Herds of goats are growing in number in Northern Haiti!
As a part of Second Mile’s Community Education Program, we teach best practices in animal husbandry and give goats to graduating participants so that they can put their knowledge into action that will benefit the whole family.
We offer a series of holistic health and wellness classes to adults in neighborhoods surrounding the Centers, and when class participants successfully complete the six-week course, they receive a goat that they can use to generate income for their family. This also serves as an additional bonus and incentive for successfully completing the course. The gift of a goat is a useful reward for families who make the 60-hour sacrifice to participate in the Community Education course.
So far, 278 goats have gone home with families from the program since 2017. Goats can have three kids a year and can start having babies at 10 months of age. So already, the number of total goats coming from the Community Education program has increased dramatically! We estimate that more than 8,250 kids have been born and thousands more sold for income.
It’s only been a few years, and a relatively small number of program participants, but the goat husbandry initiative already been incredibly impactful. Most of the goats that we give away are already pregnant, so the families can quickly begin to sell goats for meat and continue to have more and more goats on the way.
One family was extra lucky with their goats. We heard the story from a grandmother came to the Maternity Center recently to support her granddaughter, who was giving birth. Her goat had had three sets of twins since she was in the Community Education program in 2017.
The Second Mile Haiti staff also loves having the goats around. Wesley and intern, Herode, spend most of their work week caring for the goats before they leave the Second Mile. And Blaise has taken a particular liking to the playful little friends, building them structures to jump around on, and making sure that they stay healthy and happy. Earlier this month, we built three additional goat shelters, bringing the total to 6 goat shelters for 2020!
Because of the success of this program, we will triple the number of Community Education classes that we offer the next year, from four to twelve. We’ve reached the five communities closest to Second Mile several times, so each household has already had the opportunity to participate. Now we can expand to the next ring, slightly farther from the Centers.
If you want to be a part of the amazing impact this program provides, consider giving the Gift of a Goat this year. When you donate a goat, we purchase a new goat to add to our herd. Your goat then spends several months at Second Mile and may even have a kid or two before she is given to a deserving graduate of the Community Education course.
Your goat is now a valued member of a new family, where she helps kids and adults alike achieve their dreams.