Moo-ving on!

10:20am Wednesday 9th July 2008

WHILE many of us might be happy to share gossip in the pub or at the office water- cooler, we still seem to live up to the tight-lipped' stereotype when it comes to personal matters.

A recent survey by international development charity Send a Cow, which I volunteer for, suggests that Brits are among the least generous in the world when it comes to passing on their pearls of wisdom. One in three (28 per cent) people in the UK say that they have never passed on the single best piece of advice they've ever received to anyone else at all - not even to their nearest and dearest.

The survey findings seem to highlight a breakdown in community spirit here in the UK. As I've seen through speaking to those helped by Send a Cow, in stark contrast, people in Africa pass on advice, knowledge and skills learnt through Send a Cow's development schemes to an average of ten others.

When I asked the farmers I met in Africa for their pearls of wisdom, responses were almost all do to with helping others and their community, such as "When I have all this knowledge I must share and care", and "Be hard working, respect elders and have love for people".

For more information about Send a Cow please go to www.sendacow. org.uk or search for Send a Cow's Facebook profile page, Cowbook.

You can access Send a Cow's 'Mootube' channel at www.youtube.com/sendacow.

Ted Bellingham, Regional Ambassador Co-ordinator, South-East, Send a Cow

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