Restoring Livelihoods in the Earthquake Affected Areas of Haiti

Donor: Caritas Australia

Implementation period: 2010 - 2014

Budget: USD 1,166 mil

In 2010 various development agencies started to work in Haiti and humanitarian aid was interlinked with the development one. One of the first organizations was Caritas which had been working in the country for more than five years.

The project was very complex and affected several thousands of families in the province of Leogane. Our tasks were some activities related to livestock commodities. Specifically, organization of working processes in the reproductive center of goats. Animals of selected breeds were purchased, mated by selected male goats and sent to selected families. Female goats after kids’ birth were returned back to the center, mated again so that they could be then, after passing medical tests and pregnancy confirmation, "lent" to other families. All this was a great challenge, especially thanks to the complex organization of the entire system (2,000 animals were purchased), accurate records had to be kept, (based on the identification of the animals with Czech ear tags) in order to avoid inbreeding, the animals were subjected to vaccination protocols, quarantine, and importantly tuberculin tests (goat tuberculosis is commonly found in Haiti and is often transmited to humans). Furthermore, the animals from the area and also the descendants of "rotating" goats were taken to the centre. Male goats had to be in no relationship and medical examinations had to be taken very strictly to prevent transmition of veneral diseases.