Self-Reliant Training

“With great pleasure, I would like to present this training report.  It has been an enriching experience for me to complete this 13th year of self-reliant training, as it was very hot this year.

First of all I would like to give glory and honor to our Lord as He helped me and protected me in very undesirable condition.  It was 47 c, (117) very hot on the National Highway where trucks, buses and other vehicles smoke and make it even more hot.  Everyday 50kms (32 miles) two trips on this road…it was not fun, but when I listened to all testimonies my heart gives thanks to Lord for using me for this cause and His glory.

Objects of the training:

1)         To provide quality guidance to the poor village young people about being self-reliant through Goat Keeping.

2)         Providing total information on Goat keeping as a secondary agro business along with farming.

3)         Provide practical knowledge about Goat keeping.

4)         Provide evidence about Jesus through Starting Point course.

Subjects:  In this self-reliant training we covered many subjects that are important to do good goat business along with their traditional farming.

1)         Importance and advantages of goat keeping.

2)         Breeds and selection of good breeds.

3)         Care, breeding, feeding and good management.

4)         Housing, First Aid and Marketing.

5)         Practical visits.

6)         Spiritual Education  (Starting Point Course)

7)         ESL.

Overview of training: This training is one of a kind, as it helps Hindu and tribal village young people whose 70% parents totally dependent of farming.  They don’t get much income, as their farming is totally reliant on rain.  Rain is sometime very high or sometime very scanty that really make farming unprofitable.  This training really helping the young generation to think about Mix-Farming.

We teach them Poultry, Dairy and Goat Keeping as a secondary business. We value Christian atmosphere in the training, which make it pleasurable to all these Hindu village young people.   These young men live at the farm the six weeks and have to cook their own meals. (A first for many of them.)

Visiting teachers: I am really thankful to some of my friends Dr. Ashant and Dr. Dilip.

I am also thankful to Vanda for sharing his testimony and his experience about goats, which was really impactful to these village students.                                                                                           

Because they took away some of burden I got time to teach Starting Point as a Christian education and English as a Second Language in this training it really made this training meaningful.

Starting Point: I am really happy to have such wonderful and purposeful course to teach about Jesus and His people.  It really help me to teach these village students Godly principles.  Everyday we had 45 minutes class and I personally taught them through this book.  It is first time for many of them to have book in their own language.  

Testimonies: Here are some testimonies of these village students.

1)         Gesybo: ‘I am very lucky to get admitted for such wonderful training, where I learned total information about goat keeping, English speaking skills and information about Jesus.  This will change my life in my village and I will try my best to share this information to others.’

2)         Aibhav: ‘In this training I learned that I am wasting my life doing nothing and blaming my father.  This training help me to see clearly and I promise that I will help my father to develop his farming along with goat keeping.’

3)         Hisheka:  He was smallest boy and very poor student in this training.  He only had one shirt. But his testimony make me to think that I done good job.  He said, ‘I found life in this training as now I can do goat business and help my family members never go to bed hungry like before. This training really encouraged me that I can do it very easily and help my family financially.’                        

4)         Neshka: ‘I was really discouraged in my life as I am rejected in five companies for job. My parents are very unhappy with me, as I am not earning anything.  But this training change my thought and now I trust that I will bring back my parents faith in me. Defiantly I will do this business and help my family.  I trust in Jesus and I will start small fellowship in my village in Madhya Pradesh.’  (Another State)

Graduation: On this day I invited two heads of two near by villages as special guests.  One of them said,” This is first time in my life I am seeing such a wonderful work for the weakest section of the community.  There are very few who dare to do such work which Vet-med is doing”.   We distributed certificates and New Testaments to all students and guests too.

Acknowledgments:  Without the giving spirit of a wealthy Hindu farmer who graciously provides the housing and farm for this training, it would not be possible to run such a program.  I am also indeed thankful to Dr. Ashant and Dr. Dilip for taking time out for this.”