Seeds of Self Reliance Haiti Connections
Our main project in Haiti involves partnering with a grassroots organization called Initiative pour le Developpement Durable du Haiti (IDDH). This group of 28 members is doing great work organizing five school gardens and a collective farm.We have brought them some appropriate technology, including a push seeder and a wheel hoe which they plan to further develop and sell to local farmers. Peter Merritt is with them until April working on drip irrigation, composting and a rabbit project. Meredith is a registered nurse and is working with the local health clinic.
We have set up ‘jimlaj’ (twin, in Creole) classrooms with two classes at Cambridge Elementary School in Vermont who we have partnered with in a local school garden. The VT and Haiti students are exchanging letters and artwork and learning about each other’s worlds. A very cool and inspiring cross cultural exchange.
With IDDH, we are also exploring ideas to set up a system to sell Haitian Blue coffee, organic cacao, and dried mangoes in VT markets with the proceeds going back to the local Haitian farmers.
In response to the recent earthquake, we are adding two new projects this year. The VT-Haiti Project supports a school and orphanages in Port au Prince and we are planning to begin some urban agriculture and composting projects with them. The other project partners with Project Esperanza who works with at-risk youth in the Puerto Plata area in the DR. We will help develop gardens and a composting business with them. Many of these kids are Haitian refugees with numbers expected to increase because of the quake.The process of renewing Haiti will largely depend on a renaissance of small-scale agriculture. We are brainstorming ways to help family farmers have access to better markets in the US for coffee, dried mangos and cacao.
Check out Peter and Meredith's Blog from Haiti: