Ever since our arrival here in India we have wanted to see some of the Vet-Med projects and see their successes. We were off early in the morning when I saw this picture and could not resist. A dudhwala (milk man.) How would you like your milk to be delivered this way?
First stop was to see the home of the “Fred and Ethel” goat project. We don’t often name the goats that are given away, but this was an exception.
Since this gifting, about five years ago, the widow and her two children have thrived. They first have built a toilet and bath on their little home. The son had gone to the Vet-Med Self-Reliant training and therefore also when through Starting Point. They were similarly able to save for the fees to get the young man into engineering college as soon as he finished his 12th standard. He now is in his third year of engineering college. Such a joy to see what one pair of goats can do to change lives.
There are always interesting things along the way. A group of Gujarati with their bullock carts carrying all their worldly goods.
Next we were headed to another Self-Reliant student’s home. This man was one of the first students. He had worked for the government but decided he wanted to own his own business. (I will later write an entire Journal about his life.)
You can see how many goats he has and is making extraordinary money from them. He said, “It is all because Dr. Suresh helped me.”
I needed to check what I had been walking through. lol
You also learn to share the road.
Then we stopped by my “Bullock Cart Lady’s” home. (I never know their names only what they do or how I met them.) She and her husband live with his parents and they make their living by making curds, (yogurt.)
Dr. Suresh has made a great relationship with this family.
We were served a dish of curds with sugar . . . Yes, it was clean, and she also made sweet potato purries. a kind of stuffed tortilla.
I tried to use her 100-year-old grinder. WOW it takes muscle.
We ended our tour arriving in Nadagomukh. A work was established there in 1989 but has never flourished. We had brought a load of barbwire to be used around the property. Loren and Dr. Suresh wanted to look at some new possibilities for Vet-Med on the land.
Also there are some repairs that need to be done. An alumnus of Prakash is the caretaker, along with his mother. Loren teased him about getting married. It is very hard for a poor Christian village boy.
We had a nice picnic lunch and then headed back to Prakash.
