Mooo-ving to 'The business of empowerment'

On 26 November, India marks the White Revolution or Operation Flood – a day to celebrate the man who pushed dairy farming as a way to defeat poverty.  

“I am in the business of empowerment. Milk is just a tool in that," said Verghese Kurien, who was born in 1921.

Because of Verghese’s commitment and passion, India became the world’s leading milk-producing nation in 1998, surpassing the United States.

World Vision also sees the potential a single dairy cow can offer a poor family. No person better illustrates this than 35-year-old Nirmala Devi, a widow raising a family of five young children.

This is Nirmala’s story, in her own words: 

“Illiterate and unskilled are two words that described me.

“But that was ok because nothing more is expected from a girl.

“Poverty defined my destiny from the start. Cooking, cleaning and mundane household chore was my reality.

“Within the four walls of my house, the day started at 6am and ended at 7pm.

“School was a fantasy weaved into someone else’s story, not mine.

“Teenage brought with it a life-changing surprise – marriage.

“I was barely 13 and the deal was done, no questions asked.

“I no longer could think like a child. Marriage fast tracked me into adulthood.

“A driver; that was my husband’s profession, he drove someone else’s car.

"The money he got was not enough. Running a household with $ 67 USD per month was like (idiom).

“Pregnancy knocked on my door at the age of 15.  With limited resources and multiple mouths to feed life didn’t seem fair. There was never a time where we had even enough to get by.

“I too had to work to make ends meet.

“Just when I convinced myself that I can do this. I can survive. My husband was diagnosed with an illness.

“I did my best to save him. Exhausted all I had to buy medicines and get him medical treatment. ‘He will make it, he will make it' I thought, but I lost my husband to Hepatitis B. I wasn’t prepared to let him go, Shubham, my youngest, was just 7 months old.

“We had no means of a steady income; the burden fell on me.

“As a mother I felt disheartened and dejected that I was struggling to fulfill the basic needs of food, clothing and education of my children.

“I worked in the fields all day. Inch by inch, using my hands and a small trowel, I weeded the ground. At the end of the day the owner of the field gave me $ 0.80 USD.

“The days I got money I made whatever food I could but the days there was no money there was no food.

“The only option for me not to see my children starve was to borrow money and pay back when I made enough money to repay.

“My daughters Geetanjili, Anjali, Anshu were unable to attend school regularly and they dropped out. 

“Geetanjili, my eldest had to care for her siblings when I went out to work in the field.

“It did hurt to see my children not living a good life but what could I do?       

“My son, Shubham was very weak due to lack of nutritious food.

"He had joint pains so I took him to the doctor. 'This is a sign of polio,' he said to me.

“I have seen so much of suffering, all I needed was a decent life for my children but all seemed lost.

“I didn’t know a cow could be my hope in the midst of hopelessness.

“She is a gift. She is the answer. The day she entered our lives, she brought with her joy and, the greatest blessing of all, livelihood.

“Just within a few months of the cow’s arrival I see the change she is bringing to our lives.

“She gives milk twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening.

“My father-in-law helps me milk the cow. Most of the milk is sold but some of it I keep aside for my children.

“Milk was a luxury we couldn’t afford, but now my children have access to milk.

“Milk is good for my son’s weak bones. His bones are getting stronger.

“The entire income I earn from selling the milk and weeding the field I invest in my children’s future.

“Anjali, Anshu and Anuska have started going to school again. Not only did World Vision give me a steady means to make a living but they also invested in my children’s education.

“The things like bags and books I desired to buy for my children but wasn’t able to afford, World Vision stepped in to fulfill that need.

“Having a cow is also a big responsibility. My children like feeding her and giving her water.

“We have to keep her from falling sick. She has become a part of the family.

“The change is gradual but certain. Through the income generated from the milk of the cow I hope to provide good food, nice clothes and basic education for my children.

“Now I feel a quality life for my children is no longer a distant dream but is a possible reality.”

World Vision distributed 600 dairy cows to families in the Vaishali Area Development Programme, located in Bihar, in eastern India in 2014 and 2015.