Nepal

Meet Mahendra

In the past thirty years, many Bhutanese natives have been forced to flee their country in order to escape discrimination and human rights abuses. Most refugees live in camps throughout Nepal, faced with crippling poverty. Citizens of Nepal who live near the refugee camps struggle share land and resources needed to support the influx of people.

A pig-raising cooperative, funded by your gifts to ELCA World Hunger is working to help both refugees and citizens of Nepal overcome the economic strains and community tensions that come with hosting a refugee camp.

Each group of 20 families — including  refugees and families from the host community — receive training and a gift of a few piglets. The group works  together to raise and sell the pigs, which bring a big payoff at the market. In addition, fertilizer from the pigs can be used to help grow crops.

"We achieve more by raising the pigs together as a group," says Mahendra, member and chair of the pig-raising group.  He describes the joy of using the extra funds to send his children to school.

The members of the cooperative share both the responsibilities and the profits of the pigs. This system of teamwork has nurtured relationships, dispersed tensions and sparked economic growth — all the while building a more secure future for their children.

Your gifts to ELCA World Hunger support this program and others like it in more than 60 countries around the world.

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