By Teresa Henry | Program and Outreach Coordinator
While watching the students at St. Paul's School in Petit Trou de Nippes, Haiti prepare their garden stands, gather the chickens and plant trees, I was struck by the similarities of gardening and farming worldwide. I could have been at a county fair but in fact I was at the 1st annual Harvest Festival at St. Paul's. This area of Haiti was hit hard by Hurricane Matthew last October, and recovery is still underway. The school garden has been an incredible asset to the community during these difficult months. Since January, the gardens have fed almost 5000 community members!
The agricultural education program as part of St. Paul's curriculum began two years ago, and the festival was the culmination of this pilot program. The program provides the students with in-depth, hands-on farming and horticultural training designed specifically for the southern peninsula where Petit Trou sits. It is an extremely popular program, due in part to its interactive nature, wherin students plant, weed, water, everthing from caring for the animals to creating compost! The other key reason for its popularity with the children is that is creates a powerful opportunity for reinforcement of the family structure. Petit Trou is a rural community where farming is the main ingredient of a secure food supply. By supporting agricultural education, we are supporting the families of the community, as the students take home innovative agricultural lessons and best practices for home gardens and small farms.
As the new school year begins, our initial startup grant for agricultural education at St. Paul's is finished. Help us continue this life-altering program for rural Haitian children and their families. Having a Haitian agronomist/agricultural educator brings the learning of best practices and a deeper understanding of growing the crops that are the staples of the Haitian diet. And to support the worldwide effort of reforestation and sustainable agriculture requires a trained agronomist. Please stand with us on the frontline of conservation and education in supporting St. Paul's School in Petit Trou de Nippes, Haiti.
Links:
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
