The SAKALA community center is home to Haiti's largest urban garden & has transformed the lives of hundreds of at-risk youth in Cite Soleil, a poor neighborhood in Port-au-Prince. After Hurricane Matthew devastated Haiti's southwest coast in October 2016, the folks at SAKALA decided to help its neighbors to the southwest plant trees and hope -- all while creating jobs and making Haiti green again. SAKALA has the experience and the drive necessary -- all it needs are the resources.
There are two essential problems addressed by this project. The first is the chronic unemployment -- and resulting high poverty rates -- in the Cite Soleil neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The second is the widespread destruction of trees and crops by Hurricane Matthew on Haiti's southwest coast in October 2016. This has left the people there with both immediate and long term food shortages, as well as the loss of livelihoods for farmers who were already struggling before the hurricane.
SAKALA is the home of Haiti's largest urban garden and already has a tree nursery that could be scaled way up -- meaning more jobs in the impoverished neighborhood in such fields as compost creation, seedling cultivation and replanting of saplings. SAKALA is well placed to assist in reforestation efforts in Haiti's southwest and will make the region less vulnerable to loss of soil as well as replacing fruit trees -- such as mango, papaya, coconut -- that are an important source of nutrients.
With the potential creation of hundreds of jobs over time, the project could lead to lessening of unemployment in Cite Soleil, enabling today's children to escape the trap of generational poverty, go to school and earn a good living themselves some day. With the planting of countless trees, we can make southwest Haiti green again, make it less vulnerable to soil erosion and help restore the livelihoods of farmers affected by Hurricane Matthew.
