Heifer China Self-Help Group Founded

    To fully demonstrate Heifer's belief in sharing, caring and participating, on 12 th , January 2007, Yunnan and Guizhou Office of Heifer China set up the first self-help group among the villagers of Heinigou village, Songming County . With the coordination of Yunnan and Guizhou office staff and project partners, the project families first elected members of the Self-Help Group committee, and then had discussion on the principles for submitting and using community self-help funds, the reward for joining self-help groups and passing Heifer ideas, the organization of a range of project activities etc., and a draft of regulations came into being. The founding of self-help groups will more efficiently implement Heifer's value-based development model in communities. To achieve ideal performance of self-help groups projects, in the following months, Yunnan and Guizhou Office will be providing advanced training to group members on the 12 Cornerstones, financial management, leadership and accountability.

    At the same time, the establishment of Self-Help Group is discussed and practiced in the other regional programs. On 7-8, Dec. 2006, “The Establishment of Self-Help Group and Community Capacity Building Workshop” was held in Chengdu for Sichuan/Chongqing Regional Program. The project partners and community leaders discussed the establishment of SHG and made the draft management plan. With the supervision and coordination of Regional Program Office, project partners practiced and established 10 SHGs in Dayi, Nanjiang, Wanyuan and Liangshan in Dec. 2006 and Jan. 2007. On 15 th Jan. 2007, Anhui 's first SHG was established in Hudong Community. 16 original recipient families voted the group leader and made its responsibilities, regulations and plan.