2023-06-18 18:55:33
The Kamerzin family realized their dream of becoming mountain goatherds. But the reality turns out to be more difficult than expected, because this breeding work requires a huge investment. The 7:30 p.m. of the RTS offers Sunday an immersion in the reality of this family.
La Fermette at Didi is located in Icogne in Valais, at an altitude of 1100m, halfway between Sion and Crans-Montana. This is where Lisa and Lionel Kamerzin live with their son Mathis.
It’s 10:00 p.m. when Lisa starts making goat cheese, and her day won’t end until 2:00 a.m., explains the goatherd. “I start my second day of work, while Lionel puts the little one to bed”, she describes. This sharing of tasks allows him to complete his daily production in complete peace of mind.
At 4:15 a.m., work at the goat farm resumes: it’s Lionel’s turn to take care of the seventy heads that make up their herd. “We certainly underestimated the workload, I think we weren’t even aware of the difficulties”, explains Lisa Kamerzin.
Because the next day, in Sion, it will be market day, the young woman will therefore have to get up at 5:00 a.m.
It’s hard, we don’t play smart.
Raising goats was Lionel’s big dream. Starting from scratch, the couple got into debt and therefore mightn’t pay a worker. “It’s hard, we don’t play smart, (…) the amount of work is such that we might have a full-time worker with us”, assures Lionel.
La Fermette à Didi is located in Icogne in Valais, at an altitude of 1100m. [RTS]Fortunately, especially to feed the goats, some neighbors and volunteers from Caritas-Mountaineers give them a hand. “We idealize goats a bit, it’s cute, but it’s still hard and intense work,” says Jacqueline, one of the volunteers.
Each year in Switzerland, 130 farms benefit from the aid of Caritas-Montagnards. It provides volunteers to families who do not have the financial means, explains Jessica Pillet Cuttelod, project manager within the association. “Some families live on less than 2,000 francs a month”.
Commercially, the products of their organic farm are selling well, but to make this operation viable, they must modernize it and therefore reinvest. The Kamerzin family also receives direct payments from the Confederation, money that is used primarily to repay their loan.
When I want to crack, I look at nature, (…) Lionel doing the hay or my son playing, because that’s pure happiness.
According to Lisa Kamerzin, the profession of goatherd is also emotional, especially when you find a dead kid. “We have to take it upon ourselves so much, we cannot stop on a sudden of fatigue or sadness on the pretext that we have lost an animal”.
In this job, it is also difficult, if not impossible, to give yourself a whole day to breathe and recuperate. So before breaking down, when Lisa feels overwhelmed, she looks around her, “nature, insects, animals, Lionel doing the hay or my son playing and that’s pure happiness”, concludes- She.
TV Subject: Flore Dussey
Adaptation web: Miroslav Mares
1687133607
#raise #goats #utopia #reality
