In the past we've held animal health clinics, like the one here.

Just like humans can pass diseases to each other, animals can also pass diseases to humans.  These diseases are called zoonotic diseases or zoonoses.

Here in America, the average person doesn’t have to worry or even think twice about zoonosis.  But here in these villages, they are still a very real threat to their lives, especially their children - diseases like tuberculosis, brucellosis, leptospirosis, parasites, and rabies.

Most children walk around barefoot, which increases the likelihood of getting worms.  I don’t think Iv’e been to a village yet where I haven’t seen at least one child blinded by larval migrans - from a parasite picked up from feces of animals.  Ive met two women who have lost children to rabies.  Zoonosis are a real threat.

So once again, if we can improve the health of the animals in these villages, we can help prevent zoonosis and in some cases literally help save lives.

So the bottom line is this:  If you can improve the health of these animals, you can greatly improve milk production, improve the longevity of the animals’ productivity, and significantly improve their ability to reproduce - all of which will have a tremendous impact on the financial stability and independence of these women. 

This woman, Amrita, told us that her cow - this cow - was giving her half a liter of milk a day. To contrast that, the average milk production of a dairy cow in America is 33 liters per day.  Or contrast this with the cows of the women in the self-help groups I showed in the previous slide.  They were in much better health, producing 5 to 10 liters a day.

These self-help groups were made up of 7 to 10 village women who came together to form micro finance groups with the money they earned from milk production. With collective funds, they were able to finance – take out loans - for things like their daughters’ education and acquiring new cows.

They’re not just taking major steps to end the cycle of poverty, but perhaps even more significantly, they are realizing their self worth, gaining independence, which to me – in a cultural environment such as the one these rural women are in – is completely invaluable.

All of this only possible through extra milk their animals are able to produce.

Any extra milk produced above and beyond what is consumed directly by the family is sold and provides extra income.  But this is a very special, unique income that allows for finiancial independence and social mobility in ways that no other source of income for these women can provide. 

The primary livelihoods of the families that Mere Saathi works with is farm labor.  The husband and wife both go out and work in the fields on someone else’s land.  The wages earned from the work of both the husband and the wife are all paid to the husband .  The women do not see this money.  They have absolutely no say in how it is spent.

We were once in the Sunderbans of India, which is home to some of the most dense populations of tigers in the world.  We were staying in a village and were awakend one morning by screaming and shouting, and we learned that a tiger had come through the village and killed several goats.  When we learned that no humans were harmed, we said thank goodness, it was just the goats.  And an older village woman said back to me, “If a tiger came to my home, I would rather he kill me than my cows.  If he kills me, my sister will take care of my children. If he kills my cows, my children will starve.”

That made a lasting impression on me.  It helped fuel this passion – it helps me to never give up.

So, the milk that these animals produce is truly vital to their basic human needs.

There are also tons of stray dogs and a few stray cats that live in these villages and can affect mostly the children who play with them.  We’ll connect all of that with some photos later.

The caste system has been officially abolished by the Indian government.  But as you can imagine, the deeply-rooted manifestations of the caste system are still very present in the culture, especially out here in rural india.

We started simply by visiting rural villages, meeting people, talking, and building relationships with individuals and various organizations, like the local vet schools and various government officials.

After that experience and many other from that first trip, I just felt so compelled to one day come back and try to have some positive impact on the lives of Indian women.

My first prominent memory is of a tour we were going to take of a temple.  Our vehicle had to park pretty far from it, and I’m walking with my group.   I stop and take photos, and then I realize that I've fallen behind quite a bit. 

So I start running after them, and I slip on a huge pile of cow poop and get it all over me!  I was right in front of a hut where there was a young woman milking a buffalo giggling at me. I’m embarrassed and thinking there is no way I can go into this sacred temple now with poop all over me.  But this woman, the one who was giggling, gestured to me to come over, and she helped me wash off.

If you go to India for the first time - I think those of you who have been would agree - your very first impressions are probably going to be the severity and ubiquity of the poverty, and that there are animals everywhere.

In order to really understand why animal health has anything to do with empowering or lifting Indian women out of poverty, I’m going to talk about the One Health concept and give some background info about me, the project, and India.  All the photos in this presentation are from Mere Saathi visits to India during 2010-2017, plus my first personal trip in 2006.

And of course, a website is the primary tool with which to create awareness and support for what we do.   I’m hoping after this presentation, you will all be super pumped about helping women in India, and you'll tell all of your friends to check out meresaathi.org