Today, we celebrate the International Day of Charity. This day was established with the objective of sensitizing and mobilizing people all around the world to help others through volunteer activities.
However, the charitable spirit at PM-International is present every day, and together with World Vision, we are committed to ensure 365 days a year that our sponsored children around the world get a chance for a better future. We would like to take this day as an opportunity to share a joyful story of one of our sponsored children from India.
Meet our sponsored child Jasoda
This is Jasoda. She lives with her family in Bundi, India and is one of 2,300 sponsored children of PM We Care and World Vision. Jasoda’s family lives in poverty. Her father Ramlaxman is a tailor and the sole breadwinner of the family. Their income was so low that they could hardly feed the family and pay the rent for the house. For a long time now, Jasoda’s family had no other means of income and no chance of a balanced diet.
One day Jasoda, her parents and siblings were surprised by World Vision with a gift of a goat. With the arrival of the new family member and their very first pet, an exciting time began for the family. Jasoda’s father Ramlaxman was very happy about their addition to the family: «Goats are strong animals and they require low maintenance. They eat almost everything and reproduce very quickly. The goat will provide the income for me and my family». Keeping a domestic goat does not only provide the family with nutritious, calcium-rich milk which can also be used to make cheese but also brings economic benefits. By selling milk or cheese, the family of five can generate important income that they can use for medical care, their children’s education or other necessities.
Together with other beneficiaries, Jasoda’s father attended a training course on goat farming. They learned about the best ways of keeping the animals and how to get maximum profit from each goat.
The gift of a goat changed their lives
In the meantime, one goat has become three. From now on, two newborn goat kids provide the parents and their children with delicious milk. By producing their own milk, the family saves an average of 1200 rupees per month (equivalent to about $16), which they previously spent on buying milk. In addition, the nutritious goat’s milk provides Jasoda’s brother Mahesh, who is moderately malnourished, with all the necessary nutrients to support his growth. «The gift of receiving a goat has changed our lives. Our children play with the goats, and twice a week we bathe them. The goats are not just pets, they are important members of our family, and we are grateful for the extra income they bring us», says father Ramlaxman.
How PM We Care helps
Together with World Vision, PM-International is committed to creating sustainable livelihoods for sponsored children, their families and communities. The focus here is on ensuring that families become self-reliant in the long run through World Vision’s support. Within the framework of the Bundi area program, 378 poor and vulnerable families were given goats to alleviate poverty. These long-term regional development projects are running for approximately 10 to 12 years. They are planned and implemented together with locals, with the overall goal of self-sufficiency. This way, we do not only support our sponsored children, but all direct and indirect beneficiaries of the region. In the Area Program Bundi, this amounts to more than 50,000 people.
When visiting Bundi in 2016, PM Charity Ambassador Vicki Sorg experienced the living conditions of the sponsored families and communities firsthand and is even more pleased that the charitable work is bearing fruit: «Together with our longstanding partner World Vision, we have been supporting regional development projects on site for several years now. I am thankful and happy that Jasoda’s life and those of many other beneficiaries in that area has changed for the better. Lasting improvements in the lives of children in need are only possible if their environment is changed!»
With their charity foundation PM We Care, PM-International has been committed to charitable projects for more than 20 years. Every FitLine product sold gives children one “Hour of Life” and better opportunities for their future. As the largest corporate sponsor of World Vision, the company supports 2,300 sponsored children, their families and entire village communities in more than 60 regional development projects worldwide, including projects in India, Peru and Cambodia.