This diploma holder in mechanical engineering and visionary farmer is running a groundbreaking welfare initiative aimed at uplifting impoverished families. Lenu Peter, 46, of Kuttikanam in Idukki, Kerala has devised an innovative welfare scheme that involves providing families with a pair of goats for free thereby creating a sustainable cycle of support and empowerment.
Lenu Peter, who works as an instructor at an engineering college, took up farming of different types of vegetables and medicinal plants as a hobby. But soon he realised how farming activities can boost emotional and physical well being. He soon began to rear goats, cows and hens at his farm. Realising that a pair of goats was enough for a family to earn a livelihood, he launched a pioneering welfare scheme to offer a free pair of goats to families who are economically weak. “A pair of goats can easily be a sustainable means of livelihood for a family. We have so far been able to extend support to 14 families through the scheme,” Lenu Peter told “Open Digest“.
As part of the scheme, Lenu offers a pair of goats to families in need, who are then responsible for their care and well-being. However, the unique aspect of the program lies in the requirement that the first baby goats produced by these pairs must be given back to Lenu. These baby goats are then provided to other selected families.
“The condition is that the family receiving the free pair of goats should give us the first baby goats. They can keep the baby goats from the second delivery onwards. Also, the goats should be given as meat only when it becomes old. In any case, the family is not in a position to look after the goats, they should return it to us. This is done to create a continuous cycle of support within the community,” Lenu added.
Lenu has come out with the scheme to promote self-sufficiency and alleviate poverty by offering families a means to generate income and resources. By giving families a pair of goats, Lenu equips them with a valuable asset that can provide milk, meat, and additional offspring to sell or trade.
“By providing families with goats, we are not just offering them a source of income but creating a progressive movement within a community to help one another. It’s just a small initiative on my part to do good to the society,” he said. Lenu also runs a farm stay tourism facility at his farm where guests come and stay to experience the farming life. The entire farm is managed by him, his wife and two children – aged 13 and 11.
Lenu’s farm and his welfare scheme serve as a shining example of how an individual effort can create a domino effect of positive change in the society.
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