founded in 1876, is an undergraduate liberal arts college emphasizing experiential learning in a demanding yet supportive environment. The college is among 165 colleges featured in the 2008 edition of the Princeton Review America’s Best Value Colleges. Hendrix has been affiliated with the United Methodist Church since 1884. For more information, visit www.hendrix.edu.
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