b'The Digital Doors of OpportunityWhen the world went into lockdown and many in-person activities moved online, Heifer Nepal followed suit, launching an initiative to digitally train project participants as agrovets. These skilled workers provide animal health services, such as livestock vaccinations and medications, to help local farmers keep their animals healthy and livelihoods intact. In Nepal, where around two-thirds of the population make a living in agriculture, livestock like the goats Kusu keeps are a lifeline out of poverty for farming families in rural regions, and a vital link to food security. But limited access to animal health services holds many back from growing their farms and their incomesall critical to participating in the local food system and affording nutritious sustenance for their families. With Heifer Nepals innovation, women like Kusu are changing this reality.As soon as she caught wind of the training, Kusu recognized the opportunity for what it was: a chance to grow her skills and broaden her horizons without compromising her responsibilities at home. ForTablets, like the one Kusu women in Nepal, gendered norms and societalcompleted her training on, expectations often dictate long hours caregiving andare a critical intervention to managing the home; spending time pursuing othergrow womens skills and spur development in rural activities is sometimes looked down upon. But thiscommunities.online option allows mothers like Kusu to grow the skills necessary to pursue opportunities beyond the borders of their households. After attending a short in-person orientation, Kusu set about learning from a distance. Each day, once her housework and farm chores were complete, Kusu studiously absorbed the training materials for the 35-day course on a tablet provided by Heifer. She immersed herself in the text, photos and videos on screen, learning everything from diagnosing diseases in livestock to properly growing nutritious fodder and constructing sheds to protect livestock from the elements and predators.I was learning how to use injectionsand details about improved shed management with sanitation and hygiene for healthy animals, recalled Kusu, who took and passed weekly exams. After taking that training I realized that us women could also work on par with men, so that increased my confidence. When she began implementing the techniques Kusu, center, with her shed learned online on her familys own farm, sheextended family. Her noticed an immediate change.newfound income has After the training, I started rearing better breeds ofhelped keep her daughter in school and grown her goat and I give them a balanced diet [instead of]familys farm.feeding them regular grass, she said, describing the 12| SPRING 2023'