Getting Goats

The mountainous area Corey and Selise hiked looking for goats.

The walking continues... 

Attese, one of our goat project recipients, carrying her goat pen supplies.

Luc and Anna Ray at the goat meeting.

This past week Corey and a local goat afficianado/herder have set to the task of finding 36 quality goats for the first InKind goat distribution in Wozye.  This has proved to be a difficult and time-consuming task as we are quickly learning that there is no Wal-Mart for goats in Haiti.  This morning he walked for 6 hours searching the market of some inner, mountain villages that are known for their goats.  After six hours and a lot of sweating and climbing there were none to be found.  They will go out again tomorrow to a village that is closer to Les Cayes and I imagine on and on.  Although I am skeptical, the people here seem quite confident that this task is possible.

It's been fun to watch people here carrying supplies for their goat pens down the road and the endless discussions of various goat gaits, noses, and teeth.  The two goats that C has found are beautiful creatures- one with a stark black coat and the other brown and tan.  It's hard not to look at these animals and see the great potential hope and prosperity that they harbor.

The meeting of the first InKind families was long and excited.  People are being asked to pay back 100-200 Haitian gourdes every month over the next 3 years for their goats.  This is the equivalent of $2.25-$5.00US.  They must all sign a contract agreeing to the amount they are able to pay back, build their pens, and plant their gardens with the appropriate grasses and we're off to the races.  The money each participant pays back monthly will then go back to the cooperative for it's long term sustainability.  Given that a goat's gestation is 6 months and the female goats ideally need 8 months rest in between pregnancies.  We figure that a herd of 3 pregnant goats can quickly turn into a herd of approx. 18 in the next three years.  So, essentially, the people in our project have A. started a savings account and B. it's set to grow 6x in the next 36 months.  It's a pretty good deal.

Once again, it's hard to express our gratitude and the truest of all gratitude of the people here for your generosity.