Villagers in Boco and Katoussaint are igniting a communal connection and inspiring other Haitian communities after sharing their harvests and passing on goats to their neighbors in need at a Passing on the Gift (POG) ceremony in August.
It was about 12:30 p.m. local time when the Heifer Haiti team arrived at the school yard where the ceremony took place. Children and young girls sang songs welcoming the visitors to the crowd of about 200 smiling people. A Representative of Haitian Initiative Mentoring Disadvantaged Farmers of Nippes (INHEPADEN) led the ceremony. Every dance and performance underlined the importance of the Heifer trainings that had helped the original INHEPADEN beneficiary families rise above poverty and become donors.
About 20 families received crop shares and Heifer Haiti goats. As the original families gave their gifts, they explained what they did to care for the crop or animal and expressed their desire that the receiver would do the same.
In a country where values have faded and community has taken a back seat to relief, I was happy to see the participants from both villages eating together and happily posing for pictures with the resources they received.
Heifer Haiti Nippes Field Technician Molita Denis awarded the beneficiaries with a certificate to end the POG ceremony.
Bossé Ruth, project participant and executive secretary of the INHEPADEN, said, “I am more than happy to share what I have with my fellow villagers and I would love to invite the other communities to do the same. If it can be done here in Katoussaint it can happen anywhere in Haiti.”
Story and photos courtesy of Adassa Romilus, Communication Officer, Heifer Haiti
