Welcome to Cowfiles
Free resources about Africa and the charity Send a Cow
You can use this site to search for ideas, lesson plans and other teaching resources, from finding out about a child’s life in Uganda, to how your children can grow food in African Gardens with Send a Cow. These resources are written by teachers and can be easily adapted for Scouts, Guides, and youth groups.
Search using the menus, tags and search boxes and then click on the coloured bars to view entries and download files. Send a Cow really values all of your support, so fundraising ideas are included too.
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Map poster
Poster showing where we work, with 'Pass it on' examples

You can order this poster using the Order & sign-up page. It is for use in schools, groups, churches or wherever you want people to find out about Send a Cow’s work. The poster includes examples of how we work in three countries and has a map of Africa showing the countries that we work in, all with the theme of ‘Pass it on’ - a key part of why our work is so successful.
Categories: Visual aids and Tools for the job
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Rose’s story
Rose is an 11 year old from Rwanda

Rose is a young Rwandan girl who survived the 1994 genocide with her brother Fidele. Her story shows how new life and hope has come into their family since being given a cow and training in natural farming methods. You can meet Rose and find out about her day on Cowforce.com. There are also games that Rose plays included, the circle game and Bounceball. The .kmz file is a short Google Earth Tour showing where Rose lives (click on it if you have Google Earth, then click on the sub-folder and play.)
- Rose_story.pdf
- Rose_story.ppt
- Cowforce_Meet_Rose_lessons.pdf
- Cowforce_Rose_day_lessons.pdf
- Rwanda_Rose_tour.kmz
- Circle_game.pdf
- Bounceball.pdf
- Roses_journey_game.pdf
Categories: Children's stories
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Bag Gardens
Small gardens, ideal for small hands

Bag Gardens are a type of African garden that Send a Cow teaches families how to make in Africa. They are also a great way to get your pupils involved in a growing project, and learning about healthy eating and life in an African country. These mini-gardens make the most of good soil and compost, waste water, are easy to weed and can be grown in schools - bringing a global dimension to Science. There’s also a competition that year 9 and under can enter! Use the links below for a fun explanation and resources - where you can also order a superb Bag Garden Starter Kit.
www.cowforce.com/african-gardens
www.sendacow.org.uk/africangardensCategories: Bag gardens, Bag gardens, Green poster and Science
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Send a Cow online Gift Catalogue
Donate to our work in a tangible way

Our gift catalogue is online too! It’s where you can donate towards our work - giving things like cows and goats to bees and trees. Children respond really well to being given an amount of money to raise and fundraise towards tangible help. Click on the link below to visit the online catalogue.
Categories: Fun ideas, Visual aids and Tools for the job
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How to make a Keyhole Garden
Advice for two designs of the African garden

Keyhole Gardens are a great addition to any school grounds and a really useful technique used across Send a Cow projects. There are two types of designs featured here: the rocky Lesothan version and the lower East African style version. See how we made one in the UK in the Powerpoint file and then make your own and enter our competition for free! Preview videos featuring keyhole gardens from our Cabbages and Cowpats DVD using the link below.
- How_to_make_a_Keyhole_Garden_East_African_style.pdf
- How_to_make_a_Keyhole_Garden_Lesotho_style.pdf
- This_is_our_Keyhole_Garden.pdf
- Keyhole_Garden_UK.ppt
- Gardens_background.pdf
- African_Gardens_Rules.pdf
- Keyhole_Gardens_Entry_Form.pdf
Categories: Keyhole gardens
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Janvier’s story
The story of an 18 year old genocide survivor from Rwanda.

Janvier’s story focuses on the importance of the manure from his cow and the bumper harvest of vegetables that comes from his healthy soils. He lives with his brothers and sisters as an orphan headed household.
Categories: Children's stories and Green poster
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Uganda - country information sheets
Facts and background info - great for projects

These sheets give a brief overview of Uganda, with information on the geography, culture and issues in the country. They are useful if you are studying Uganda in topic work and offer comparisons with the UK, they also link well to the stories of Matia, Sanyu, Theresa and Berna. You can find all sorts of images from Uganda in our gallery. And you can make a donation to our work in Africa, including in Uganda by following this link.
Categories: Background info and Geography
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Cabbages and Cowpats DVD (+Welsh)
A fun DVD about Africa and Send a Cow

Our brand new ‘Cabbages and Cowpats’ DVD has been produced for primary schools and group use. It features short films about children’s lives in Lesotho, African gardens and Send a Cow’s work in Africa. The DVD is strong on promoting sustainability and healthy eating, it’s accompanied by toe-tapping music, engaging animations and an easy-to-follow storyline - much of it has a Welsh language option. Your kids will watch it until the cows come home! Watch some clips using the links. To buy a copy for just £6 (including p&p) call us on (01225) 874 222. Or use the order form.
www.cowforce.com/cabbages-and-cowpats
www.youtube.com/cowforceCategories: Visual aids, DVDs, Keyhole gardens, Geography and Other useful stuff
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Mokou - the stone game
A fun outdoor Lesothan game

A 5-a-side game for break times that is played in Lesotho. Mokou involves being quick on your feet and working as a team - requiring only some stones and a recycled plastic bag ball to play. Playing African games like this can be a great way of teaching how to have fun outdoors using local materials.
Categories: PE
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Rose’s Journey - game
A board game to understand more about life in Rwanda

This simple classroom game helps pupils to compare their lives with that of eleven-year-old Rose from Rwanda. Children can look at similarities and differences with their lives and have fun making their own game, deciding how the game works and discussing whether things in Rose’s life are positive or negative. You can introduce her to your class using interactive content on our kids site, Cowforce.com.
Categories: Comparing lives and Lesson ideas and worksheets


