51 relatives killed by volcano
Victim of unimaginable tragedy
now helping others to survive

by LEN LEAR

“We cannot all do great things, but we can all do small things with great love.”----Mother Theresa

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If the true test of a human being is how he/she responds to a devastating personal tragedy, then Umaru J. Sule has become a virtual searchlight for others, setting an example of nobility, courage and selfless service that any human being on earth would do well to emulate.

On August 21, 1986, a volcanic eruption rained down on the region of Cameroon, West Africa, where Umaru and other members of his nomadic Fulani tribe lived and tended to their animals. (It’s a country of 15 million people, most of them engaged in agriculture.) The natural disaster killed 1,745 people, including 51 members of Sule’s extended family and every one of his 11 sisters and five brothers, as well as his mother. Only his father, now 87, and an uncle were spared. (The tribe’s 4,000 cattle, which they depended on for survival, were also killed.)

Instead of turning his back on humanity, Umaru has done just the opposite. Today he is community relations coordinator in the Mid-Atlantic region for Heifer International and works out of their office at 7719 Germantown Ave. in Chestnut Hill. As such, he spreads the word about the organization and raises funds, so that other victims of natural disasters, wars and other horrors may also be helped to survive.

“I believe in God,” Umaru explained, “and I believe there is a reason for everything. I know for sure that my purpose in life is to help people the way Heifer International helped me. When you receive the good deeds of others, you must pass them along.”

The idea for Heifer International originated with a relief worker from Indiana named Dan West, who was delivering food and clothing to victims of the Spanish Civil War in 1937. He pointed out at the time that such charity was only a temporary band-aid but that if farm animals were given to the rural victims of tragedy, they could then rely on themselves, not the charity of others, for their long-term survival.

West and others officially founded Heifer International in 1944. Since that time the organization has provided gifts of farm animals, technical assistance and training to countless families in more than 125 countries, including the United States. Recipients are asked to pass on the gift of training and animal offspring to other families in need, enhancing dignity and building community by offering everyone a chance to make a difference in the struggle against hunger and despair.

In the years following World War 11, for example, tens of thousands of cows and horses were given to the people of France, Germany, Poland, Italy, Greece and Turkey. More than three million cows, goats and rabbits have been delivered to the people of China. More than half of all the chickens in South Korea are descended from the hatching eggs supplied after the Korean War by Heifer International.

After the volcano eruption in Cameroon, the 4,000 surviving members of the Fulani tribe were living in camps with very little food to eat, mostly powdered milk donated by organizations in Holland. Then a man named Chuck Talbert of Heifer International (H.I.) helped them get 68 head of cattle from Kenya. H.I. members were so impressed with Umaru that they brought him to the United States and enabled him to attend the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where he earned a degree in animal science. He later earned a master’s degree at Oklahoma State University in agricultural education.

(When Umaru was 12, he rebelled against his family and left home to get an education; he was the only member of his family to do so. While attending school, he lived in the home of a man he located simply by knocking on the doors of townspeople. He slept on a cement floor with a “bed” he made of cut grass. There were no phones, no electricity and few cars. “I was hungry all the time,” said Umaru. “When the man I was living with had some food, he’d share it with me, but that did not happen too often.”)

When Sule came to this country to attend college, the culture shock from our society, where we pinwheel from one thing to the next, was as dramatic as if he had landed on the moon. “The pace of life here is so fast that it was hard to adjust,” he explained. “At home people sit around and talk for hours. Here everyone is in a hurry to do so much every day. It was very hard to adjust. I was so lonely, but eventually I did adjust.”

After Umaru earned his master’s degree in 1991, he worked in Dallas in private industry, but he was “very unhappy.” When H.I. opened an office in Chestnut Hill in 2001, he leaped at the chance to work here. His responsibilities here are to speak about H.I. at schools, churches and civic groups, to work with volunteers and with fundraising. “I have to explain to people,” he said, “that for many people (in the Third World), having these farm animals is literally a matter of life and death.”

Umaru now lives in Northeast Philly with his wife, who is also from Cameroon, and three sons. When asked what he likes and dislikes about this country, the African native, who always answers the bell when called upon to help those in need, did not hesitate. “The idea in this country that you can be whatever you want to be is good,” he insisted. “Where I come from, there are no opportunities. No change for centuries.

“And the volunteer spirit here is wonderful, not like any other place on earth. Americans are very generous to charities, giving both money and time. And Americans are polite. When I went to Germany, I got no help, but the very first person I met in Boston, a customs officer at the airport, went out of his way to make sure someone was there to help me.

“On the bad side is the materialism. My kids want so many things because the other kids have them, but I only get them what is necessary. Also there is so much waste. Where I come from, you can’t afford to waste anything, but here there is so much that a tremendous amount is just thrown away.

“The other bad thing is the individualism taken to an extreme, the notion that ‘I don’t care what happens to anyone else as long as myself and my family are taken care of.’ I was brought up with a sense of collective responsibility, that you would never do anything to reflect badly on the entire tribe, not just your family. We would always eat as a group and share food. If you have an extra room, you share it with someone else, even a stranger.”

H.I. has received countless letters from people all over the world who have benefited from their philosophy of sharing. For example, Jana Laskaj, of Klina, Kosovo, wrote, “We have suffered greatly in the past years, but because of Heifer International a good life has returned to us. You have brought us our only source of income, and we are grateful.”

Lengwala Logotu, of Tanzania, East Africa, wrote, “My children today remain healthy because for four years we have been provided with an amply supply of milk from our Heifer International camels. . . We used to have to walk up to five hours to fetch five gallons of water for family members and livestock. We don’t have to do that anymore because the camels can carry 50 gallons at a time.”

Heifer’s office at 7719 Germantown Ave. has a gift shop that is ideal for holiday giving, and they are always in need of volunteers. Other full-time staffers in the office are Linda Bunyenyezi, administrative assistant; and Rosalee Sinn, senior advisor to the president. For more information, call 215-248-5822, visit www.heifer.org or e-mail umaru.sule@heifer.org