Felisitasyon!  Thanks to you and the wonderful GlobalGiving community, this project has been funded!  In fact, your supreme generosity helped us raise an additional $2,351 dollars for the group in Kasis, Haiti.  With the project reaching full funding, members in Kasis, Haiti can see the pig breeding project through to full completion.  27 breeding pigs were purchased and training on pig selection, pig breeding and care have been completed.

The training session was a very important component of this project.  A 2-day workshop was offered to members that focused on reinforcing the organization’s technical capacity to improve pig breeding practices – focusing on modern methods adapted to their local environment.   The workshop also included discussions on creating permanent sources of forage through cultivation and preservation of nutritional plants, veterinary care, open grazing, the importance of enclosures for the sustainability of the environment, breeding techniques, and strategies for long-term success and growth. 

The pigs have been purchased.  Training is completed, and breeding has begun!  Lambi Fund partners are already seeing healthy litters of piglets being born and incomes are increasing.  As always, Lambi Fund will continue monitoring the project and checking in with organization leaders to ensure the pig breeding project is progressing smoothly.  As more and more pigs are bred, the number of breeding pigs available will increase as well.  All of which improve financial security for organization members in Kasis.  This project is expected to reach complete self-sufficiency within the next year.

Mesi anpil.  By providing pigs, you have helped an entire community rebuild after the earthquake.

Links:

• Haiti Resources
• Haiti Photots

Members of the pig breeding group in Kasis, Haiti have been working incredibly hard these past three months.  Thanks to training and the purchase of a few starter pigs, group members have been breeding pigs and selling the offspring in markets.  This valuable source of new income is helping the organization breed even more healthy pigs and to invest their profits into a community microcredit fund.  Investing profits in a microcredit fund is incredibly important for project sustainability.  This community “slush fund” will allow the organization to pay for foreseen and unforeseen costs incurred and to make small loans to members.  Many women in the group use these loans to purchase goods for merchant activities and to monetize their crops.

Thanks to your support, these Haitians living in rural Haiti have gone from hoping to breed pigs to making pig breeding a vibrant part of their community.  Help Lambi Fund reach the last phase of our funding goals as we work to monitor the project for sustainability, purchase more pigs and provide additional training.  Creating opportunities for incomes is an essential part of developing communities in Haiti.  Cheers!

Links:

• Lambi Fund's website
• Lambi Fund Programs
• Haiti Pictures

First off, Lambi Fund would like to say mesi anpil!  Thanks to all of your generous donations, this project is incredibly close to being fully funded.

The 55 members of a local grassroots organization in Kasis, Haiti are currently working on moving their pig breeding enterprise towards sustainability.  Lambi Fund has nearly reached our goal of purchasing 27 pigs for the project.  After a series of organizational training, bookkeeping, animal care, and seminars on pig breeding, members are beginning to breed pigs and offspring of healthy piglets are being born!  As the members in Kasis are learning, it takes much more than the birth of piglets for a successful pig breeding enterprise.  They must regularly check up on and care for the animals to ensure they remain healthy and everyone in the organization must work together to manage and run the project.  As we speak, members are learning what works best and agreeing on each individual’s duties and responsibilities.  For instance, an important decision they are making is to determine which piglets each member will receive once they are born.

As the Lambi Fund of Haiti approaches the final stages of this project, we would like to thank you for your continued support.  Please consider helping this project become fully funded, by sharing this with your friends and family.  Lambi Fund’s work is not yet complete as we work with members in Kasis to monitor problems as they arise, continue training, and purchase more pigs for training.

Links:

• Lambi Fund website
• Lambi Fund newsletter
• Haiti Resources

As we approach the end of the year, Lambi Fund is happy to say that pig breeding in partnership with 55 members in Kasis, Haiti is right on track!  The community organization has received training on organizational management, pig breeding skills, and general animal care.  Members of the organization have worked to build animal pens to prepare for the animals once the pigs have been purchased.

Thanks to your much needed support, Lambi Fund is now entering the final phase of this project.  Local pigs will be purchased and group members will begin their pig breeding enterprise.  This is the truly exciting part of the project, where all of the community’s hard work, preparation and training can be used to achieve a positive outcome!  Help Lambi Fund reach its goal of purchasing 27 pigs and help Haitian peasants in Kasis begin an economic enterprise that will increase household incomes and improve livelihoods. 

This holiday season, the gift of a pig truly is priceless.  The sale of piglets in the local market is an opportunity for a better future.

Links:

• Lambi Fund's website
• Lambi Fund Blog
• TIME Magazine recommends Lambi Fund!

