{"id":3817,"date":"2006-09-27T01:07:26","date_gmt":"2006-09-27T06:07:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com?p=3817"},"modified":"2006-09-26T23:50:50","modified_gmt":"2006-09-27T04:50:50","slug":"the_love_goat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/2006\/09\/27\/the_love_goat\/","title":{"rendered":"The Love Goat"},"content":{"rendered":"

Imagine, if you will, that the following fictional<\/strong> conversation took place between myself (in my best Jon Lovitz<\/a> voice) and a girl named “Preeti:”<\/p>\n\n

Abhi: Hey Preeti. \n

<\/p>\n

Preeti: Whad up?<\/p>\n

Abhi: You know we’ve been together for two whole<\/em> months now. I just wanted you to know that I’m really excited about us. I think we make a good couple. You complete me. I think we are helping each other grow, both together and as individuals.<\/p>\n

Preeti: Uh huh. That’s sweet.<\/p>\n

Abhi: Well, since it is our two-month anniversary I thought I would get you something special.<\/p>\n

Preeti: Cool, did you get me a brown Zune<\/a>?<\/p>\n

Abhi: No darling. Check this out though. I just had a star named after you<\/a>. I wanted you to know that my love for you will shine brightly forever.<\/p>\n

Preeti: Forever?<\/p>\n

Abhi: Foreva-eva. Just think! Every time you look up there in the sky at the star formerly known as ZX56C92 you will think about how much I burn for you!<\/blockquote>\n\n

Okay, has anyone vomited yet? I am willing to bet that at least one reader out there has had a star named after them or named a star after someone. Admit it! We’ve all done things we are ashamed of. This is definitely not how I’d go about declaring my feelings for someone. Then again, I’m not sure I have ever developed a really good method for showing someone I care. The fictional conversation above leads me to a real<\/strong> conversation that took place over this past weekend.<\/p>\n\n

\nI met up with my friend Sanjay on Saturday night for dinner.<\/p>\n\n

Sanjay: Hey dude, so I recently looked into donating this goat… \n

<\/p>\n

Abhi: What? I didn’t know you had a boat.<\/p>\n

Sanjay: No, I said goat.<\/p>\n

Abhi: Was it an old<\/em> coat?<\/p>\n

Sanjay: No no. A GOAT.<\/p>\n

Abhi: Wait, how do you donate a goat?<\/blockquote>\n\n

I can’t believe I hadn’t already heard about this. Apparently you can donate or sponsor a goat (or other productive farm animal) in an impoverished region of the world. Here is just one of the several organizations (1<\/a>,2<\/a>,3<\/a>) I found which runs this sort of program:<\/a><\/p>\n\n

The Need?<\/strong> In poor villages women are typically the most disadvantaged – supporting most of the family burdens (children, water, health, nutrition, etc) but totally dependent on their men-folk for money<\/strong>. We identify the most vulnerable people within the community, supply them with a female goat and train them in goat-rearing & management. \n

<\/p>\n

The Opportunity?<\/strong> Starting with just one female goat, a woman can build her own source of milk, manure, meat and money for the benefit of her family. Within a year she will be able to pass on her first female kid to another disadvantaged family – allowing this ‘new start’ to help another household, and so sustain and expand the scheme. After this, she can keep the kids and build a small herd if she wants.<\/font>

Where in India?<\/strong> – the project will start off in Tehra near Agra,Uttar Pradesh, in an area where our Indian partner organisation, Schumacher Centre Delhi (SCD) is already working with the British High Commission on a reproductive health and child care programme. The project will then be extended to locations elsewhere in India – probably in Uttaranchal and in Orissa. [Link<\/a>]<\/blockquote>\n\n

<<\/p>\n\n

p>Some organizations even allow you to sponsor the goat for life (instead of simply donating money for a one time gift). Here is what you get:<\/p>\n\n

1) Garden Harvest’s official adoption certificate in your name or in the name of someone you specify, if you choose to give the adoption as a gift.
2) A life history of your goat, sent to you or to someone you specify<\/font>
3) Photographs of the adopted goat sent to you or to someone you specify
4) Quarterly newsletters about your adopted goat, letting you know of his\/her activities as the season changes
5) Photographs of your goat’s baby goats when a birthing occurs<\/font>
6) Your name (or the name of the one you specify) will be permanently listed on a plaque that will be installed on the Goat House. [Link<\/a>] <\/blockquote>\n\n

<\/p>\n\n

With this new knowledge in hand I have decided that I now know the proper way by which to declare my love for someone. This is how it will play out the next time I make it to the two-month-mark with a woman (imagine my voice sounds like that of Michael “Bass” McCary of Boyz II Men<\/a>):<\/p>\n\n

Abhi: Hey Preeti. How are you baby?\n

<\/p>\n

Preeti: Whad up?<\/p>\n

Abhi: Girl I’m here for you. All those times of night when you just hurt me, and just run out with that other fella. Baby I knew about it, I just didn’t care. You just don’t understand how much I love you do you? I’m here for you.<\/p>\n

Preeti: Uh huh. That’s sweet.<\/p>\n

Abhi: Baby, I’m sponsoring a goat in your name in India. Here is the goat’s life history. We will be getting quarterly news letters and pictures of her and any of her future babies. We are in this together and have someone that depends on us now. It would be bad if you left me.<\/p>\n

Preeti: Oh baby! Can we name it?<\/p>\n

Abhi: Sure, whatever you want.<\/blockquote>\n\n

All I am saying is that the gift of a goat is worth considering and I hope you all remember this post on next Valentine’s Day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Imagine, if you will, that the following fictional conversation took place between myself (in my best Jon Lovitz voice) and a girl named “Preeti:” Abhi: Hey Preeti. Preeti: Whad up? Abhi: You know we’ve been together for two whole months … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[41,19,1,40],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3817"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3817"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3817\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}