Organization Helps Others Give Goods, Services Abroad

Dec. 21, 2008 — -- A year ago, when Florence Wassa and her family received a goat from World Vision International, through a donation from the Cramer family, they were overwhelmed and overjoyed.

"The goat they've given us, our life will be changed to the better," Wassa said, expressing gratitude for the gift that she knew would provide much needed assistance. The Wassas live in a village called Dome, in the Ashanti region of Ghana. In Dome, the gift of a goat is a life changing event.

World Vision International arranged the donation of ten goats to this impoverished community, of about 300 people, at the same time the Wassa received theirs.

The community now boasts 36 goats from the original donation a year ago. Since giving birth, the female goats now produce milk which is sold in the local market, providing a steady supplemental income to the families. Once the herd of goats is stable, the baby goats will also be sold to bring in more income.

The Wassas have one son, 8-year-old Frank. Primary school in this community costs just shy of $100 a year and the fees steadily climb to $400 for the final year of high school. Frank's education is a high priority for the family, but their harvest is sparse and if there is bad weather its possible to have no harvest at all.

Now that the Wassas are also raising goats, they do not have to depend solely on their unpredictable harvest to get by. The option to earn money in the market with their goats provides a strong guarantee that Frank will stay in school until he graduates.

The goats bring more than just financial gain, the families also drink the goats' milk for nourishment, and use it to teach responsibility.

Frank, tasked with caring for his family's goat, gains confidence and a sense of purpose in his household. He also cultivates skills that he will one day apply to a household of his own. He feels good about the arrangement.

"I'm happy to have the goats because my future will be better," he says. For the adults, having animals or livestock improves standing in the community. "We now feel happy because we have hope that our future will be happy," Wassa says, smiling.

The Wassas, however, are not the only ones who benefiting in this scenario. The Cramer family plays a significant role. Last year, World Vision gave Good Morning America Weekend an exclusive peek into the purchasing process of their gift catalog.

The catalog arrives on your doorstep along with all of the other circulars that show up around the holidays. But this one, instead of selling turtlenecks and sweaters, sells wares of a different kind. The catalog's glossy pages are filled with goats, sewing machines, bicycles, immunization kits, backpacks, farming tools, deep water wells ... items and services that give people in 100 different countries a leg up to a better life.

The Cramers -- Linda, Joe, Matt, Miranda and Will -- have been donating through the catalog for a half-dozen years.

Each week, they have "cheap dinner night" costing roughly $5.00 to feed the whole family. In a jar they save what they would have spent to "buy" things from the catalog.

"I think the gift catalog helps because there are pictures of kids with animals and that really helps us talk about what we want to give," says Linda Cramer.

"We are like any parents. We are trying to instill good values in our children. This seems like a natural way. I feel like World Vision is a great organization," says father, Joe Cramer, about his family's tradition.

With their savings, the Cramers bought some fishing gear, school supplies and the Wassa's goat.

Normally, donors do not know to whom the goat is gifted or in what country. (Gifts through World Vision cannot earmarked by the donor.) But we were able to track this gift. Our cameras were invited to capture 10 goats being presented to six families in Dome, and again this year to see the progress. We arranged for the Cramers to see a video of the Wassa family expressing their gratitude and showing their prized livestock.

When asked for her message to the family that donated her goat, Wassa looked directly into the camera and said, "We would say thank you to them. May God enrich and bless them."

The Cramer children were moved. "I just want to say wow. Wow. It is incredible to see what those goats did for that family," said Matt Cramer.

Glen MacDonald, president of The Wealth and Giving Forum, gives insight on charitable giving via glossy catalog.

"The good thing is that it's trying to connect the donor with the recipient which always is a more real act of giving than just writing a check. And it showcases need. It has an education benefit aside from just collecting dollars and shipping them out."

In this instance, a connection was formed indeed. Miranda Cramer, eldest of the three children, may have said it best. "It is going to change our lives," she said.