Partnering with the Community

Hello from Cap Haitien, where we are safe and well despite the ongoing danger in other parts of Haiti.

The news is sobering, but with so much to be done, we’re holding our heads high and holding onto hope for this country we love so much. 

Since we last wrote, our teams here in Cap Haitien and Saint-Raphael have been busy with two main priorities: 1) stocking up on supplies for and 2) tackling the problem of food insecurity the best way we know how.

If you’ve been reading for awhile, you know that we grow food on our campuses, keep fruit tree nurseries that we share from regularly, and that we help the mothers of children who have recently recovered from Malnutrition start garden collectives with their neighbors—sometimes travelling more than two hours by motorcycle to provide in-person support. 

But this past week we turned our attention to the people living right here in the communities we call home. 

On Monday & Tuesday, our agronomists and social workers left by bicycle and foot to meet with families in the communities where we work.

They came bearing gifts: spinach, tomato, pepper, & carrot seeds, plus watering cans and machetes to help community members tend to their young gardens. 

But they didn’t just leave their gifts and ride off to the next home! 

They stayed with every household offering manual support to form raised beds and get seeds in the ground.

This Tuesday, we turned our focus to the local school: Academie LEAD Haiti.

The school sits not more than 50 meters from our Cap Haitien Malnutrition Treatment Center. Currently, it’s a safe and well-equipped learning environment for 187 students, grades K-8.

After a few planning meetings with the school administrator (the man pictured in blue) we were ready for a hands on session with the students. 

Before we arrived, students and teachers had emptied the school house of all its benches and chairs in order to create an open air classroom. 

From there, Ange Marie, our lead agronomist, inspired children of all ages and every gender, to join in on the action.

After learning about the essential needs of a vegetable garden, the kids got to work breaking up the soil and forming raised beds… 

Wetting the soil…

planting and covering the seeds…

and once more, watering the seeds with water from the hand pump of the school grounds.

We left the school grounds already anticipating our next visit. Being just a short walk away, we’ll back to the school regularly to work with smaller groups of students at all stages of the gardens growth. 

There are more than 1 million people in Haiti facing famine levels of crisis and the effects of the crisis in Port-au-Prince is far-reaching. The suffering of those still in the midst of the violence is not far from our minds. 

But this day was happy one—full of hope for the day when these kids will get to harvest nutritious foods for their school lunches and carry the surplus home to their families.

❤️ love from Haiti

Garden Frenzy

Over the past few weeks our garden team has helped 172 women start vegetables gardens at home!

Women like Martha, and her neighbors!

You may have heard us talk about the gardens we have on campus.

But did you know why we started those gardens in the first place?

Yes, we wanted to grow food to help supplement the meals we make for staff and caregivers every week.

But more than anything, we wanted caregivers spending time at the Malnutrition Treatment Center to be able to learn more about how to grow different fruits and vegetables during their stay.

You may have seen us talk about how we aim to help every graduate of our Malnutrition Treatments Centers start a home garden.

But who teaches these skills?

Well, many people living in rural Haiti already know a lot about growing food! But the seeds that we share with families aren’t ones they’ve had experience with in the past.

That’s where our Agriculture Technicians come in!

We have a team of five experts who went to school for degrees in agronomy— the science of growing good!

Wisner (left) and Ange Marie (right) make up 2/3rds of our Cap Haitien team.

As the weather starts to get a little bit cooler in Haiti—high seventies to high 80s in November and December—it’s the perfect time to start as many gardens as we can.

The garden team is working at full speed and they get a little bit of help from the operations team when it comes time to deliver supplies—watering cans and a gardening tool—to the homes of our beneficiaries.

Every Second Mile graduate is asked to bring along 5 of their neighbors for the experience.

Martha is a mother who spent time at our center with her daughter in 2017. Her daughter is in the school program and she participated in the savings group.

When Ange Marie called her to say we were coming to her neighborhood, she had to think carefully about which of her neighbors she wanted to invite to participate.

Ultimately, Martha (center), chose people she knew would take the experience seriously. She picked people she believed would be enthusiastic and supportive of one another and work hard to keep their gardens alive.

At age 18, Chedeline, is the youngest of the group. She has the least experience with gardening, but wanted to participate because she knew that growing food was a way she could generate some income.

At 65, Philomena, is the most experienced. She’s been growing food since she was about 10 years old. Both of her parents were farmers and she remembers the days where nearly everything they ate came from the garden.

Micheline has grown okra because it’s a fast growing plant and produces a lot of food, and basil, because she likes basil tea.

But one thing that all 6 women have in common is this: they’ve never grown the types of plant varieties we focus on in this initiative—tomatoes, onions, cabbage, carrots, peppers, and amaranth (for it’s leafy greens).

This October, these six women and 160+ others have put their seeds in the ground and are waiting patiently for them to sprout.

Martha and her friends will be working hard to keep their young veggies plants alive over the next few months.

Send that green thumb energy their way!

Thank you for spreading

Until next time, love from Haiti 🇭🇹