Ten years ago, in 2015, we dreamed of starting our Sustainability outreaches as a way to help Haitian families learn new ways to help break their cycle of poverty and to begin being able to take care of themselves for the long term, for generations.

We designed an interrelated approach to attack some of the major causes of cyclical poverty. We focused on areas like creating a local market place (Gwo Maché Mirak) to promote jobs and enterprise and to strengthen the local economy; our Agricultural Training Center (ATC) to demonstrate and teach improved methods of family and community gardening when you have restrictions to resources like, good soil, seeds, fertilizers, etc.; reforestation to improve the ecology of the region that promotes better growing conditions; and basic animal husbandry (chickens, goats, fish) so there would be a reliable, affordable source of animal protein for their daily diets.

Here are some recent pictures of our goat program, where we demonstrate simple, affordable ways for almost any Haitian family to raise goats in a safe, sanitary, and effective way to have goats for meat and to sell in the marketplace. Most goat owning families in rural Haiti allow their goats to roam free-range, and this is very bad for their neighbors. We demonstrate how to make corrals of “living fences” using some types of trees to form a fence to keep the goats contained. We also demonstrate using simple goat pens to keep the goats, cut fodder for them, and carry it to them instead of letting them roam free-range and destroy anything they come across.

This is an improved method that is more efficient, sanitary, and effective. We also demonstrate ways to grow all the necessary feed for the livestock because most Haitian families could not afford to buy feed, nor is there any reliable place to buy animal feed. Our ATC now has chickens and goats, and demonstrates how the average Haitian family can also have these animals to improve their lives. We thank those of you who help support our sustainability programs because your investments are helping Haitians learn to help themselves for the long term.

Rad Hazelip, Assistant Executive Director