“Even if I were to talk all day it wouldn’t be enough, because I benefited a house.”

Murat Fladymir and his wife have eagerly taken advantage of each opportunity presented to them through the community development partnership of CWS and SSID. The family has made the most of microcredit, seed distributions, house construction and livestock distribution. Murat now has beets in his garden, and his wife has a microcredit business loan. Murat even went above and beyond and participated in Disaster Risk Reduction training. He is now a DRR agent for his community, complete with a diploma from his training. In April of 2012 the family received a house through the program, and in January of 2017 he received his cow.

SSID gifted Murat with a mother cow. The way the program works is that the mother cow is given to a family to care for her until she has a calf. Once a calf is born, the family keeps the calf and the mother cow is given to the next family. Murat’s cow has not yet had a calf – pregnancy lasts nine months – but he is taking good care of the mother.

Cows are a major economic advantage in Haiti. They can be used for milk or sold for around 300 USD. But caring for a cow requires dedication. Murat knows that even when it’s hot, “you have to go and move the cow. You see? Because you have to give it water, take care of it, bring it food. Sometimes I go to cut [sugar]cane, whatever time it is, I go very far to cut cane to bring it to the cow [to eat].” Every night the cow is brought into the family’s yard, which Murat fenced.

For Murat, the cow is definitely worth the extra effort. He says, “It is a big advantage because when you have an animal, in the future it can help you progress.”

And for Murat and his family, progress is a way of life. Each new component of the CWS and SSID program means a new opportunity to expand their income and to be able to provide better for their child. Their progress goes beyond just their family of three, too – there are five people living in the house that CWS helped build. When our staff mentioned that it is common for more than the immediate family to live in a single house in Haiti, Murat’s generosity showed clearly. His response? “That’s how it is. You have to live and work together. If someone doesn’t have a place yet, he sleeps outside. You can’t leave him outside, especially if he’s your brother or sister or family. You see what I mean?”

For participants like Murat, the program provides multiple channels through which people in Boen and Ganthier can build a better future. That means so much to Murat, who says, “I benefitted so much in this project. Even if I were to talk all day it wouldn’t be enough, because I benefitted a house.”

He also had this message for everyone who donates to the program: “Obviously, God should give these people what they deserve. Because for me, what I got … I can’t tell how long I would need to work in Haiti to build this house. And I always pray when I pray [to] God, I pray for this organization because they help me and many other people advance because I have a house, I have a cow to look after, I have seeds for agriculture, so God will give them back their satisfaction.”

Watch Murat and others from this program talk about what they would say to program donors: