Lessons in giving and receiving took on global proportions for 10 young members of Linden Linthicum United Methodist Church in Clarksville.

The youth, all middle schoolers, recently traveled to Rutland, Mass. for a five-day stay at Overlook Farm, one of three extension farms nationwide serving as educational outreach learning centers for Heifer International. The 64 year-old nonprofit organization provides long term relief for impoverished communities world-wide by giving families a food source and training to sustain it.

Heifer International gives livestock to needy families in developing countries with the requirement that offspring of the livestock must be given to another family in need.

"The gift," as termed by Heifer, of a family giving the offspring of their newly acquired livestock to another family is one of Heifer's solutions toward a sustainable and continual food supply for the entire community, said Chris Wielhorski, marketing coordinator of Overlook Farm.

"This appeals to young people. Kids get fired up about it," Wielhorski said.

The Linden Linthicum youth worked at the 270-acre Overlook Farm taking care of the kinds of livestock, among them llamas, alpacas, sheep and cows, Heifer typically gives to the impoverished families.

Kelly Gregory, a ninth-grader at River Hill High School, said part of the appeal of the trip for her was tending to the animals. Among the chores were giving the animals food, water and new hay, and herding sheep into the pasture, she said..

Some of the more unpleasant tasks included mucking out the stalls and moving the chicken pen which was a daily routine.

"The kids learned what it means to have to take care of your food supply," said the Rev. Bryant Oskvig, pastor of Linden Linthicum, who, with three adult members of the congregation, accompanied the youth.

Lessons in food production and consumption were a part of the experience too. The youth learned how food gets to their own table and how food gets to the table of impoverished families around the globe. Learning about global consumption of resources opened their eyes to the disparities among the countries of the world, Oskvig said.

Watching a cow give birth was an exciting experience, and one which poignantly brought home the meaning of "the gift" which is central to the mission of Heifer, said Pegah Maleki, also in ninth-grade at River Hill.

Global Village

For one day and night the youth set up house at the learning center's Global Village, sites replicated from villages in some of the developing countries in which Heifer works -- Guatemala, Peru, Mexico and Thailand.

It's an immersion into the lives of people living in poverty and even though the experience is short there is a strong emotional reaction, Wielhorski said.

"I realized how bad they have it, how it really is," Kelly said.

Each member in the group took on the role of an impoverished family member in the household of one of the simulated villages.

The home was a structure typical for the village in the their assigned country and, unless fortunate enough to be cast as the head of the household, everyone slept on a wooden floor, Oskvig said.

Food for meals typical of the region was purchased at a simulated open-air market and prepared with supplies which would be available to a family living in that part of the world.

Each household was given a baby represented by a water balloon to care for. Oskvig said after their water balloon was popped accidentally, all the members in the household had to react as if the child had died and mourn the child through one hour of silent meditation.

"It was a long hour," Oskvig said.

Breanna LaTondre, a student at Mount View Middle, experienced life as a member of a Guatemalan family living in poverty.

"The life challenges for just that one day were remarkable," Breanna said. A simulated injury of one of the family members causing him to be unable to fully contribute was just one of many burdens, she said.

"The amount of food we had to eat was small and not filling," she said. "I realized how nice we have it here."

"We all came away with a better understanding of how their quality of living compares to the rest of the world," said Breanna's father, Jim LaTondre, who helped chaperone.

Oskvig said he was proud of how well the youth pulled together, not only during their stay at the Global Village but over the course of the trip.

"They learned the importance of working together as a family, a community and a global community," Oskvig said.

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