Today I learned that I don’t know much about goats or chickens! Did you know that chickens get angry when they can’t roost? And of course they can’t roost when they’re tied by one leg to a post with a 30cm piece of twine. For several birds, the cheap twine broke when they desperately tried to fly up to the arbour overhead at dusk. All hell broke loose with myself and kids trying to chase them down and find something to tie them back up with. One was out of reach, but luckily for us by the time we realized that it was quite dark so she just hunkered down for the night and didn’t try to escape.
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| Trying to keep the pesky chickens tied up tight |
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| Ariane bravely holding a chicken |
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| Young men receiving two chickens each |
Did you know goats are almost as stubborn as donkeys? Despite what Ariane believes, goats do not skip along behind you if you just ask them nicely. They dig in their heels or outright lie down and refuse to move! Especially after they’ve just been untied after traveling upside down tied to the side of a truck from market. I did manage to get all of the goats from yesterday and today tied up behind the main house where they had shade and lots of grass to eat. They made many people happy today when they came to pick them up.
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| Goats in the yard |
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| Leaving with a new goat |
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| Josue very happy with his new goat |
Later this afternoon, I had a chance to visit some very good friends, both of whom demonstrate integrity, grit, ingenuity and incredibly hard work every day. Martha works here at the mission, but in order to secure her future, she always has at least one pig named Patience (or several) that she sells when they are fat enough. She raises chickens to sell and is slowly, but surely, building a house in Verrettes that she can rent out for some regular income when she is ready to retire. My other friend, Rigaud, works at the nearby hospital 6 days a week from 6am-2pm. He then goes to his garden until dark, hoeing, weeding, irrigating etc. He too has animals he breeds. Uneducated and illiterate, both of them are using the gifts they have to secure their children’s futures by sending them to school, which is expensive in Haiti. It is always humbling and inspiring to visit them.
Josiah and Tevan are both sick today with fevers. They’ve spent the entire day resting or sleeping. I hope they are feeling better tomorrow. I’m still not great, but am slowly improving (too slow for my liking).
Tomorrow early am, I’m taking the big kids hiking which is a highlight of my visits here. They asked me if we would hike almost as soon as I got out of the vehicle upon my arrival!
~Liette
