goat stuff



one of Kim's goats
Bristol, TN
Yes, it's really a goat, not a sheep.
(She has sheep, too.)
 I just double checked with her.

family and goats and business, back home in Indiana - msn video

OK, full disclosure: Although I grew up in Indiana, my exposure to goats was limited mostly to petting zoos until I went to Haiti.  I did meet some goats up close and personal at the farm of a close friend and children's author Kimberly Brubaker Bradley (great historical novels and a couple of science books! I should do a post on her at some point. Look her up here: http://www.kimberlybrubakerbradley.com/). 

  



Goats. They eat everything.  I saw one bite a mouthful out of a tourist's straw hat at the San Diego Zoo (note: never let it hang down your back on a string around your neck).  In Haiti they ate almost everything.  In the video above, there were several hysterically funny shots of the msn camera crew cornered by goats or trying to milk them - apparently this is true with Indiana goats as well.  The video is worth watching just for those, as a matter of fact.



a little goat (a kid, maybe?)
Darbonne, Leogane, Haiti

Goats are important in Haiti, too.  Goat meat is more nutritious than beef, I am told, and since they are less high maintenance than cows, it makes sense for a number of reasons to have them.  I had intended to write about the Goat Project in Darbonne in an earlier post, but only ended up doing so after the earthquake: update from Darbonne.  It's rather like the Heifer Project, for those of you familiar with that, but run out of Global Health Action in Atlanta:  http://www.globalhealthaction.org/en/.  I had the opportunity to attend one of their weekend courses on the care of goats while I was in Darbonne, and I was quite impressed with the program.  (I note here, from their instructions, that while goats will eat anything, it is not the best course of action to let them do so!) You are, of course, welcome to follow the link if you would care to donate.


I would love to see the goats in Haiti be a source of greater business, too, something more like that run by the family in Indiana spotlighted in the video.  I wonder how that might be brought to life.  I wonder if I should email this family.  Do any of you have goat connections?


goat milk soap from Indiana



Meanwhile, this family business is worth a look: http://goatmilkstuff.com/