Here is the second update about my recent trip to Haiti:
One of my desires is to bring trainers into communities to teach valuable development lessons in areas outside of my field, such as animal health and agriculture. I brought Helene (my sister) to see if it was possible to start a pilot training program in Marbial. We discussed ideas with Marlaine (our host, friend and director of FLA) and Marlaine was thrilled! She had been wanting to start a goat raising program for the children in 7th and 8th grade in hopes that it would turn into a good investment that would help the kids pay for higher education. This program is going to have two parts to it: (1) raising money to fund the purchase of 45 goats for the students (2) teach livestock care to the locals. I am in contact with an organization that supplies goats to the Dominican Republic to see if there is a way to get some of the support for goats in Haiti. I am also going to work on marketing a little “give a goat” program this summer to see if individuals would like to buy a goat for a student in Haiti. As for the training, Helene is going to develop a training program and Marlaine is going to arrange for locals to attend a seminar in the remote village tentatively scheduled for December 2014. Helene is going to teach 3-4 days on how to care for livestock and identify and treat illnesses. Helene is already gathering a couple friends who have experience working with livestock to help in the training seminar. I am so very excited about the potential this pilot goat program has and having Helene involved is a sweet bonus!
Below is a photo of Helene checking the health of a pig in Jacmel:
How Many Cows 