It’s been 7 months since January’s devastating earthquake in Haiti. Thanks to your continued support, members of Lambi Fund’s pig breeding project have slowly worked to regain their footing. The pigs are healthy and producing offspring!

This is a shimmer of hope in difficult times. Haitian peasants have been able to use these pigs to earn sustainable incomes as they sell them in local markets and as a source of valuable protein for their families. As the pig breeding project strengthens, more and more members in the community are benefiting from the ownership of a pig. Earthquake survivors who left Port-au-Prince to live in rural provinces with friends and family see owning a pig as an opportunity to provide for their families today and to plan for tomorrow.

As this local organization looks to expand its Pig Breeding enterprise, please consider donating a pig today as this community works to achieve sustainable incomes for longtime residents and new arrivals. For many in Haiti, rebuilding starts with a pig.

Links:

• Lambi Fund homepage
• Earthquake Rebuilding Updates
• Lambi Fund Newsletter

The Lambi Fund Pig Breeding Project is doing well and was not damaged by the earthquake. The organization members breed the pigs, and distribute some of the piglets in the community to sell to provide income for their organization. The group grows the feed locally and has a veterinary pharmacy so they do not have to travel into town if the pigs become sick.

“Pigs allow us to live, that is the way we take care of our kids and all of our needs.” Member of the Lambi Fund Pig Breeding Project

The Lambi Fund will need to triple the number of pigs to accommodate the massive influx of earthquake survivors moving to the area from Port-au-Prince.

Given that there is a high likelihood that most of those currently migrating to rural communities will stay permanently, there needs to be a dramatic increase in agricultural capacity to meet the increased demand for food.

Thanks to all of you who have supported the Lambi Fund Pig Breeding Project, and rural Haitian families.

Let us know what you think about our pig breeding project and how it helps Haitian families.

During our last visit to Kasis, members of the organization’s council prayed and sang songs of gratitude for their donors from overseas who have “placed their faith and treasures in the hands of us poor farmers from Kasis”. The pig breeding project is going well. The revenue generated by the organization from selling pigs at markets has been used to create a credit fund. Under ADZK's management, the loans are given out to farmers and market women. With ADZK’s support local farmers are able to buy farming tools and the resources they need to make their land more productive. The women are able to increase the profits they make from selling products at the local markets. The nurseries also symbolize Kasis’ “ can do” spirit! Last year’s hurricanes and ensuing floods brought great destruction to the village. Animals and trees were carried away by the raging waters. With the support of the Lambi Fund’s hurricane funds, ADZK's members restocked their nurseries and have been busy growing seedlings and planting trees. ADZK members’ are strong believers that civic engagement is an integral part of their strategy for sustainability. At the organization’s last elections, most of the posts for executive council were contested with an unprecedented number of three contenders running for president…. That’s democracy in action! This project’s success reflects the determination of the people of Kasis to rebuild, replant, grow and persevere in spite of the daily challenges they face.

Project Update

This project is working very well. The organization received 24 females and 4 males which produced 199 piglets. A total of 143 piglets were distributed among members and 21 did not survive. The death of 21 piglets was caused in part to colds and other related illness which affected the pig population in the aftermath of Hurricane Noel. The Lambi Fund was able to purchase additional pigs from its emergency relief fund.

The project’s strategy requires that members who care for the pigs share a percentage of piglets with the organization. Over 35 pigs have been given to the organization which sold the pigs and has kept the funds in its collective savings account. The organization has sought Lambi Fund’s assistance to start a credit bank which would facilitate the circulation of the profits earned within the community.

Trees ADKZ produced about 20,000 seedlings. The nurseries sustained some damage from hurricane Noel which seriously impacted the area in October 2007. Through Lambi Fund’s emergency relief initiative, ADZK received funding to rebuild its nurseries and produced 15,000 more seedlings of fruit and forest trees. Tree planting activities were conducted between May and June 2008.

Project Impact

The community of Kasis was severely impacted by Hurricane Noel. They sustained great damage to property, personal effects and the local infrastructure. In the absence of any governmental intervention and with the threat of total isolation, as all roads leading to the community had been destroyed, the organization took a leadership role in helping residents cope and rebuild. ADZK took the initiative to rebuild the only road leading to the village, rendered impassable by Noel, using rocks and gravel. Although it took them a while to recover, they emerged from this experience stronger and ever thankful to the Lambi Fund’s efforts to strengthen their organization’s capacity. They point to the workshops and to their efforts in managing the pig project as the source of their confidence in address the needs of their community in the aftermath of the hurricane..

The organization continues to thrive having successfully included younger members within the leadership structure. This has helped expand the membership and has engaged young people in constructive, community building activities.

• ADZK (DOC)

• ADZK Progress Report.doc (DOC)