Africa Endowments
Tanzania Endowments
HELEN P. STEFFEN MEMORIAL TANZANIA ENDOWMENT
Established in 2003 with a gift from the Steffen family of Goshen, Indiana. Helen Steffen was a long time volunteer of Heifer International. She and her late husband, Walt, volunteered for two years on Mafia Island, Tanzania, The family writes “Heifer Project has always been an integral part of our parents’ lives and their experience in Africa was life fulfilling for both of them. The investment they had with the natives on Mafia Island instilled in their children’s lives the meaning of service and giving of one’s self. Their generosity of time, skills, and talents with this project was just one of the many ways they gave of themselves.”
Heifer International continues work with thousands of families in Tanzania, a country called “one of the poorest countries in the world” by World Factbook, where more than half the population lives beneath the poverty line. The economy is heavily dependent on agriculture, yet topography and climate conditions limit cultivated crops to only four percent of the land area. (Tanzania is home to famed Mt. Kilimanjaro, the highest point in Africa.) HIV/AIDS has struck the country hard. Livestock projects include dairy cattle, goats and camels, as well as bees. The emphasis of these projects is on soil conservation, tree planting, contouring and use of biogas for cooking and lighting. Project recipients get training in animal husbandry and environmental conservation.
Through the Steffen Endowment, Helen and Walt’s work lives on. To help those in Tanzania, as did the Steffans, please give today.
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