Archive for October 2011
What a Cow Means
The Girl Effect: Sanchita and What a Cow Means
“Given the chance, girls are uniquely capable of investing in their communities and making their lives, and the lives of their brothers, sisters and communities, better. This is the ripple effect that happens when girls are given the support to realise their full potential. This is the Girl Effect.” – Girl Effect
Please watch this short video about Sanchita who lives in Bangladesh.
Like Sanchita, I was a girl with a cow. My cow’s name was Ginger. She was a brown-eyed Hereford with a large upside down heart on the side of her neck.
My dad let me pick her out myself. He wanted me to know what it was like to be responsible and take care of animals.
As much time as I put in on the family farm, summers spent staring down long rows of hay bales, hours hoeing corn and stacking wood, springs watching for Ginger’s newest calf, I knew this was not all my life would be.
When I turned 19 and headed off the college, Ginger would be sold and the money would go toward a portion of my tuition bill.
For me Ginger meant I was one step closer to being the first person on my father’s side of the family to graduate from college.
For Sanchita a $60 cow means milk to be sold to provide for her family, pay for her brother’s education and save for her future.
For a minute just stop and think about what a cow means to you. Think about that last burger you ate, think about that leather jacket in your closet and think about the absurdity of Where’s the Beef?
One cow, one single cow can change the trajectory of a girl’s life.