Group for Development and
Autonomy of Communities
PROJECT Status as of November 2021
Goats
75 FAMILIES complete the “goat project”:
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48 goat shelters - shelters protected GDAC animals during the December 2016 hurricane- our families did not lose a single goat to the storm.
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All goats supported with medications for deworming
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2019: 27 more goats given away this year to make our total 75 Families benefitting from a goat.
We have a farm now (2021) for our goats - with a barn and fenced in pastures so the goats don't have to be tied out. Now we can accept our newly re-given goats and raise them in a comfortable manner.
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Education:
2017/2018: GDAC regional committee provides training and support to new goat owners
2018: Two sessions of "farmer" training were offered in February - one by Equitarian Initiative and one by Dr. Brower
2018: December Alchemy and Nadege Cadet completed 12 weeks of Veterinary Agent training at Ag-Horizon.
2018: Marc Milien has been selected by the GDAC Advisory Groups to attend Ag Horizon Veterinary Field Agent School.
2019: A fourth person will attend the Ag Horizon Veterinary Field Agent school. Farmers received training prior to receiving goats
2020: GDAC welcomes our newest Ag-Horizon Graduate veterinary Field Agent, Carline Sucois! She is a welcome addition to our group of Mombin Crochu vet agents!
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Animal Care
2017: GDAC sponsored veterinary agents conducted 18 mobile clinics, going beyond goat care to providing care for pigs, roosters, oxen, cattle, horses, donkeys, mules, burros and rabbits. We served over 1,800 animals this year!
2018: Partnering with Equitarian Initiative (EI) and Christian Veterinary Mission (CVM), another 185 animals received care in March. GDAC vet agents continue to offer 2-3 mobile clinics per month and staff the GDAC pharmacy during Wednesday market days.
2019: GDAC, EI, CVM and Ag Horizon school partnered up again in February to deliver care to almost 400 animals!
2020: We built 10 more goat shelters for our recieving families to provide safe housing for animals overnight and in stormy weather. We continue to provide mobile clinics and our agents are now training other agents in adjacent regions.
2021: GDAC hires a full time goat herdsman to provide care for our small but growing goat herd that will be the source for goats for our goat give-away events
Garden
The Garden is used to help provide a source of good quality plants and seed for the farmers in our region. The plants are selected to provide nutrition for humans and animals and to provide income for both the farmers and GDAC. We have a central nursery which provides plants for 20 regional gardens and multiple families associated with each garden,
2016: Experimented with making a peanut garden as a means of making money for the goat medicine.
Pre – 2017: Provided approximately 5,000 starter trees (fruit, coffee, benzolive and leucena) to the community.
2017 - 2020: The peanut garden was a great success, so it was expanded! Our nursery provides about 5,000 starter trees and plants tor the community every year! Specialized animal foods have been planted (Elephant and Guatemala grasses)
2019: Explore the possibility of supplying peanuts for MFK (Meals for Kids)/ receive education about growing better crops of peanuts (decrease aflatoxin levels). We are continuing to work with this project in 2020
2020: COFFEE!! We have a new buyer of our coffee and are working to educate our farmers to a different method of selling it than they are used to using. By selling their coffee beans in the "cherry" state, they can double the amount of money they get for their coffee crop. (see the blog for more information)
2021 We weren't able to send coffee to the US in 2020 due to the political conditions in Haiti but we have not given up!!
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Transportation
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2018: Introducing our new truck! This truck will be used to transport community goods to markets in distant towns where they can be sold for higher prices!
2020: This truck is working hard and will allow us to move coffee from our site to the processing site in Ranquitte and also serve to transport processed coffee to the Port for shipping to the US. Thank God for this Truck!
2021 Such a hard working truck! We had to replace the box on the back because of damage from the roads in Haiti. But it is fixed now!
What is next on our to-do list?
2021- Covid and political unrest has slowed us down the last few months but our goal to reach sustainability has not changed:
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We continue to provide 2-3 mobile clinics per month to provide care for farm animals in this area.
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As our veterinary outreach abilities increase, we need to continue to educate farmers in animal care and husbandry. We want to provide at least 6 farmer education events in 2022.
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Continue to support farmers with goat give-away and animal shelters.
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Continue to increase farmer access to veterinary care
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Bring 1 - 2 teams of veterinarians to Haiti to support the veterinary agents in 2022 (political situation allowing safe travel).
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Continue to develop other revenue streams
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Finish building a more permanent training center/storage building
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Provide a vehicle for the Veterinary Agents
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Continue to provide starter trees for the community to help with reforestation.
