 We have designed the project in a way that the first recipients of the sheep should be the most needy and numerous, but also active families. Using these criteria the family of Jan and Anna Piszczek, who live in a small village near Krynica, has been selected into the group of the first project participants. They have got six children - four boys of 17, 12, 10, 8 and two girls of 14 and 19 â?? and being able to generate permanent income for their family is a grate opportunity for them.
The family runs a farm of 5ha of land. The village is located in the area, where climate is harsh and the vegetation period is very short. The family needs to work very hard and skillfully to collect enough crops for winter.
In the past Jan kept two cows on his farm, but he couldnâ??t satisfy new requirements for milk producers and had to give up selling milk to local dairy plant. He was really sad, since it was the only permanent source of income for the family. He didnâ??t know what to do to be able to pay his regular bills. He was looking for solution to that unfortunate situation, reading agricultural newspapers and asking other farmers for advice. Slowly, he was becoming aware that there was a growing market for safe, natural lamb meat, which he could consider for on his farm. Jan started thinking of selling the cows out and investing the funds into small sheep breeding development. It seemed to be a good way for him to overcome his difficulties. In 2004 he sold two cows and purchased 10 eves. Unfortunately, shortly after that it turned out that the purchased sheep were infected. After very long veterinary care they were sent to slaughter house. Janâ??s live turned upside down again. He didnâ??t have neither cows, nor sheep on his farm any more.
 When all of his thoughts were already only dark and negative, he learned about HPI project that was being prepared by the Greenworks association. He visited the office of the organization, described his situation honestly and asked for including him into project activities if possible. He didnâ??t have a lot of hope, but the project leader kept his promise and visited his farm to find out about conditions in there. The family of Piszczek was accepted for the project, but Jan still didnâ??t believe that he would receive anything. When in May of 2007 a herd of sheep arrived on the farm of the Piszczeksâ?? it was like a miracle for Jan. All of the family members were so happy that they spent the whole day watching the sheep and trying to help them to overcome their stress. They looked very scared because of the change that they were experiencing. They got used to new conditions very quickly and a few days later they all were cheerful again. When Grzegorz Tabasz, a leader of the project, visited the farm of Piszczeksâ?? he immediately noticed that the children already developed very close relationships with the animals. They were playing with them and feeding them with dry bread as if the sheep had been on the farm for ages.
The changes were noticeable also in the behavior of Jan and Anna. They become more open with the visitors and one could feel their great pride of being clear about their prospects for the future. They started talking about modernization of their farm and the old house to initiate agro tourism services in the future. When they were enthusiastically explaining to the project leader that they would like to install a special barbeque equipment to roast lam for tourists in an open air, he was thinking how much poverty and bad luck can undermine confidence, innovativeness and natural talents of people.
HPI gift of sheep was like a flywheel for the family of Piszczek. The animals will help them to generate income, which will be invested in development of tourism services. If these activities are profitable there is no doubt that the family will have more ideas to use the income for further improvement of the farm and the family life.
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