From Luke Juran, our Ambassadorial Scholar in India

Passing on the Goat

The “Passing on the Goat” ceremony was carried out on January 13 th in Kallikudi, Tamil Nadu, India, with great success. A total of 90 goats were distributed (78 by the Dubuque Rotary Club and 12 by my family and friends). The ceremony was carried out during Pongal, which is a yearly harvest festival that also includes the washing, decorating, and lavish feeding of animals—therefore, the ceremony conveniently complemented the holiday season. The 90 women from Kallikudi are very grateful and they send their warm and hearty thanks.

The day of the ceremony began by driving by car for one hour from Madurai to the quaint village of Kallikudi. When we arrived, my Father, Mother, Wife, and I first spent some time with the goats before being blessed with an oil lamp and flower ritual for good luck. Next, we took center stage under a wonderful banner dedicated to the ceremony (it features a picture of me donating goats in the past and a thank you to the Dubuque Rotary Club along with the Rotary emblem). The ceremony began with the goat recipients pledging to take care of the goats and to do their best to improve their lives and help their community. Next, we were traditionally welcomed with large, colorful, and fragrant garlands and a shawl, which is often given to chief guests. We then accepted three statues of the Hindu goddess Meenakshi (an important deity of the region), one of which is for the Club. Next, there were short presentations by a Mahasemam representative (the microcredit organization to which the 90 goat recipients belong) and by my family and I. The ceremony then ended with us talking with the goat recipients, taking many photos with them, and spending some more time getting to know the cute and active goats (the goats took more interest in our tasty flower garlands than anything else!). All in all it was a wonderful event that was well organized by Mahasemam and Meenakshi Mission Hospital (a hospital for the poor that partners with the microcredit organization).

I am sending many materials your way via my parents, who just departed India a few hours ago. They will return home sometime tomorrow and shall be in touch with you in a week or two (once they get settled back into cold, cold Iowa) in order to get the Dubuque Rotary Club the following documents:

1. Three Rotary flags received from exchanges (2 from Sri Lanka and 1 from India)

2. A CD of 95+ digital photos of the goat ceremony

3. A DVD of the goat ceremony

4. Statue of Meenakshi (Hindu goddess, especially revered in this region of Tamil Nadu)

5. The ceremony banner

6. Original receipt of the Dubuque Rotary Club's donation

7. The itinerary of the ceremony

8. A list of the 90 persons who received a goat and a list of the next 90 persons in line for second generation goats

9. An annual report of the activities of Mahasemam and Meenakshi Mission Hospital

My Mother is being copied in this email so she is very much abreast; her email addresses are juran_laurie@msn.com lljuran@rc2corp.com and my parents' home phone number is 563-875-7921.

In addition, I am attaching in this email a write-up on the goat ceremony (the organization uses it to acquire more funding; it is a testimonial written by yours truly) and another write-up by the organization that explains who they are and what their mission is.

I will return to Kallikudi in March/April for a follow-up visit. I want to see that our goats are being taken care of and I will conduct some interviews with the recipients. I will do a series of short case studies with the goat recipients asking questions such as: name, age, number of kids and ages, monthly income, how the goat helped their economic status, how they take care of their goat, what their plans are for the goat in the future, and if their goat has given birth yet (and thus, if they have passed on a goat).

Well, let me end the email here and trust that I'll be in touch again very soon.

Best in Rotary,


Luke Juran
CARTHA Fellow, Crossing Borders Fellow, and Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar
PhD student in Geography
University of Iowa, USA
Current student at IIT-Madras, India
(+91)  988.469.1985

   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
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