FRIENDS OF ANIMALS
In India, more than 70% of rural families raise goats, but veterinary care is often unavailable or unaffordable in rural areas. To address high goat mortality, a program supported by the Gates Foundation and run by the Aga Khan Foundation in the state of Bihar trains women to provide critical veterinary services. Called pashu sakhis, (pronounced pah-shoo sah-kees), which translates to “friends of the animals,” these women have dramatically improved goat health and survival.
Today, more than 6000 pashu sakhis, trained under the JEEViKA (Bihar Rural Livelihoods Promotion Society), provide support to around 700,000 goat-rearing households.
PART OF THE FAMILY
Women play a key role in goat rearing, from tending and feeding the animals to taking the goats out for grazing. The goats are lovingly reared and treated as part of the family.
Image: Pashu Sakhi Ragini Devi (right) and a goat-rearer in Bihar
CELEBRATING PASHU SAKHIS IN ART
Madhubani painting is a folk art in Bihar traditionally practiced by women. Today, women are reinventing the form to tell stories about their contemporary lives and aspirations. To create this piece, commissioned for the exhibition, local Madhubani artist Shanti Devi worked with a group of pashu sakhis to record and celebrate the many aspects of their work.
Image: Madhubani artist Shanti Devi working on the painting on view at the Discovery Center.