Objective: Develop and implement sustainable projects in the Haitian community of Montrouis to promote the health and welfare of children by providing clean water, basic healthcare and food for the severely malnourished.
I. HEALTH CARE ACCESS
Teams of volunteers consisting of medical and non-medical personnel will provide week-long medical clinics for children at various locations in and around Montrouis, thus bringing medical care to a large population that otherwise would have not access to such care. There will be at least two weeklong trips a year, but if there is adequate funding as well as volunteers, the number of trips may be expanded.
Ideas to consider for this project:
1. Develop standards for the staffing and operation of the clinics.
2. Prepare a budget for these trips.
II. MALNUTRITION REHABILITATION
Using community health agents retained by Mission Manna, a select number of children suffering from severe malnutrition will be enrolled in a program to rehabilitate their bodies, which in turn will promote their health and general well being. The community health agents will periodically provide nutritional supplements to the families of these children as well as health and wellness education. These children will be monitored to ensure that the intervention is having the intended results.
Ideas to consider for this project:
1. Establish guidelines as to children and families eligible to be enrolled in the program.
2. Establish guidelines for moving children and families out of this program in order to bring new children and families into the program.
3. Develop guidelines for the operation of the program, such as the types of food and nutritional supplements that are to be provided and the content of the health and wellness education to be provided.
4. Prepare a budget for this program to better determine how many children can be accepted.
III. SUSTAINABLE NUTRITION
Establishing a sustainable source of food and income is a key component in ultimately improving the health and quality of the lives of children and their families in Haiti. This project contemplates the use of agriculture as providing impoverished families with nutrition and income.
This project will initially focus on the introduction of goats as to better the lives of poor families in and around the Montrouis community. The reasons for selecting goats are perhaps best summarized by the following Raising Goats for Milk and Meat by Heifer International:
Goats are some of the most beneficial animals in the world providing meat, milk, fiber, fertilizer, and draft power in addition to working as partners in land reclamation. Widely known as the “poor man’s cow,” goats have some under-recognized advantages over other animals. They are readily adaptable, thriving in tropical, cold, dry or humid climates. Given their small statute compared to other livestock, goats can be raised on large or small land holdings. Furthermore, approximately two-thirds of the feed energy used to raise these animals comes from substances which are undesirable, indigestible and inedible by humans.
[G]oats cost very little, are ideal for family milk and meat production and can be easily sold for income. The milk and meat produced by one goat is the perfect balance: it is sufficient to meet children’s nutritional requirements, without the storage problems associated with the larger supply produced by cattle. In warm climates where no refrigeration is available, the meat from one goat can be consumed by a family before it spoils. And as there are few religious taboos related to the consumption of goat meat and milk. Goat meat, dairy products or offspring an easily be sold for extra income.
Traditionally raised for milk and meat, goats are the source of the most widely consumed meat in the world. It is an excellent source of protein. It is low in fat and cholesterol and high in vitamins and minerals. Similarly goat milk is more widely consumed worldwide that cow’s milk and, for many, is easier to digest.
Alternative 1: One possible design and for the establishment and implementation of this project could be as follows:
1. Mission Manna will assemble three small herds of goats, with one herd to be placed with each of the three rural mountain communities served by Mission Manna – Iviore, Fond Baptiste and Piyat. The herd will include 10 breeding does.
2. The goats to be utilized in the program will likely be a breed that is capable of producing reasonably quantities of milk as well as a sufficient amount of meat, which would make the animals attractive as a good source of ongoing nourishment and attractive as a commodity that can be sold in the market to provide an income. It is anticipated that an appropriate breed of quality goats can be acquired from existing farms in Haiti.
3. Before delivery of the goats, the members of each community who elect to participate in the program must demonstrate an ability to act in concert in caring from the herd and in distributing the benefits from this endeavor (i.e., milk, meat and/or income). It seems appropriate to have a high degree of self-governance by the community. Moreover, the project participants must receive a series of training courses on feeding goats, common diseases and goat management. In addition, Mission Manna may also sponsor periodic visits by a veterinarian to inspect and administer any needed care to the herd.
4. In exchange for caring for and raising the herd, the community can have and take as their own (a) milk from the goats and (b) one-half of the kids produced by the herd. Although actual results will vary based on the breed of goat selected, a female goat may have up to three kiddings in two years, with multiple offspring resulting from each kidding. Thus, a herd of 10 does and one buck can be expected to produce between 30 and 60 kids in the course of three years.
5. Mission Manna will retain rights to the remaining one-half of the kids produced by the herd to be given to families where there is a great need for assistance, including families with children in the malnutrition rehabilitation project as a way to sustain nutrition while in the program and after graduating from the program. Those new families receiving goats must also receive training on the care and management of goats.
6. In conjunction with this program, it will be necessary to establish a breeding program. It may be best to assist one individual in the community in acquiring and maintaining a breeding buck that can be rotated between communities or periodically replaced in order to prevent in-line breeding. The person with the breeding buck will share along with the other members of the community in the milk and kids produced by the herd, and may also receive some additional compensation from Mission Manna, a breeding fee, for maintaining the buck.
7. As a pilot project, this program can be started in one of the mountain communities. If the results of the pilot project are favorable, then herds can also be placed with the other two mountain communities.
Alternative 2: Another possible approach to the establishment and implementation of this goat project is as follows:
1. Mission Manna will select 10 families in each of the three rural mountain communities it serves, a total of 30 families, and it will give each family a doe. Families in the program must participate in a series of training courses on feeding goats, common diseases and goat management. Also, a designated individual in each community will receive additional training on goat health care.
2. Each family who receives a doe must also agree to pass on one of the doe’s female offspring to another family in need, along with the training and skills that have been acquired in managing and raising goats. Similarly, each recipient family must also agree to pass on one of the female offspring of the doe it receives as well as the training and skills associated with caring for goats.
3. Mission Manna may reserve the right to designate families to receive the offspring, and this may provide a way to provide goats to families who have children in the malnutrition rehabilitation project.
4. It will be necessary to establish a breeding program as well. It will likely be best to assist one individual in the community in acquiring and maintaining a breeding buck that can be rotated between communities or periodically replaced in order to prevent in-line breeding. The person with the breeding buck can be paid a breeding fee for maintaining the buck.
IV. CLEAN WATER
Finally, clean water will be provided in each of the communities served by Mission Manna by the installation of one or more water wells in those communities. These wells will be strategically located to preserve their integrity and to facilitate the collection, treatment and distribution of water. Individuals in the community will be trained to govern and maintain the wells and the distribution system.
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