How cool is this banner?
Well, we hit the road again. We've just about come full circle. We're back in Colombo for the final leg of our journey. It's been fun being out of Colombo - or outstation as folks who live in Colombo would say. Sri Lanka really is a beautiful country and it is full of variety. You can drive for two hours and find yourself in a completely different landscape with a completely different climate surrounded by completely different people. What is consistent though is the hospitality. All of our hosts have been very friendly, very professional and have really gone out of their way to make us feel welcome. It's been great and I fear I am getting spoiled.
Later this afternoon we will shift hosts to the Rotary Club of Colombo Regency. Until then we've been relaxing at Jayantha and Asanthi's home in Colombo. I was able to spend some time talking with Jayantha about his club's (RC Wariyapola) Milking Cow Project. I really like this project because it's all about giving folks a hand up, not a handout. A milking cow costs about 75K-80K rupees. Jayantha's Samakaroon Foundation accepts applications from families to receive a cow. The Foundation screens the applications and the Rotary club extensively interviews the family to ensure their suitability to the program. Upon selection the family is provided a female calf by the Samakaroon Foundation. The family is expected to raise and care for the calf and is allowed full use of the cow's milk production either for their personal use or to sell for profit or both. The majority of folks in Sri Lanka use powdered milk and more than 85% of what they use is imported. A healthy cow will produce 15 to 20 liters of milk per day and at 40Rs per liter there is real opportunity to make money selling fresh milk. The family is also expected to pay for an insurance policy on the animal; which costs the owner about 2,000Rs per year. The other great thing about this project is that it is self perpetuating. Besides producing milk a cow can produce offspring and the family is expected to return a female calf to the Foundation within 3 years. How do they do that? Well, within the Wariyapola Rotary Club there is a veterinary surgeon and a livestock development officer and it's their job to artificially inseminate the cow. They are not so talented that they can guarantee female offspring but that's one of the reasons the family is given three years to return a female calf. This project really demonstrates the essence of Rotary - Rotarians use their resources, their talents, and their expertise to help the less fortunate build a foundation upon which they can prosper.
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