Local Catholics help Haitians raise, care for goats
GREEN BAY— A little girl sat quietly outside the school in Mirebalais, Haiti. She longed to enter as class was being conducted inside. Unfortunately, her family could not afford to pay the school fee. The image is one of many that stuck with three generations of volunteers who traveled to the Caribbean country in June.
Haitian villagers wait to have their goats tagged, immunized and cleaned as part of a goat project provided by Hands and Hearts of Haiti. (Submitted Photo | For The Compass)
John and Lois Gracyalny along with their daughter, LoAnn Steward, and granddaughters, Hannah and Shelby Steward, spent a week of service in the upper plateau of Haiti on behalf of Hands and Hearts with Haiti.
The goal of the mission group, which includes partners in Wisconsin and Ohio, is to help bring sustainability to impoverished Haitian families through assistance in education, clean water and agriculture.
The Gracyalnys are members of Assumption BVM Parish, Pulaski. The Stewards are from St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish, Green Bay. The trip marked the seventh for John and the third for Lois, LoAnn and Hannah, a recent graduate of the University of St. Thomas (Minn.), who now works for 3M. It was the first mission trip for Shelby, a junior at Winona State University (Minn.).
“The main goal of this trip was to track and record the health of the goats we purchased,” said LoAnn. “We hired someone down there who manages the goat program for us. We also have a veterinary technician, who is also Haitian. We have a program established where they need to meet certain criteria and care for the goats. They go to educational classes and need to bring at least one of their children along. The youth are the future, so it’s important to teach the kids what they need to do.”
Hands and Hearts with Haiti purchased 143 goats for the villages of Coup Gourge, Feja, Noyau and Desvarieux. Thirty-seven families are currently involved in the goat program. That number will grow as more goats are bred. The firstborn goat from each family is to be passed on to a new family.
“By raising the goats, they are going to be able to put their children in school,” said Lois. “When the kids go to school, they are able to have the noon meal.”
“You have to have someone there on the ground 24/7,” said LoAnn. “You can’t just do something and go back in six months or a year later and think that everything is going to be fine. They need constant education and help when they have questions.”
The goats were tagged, immunized and cleaned. A number of the goats had parasites from not being fed properly, said LoAnn. Basic education on how to care for the animals is essential.
The Haitian families currently do not milk the goats. The hope is to teach them how to make cheese to sell at market. Goat is also the top protein consumed in Haiti.
Shelby discovered that the Haitian people see the animals as strictly a resource.
“(The goats) are so cute,” she said. “I loved holding them. All the people laugh at you because they think you are absolutely crazy. I had two on my lap that fell asleep. (The Haitians) were pointing and whispering. It’s their food.”
Hannah and Shelby Steward, left, John and Lois Gracyalny and LoAnn Steward gather before departing en route to Haiti for a weeklong mission trip in June on behalf of Hands and Hearts with Haiti. The three generations of volunteers tagged and recorded the health of 143 goats purchased for villages located in the upper plateau of the country. (Submitted Photo | For The Compass)
The idea for the goat program was introduced by Msgr. Pere Leveque Bien-Aime, pastor in Mirabalais, who serves as the main contact for Hands and Hearts with Haiti. Msgr. Bien-Aime regularly travels to the U.S. to meet with mission group partners.
“Everyone knows (Msgr. Bien-Aime). Everyone recognized him when we would go to the different villages,” said Shelby. “We attended his Mass in Haiti. We didn’t know what he was saying, but it was very cool. Everyone goes to Mass.”
Different volunteers from the mission group provide a presence in Haiti and check on projects every two or three months. Building an elementary school in Noyau and a high school in Mirabalais are goals for the group.
“A Haitian has donated land in Noyau and we are also buying land,” said LoAnn. “We hope to build a church and school there. Right now, there is an old church that is not very stable. In Mirabalais, Partners in Health just built a new hospital. It’s bringing in a large number of people — doctors and nurses — so it’s important to have a good school.”
Shelby hopes that her schedule will allow her to return to Haiti in the future.
“I would love to go back,” she said. “I would like to learn the language (Creole or Kreyò) so we are not so dependent on a translator. It would be nice to be able to communicate with the people because a lot gets lost in translation down there.”
“Hopefully, the next time we go back, they have 250 goats,” said LoAnn. “Goats can breed up to three litters in two years and they can have one to three goats in a litter.”
“Our ultimate goal is to put all the kids in school,” said Lois.
To support the group’s projects in Haiti, send donations to: Hands and Hearts with Haiti, 130 St. Matthew St., Green Bay, WI 54301. For more information, contact John and Lois Gracyalny at jgracy123@gmail.com.
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The post Local Catholics help Haitians raise, care for goats appeared first on The Compass – Official Newspaper of the Diocese of Green Bay.
