A literal translation for this proverb could be: “Cow owned by many dies hungry”.

The cow is one of the animals people raise in Haiti.. Some people even do that as a living. Some other people just buy cows and give them to a caretaker. Depending on the agreement, the owner can pay for the breeding or one of each two litters will be retained by the breeder.

The animal will need good care. Haitian breeders are used to taking cows to some places where there is grass so that they can eat and either bring them water or lead them to some other places to drink water. But sometimes when more than one person is doing that job, when one is unavailable, the other takes over. Sometimes, there is negligence/miscommunication among them as they count on each other to take care of the cow. Sometimes no one does the job, and the cow goes hungry and even dies.

Haitians say this proverb to show the importance of delegating and holding people responsible for a particular task so that it could be done on time and properly. Anything that is under the care of more than one person tends to be neglected, takes time to be done, or is never accomplished.