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Passing on the Gift® in Saut Mathurine, Haiti

Louidor Armand

Saut Mathurine, a mountain town in the west of Haiti. The earthquake didn’t affect Saut Mathurine as much a Port-au-Prince, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t devastation—years of political struggles, bad economics and natural disasters have all taken their toll on people seeking to simply live out their lives with health and happiness.

Louidor Armand is one of those people—a mother struggling to provide for her family with food at every meal and enough money send her children to school. She has been given a boost toward her desire for a better life through a Heifer project in her community. At a Passing on the Gift ceremony, Louidor was given a milk cow that provides nutritious milk for her family. Louidor also makes yogurt from her cow’s milk that she sells so that her family can have some income. The income is enough that Louidor is able to actually save money for the first time in her life.

Heifer also gave Louidor the gift of banana tree stock and yam plants to begin building a small garden. She sells the products of her garden at a local market, adding even more income to her family’s savings.

Jean Lutes with his Heifer

The changes that Louidor has experienced in her life are sweeping throughout the community of Saut Mathurine, passed from one family to another. Louidor received the gift of a cow and banana and yam plants from Jean Lutes, another member of the community who had received a gift of livestock and plants from Heifer. As he Passed on the Gifts that he had been given to Louidor he said, “I am proud today like a donor to give you a gift that will raise your dignity.”

Fred Dumesle with his family in front of their new house

And the gifts keep on multiplying. Fred Dumesle, another member of the Saut Mathurine community recently became a recipient of his own cow, banana trees, and yam plants. He has worked hard to create a thriving garden and care for his cow. Already she has given birth to a calf that Fred gave to another family in need. The next calf Fred’s cow had was sold so that his family would have enough money to buy a small portion of land on which to build a house for his family. Now his family has a growing garden, a milk cow, and a house.

Hope is spreading in communities throughout Haiti, one community at a time, one gift passed on to another.

Pass on your own gift by buying a share in a Heifer today!