Help Raise 50K for Haitian Farmers to fight Hunger

Your Generosity Strengthens Local Food Production

Thank you for your generous gift to Friends of Matènwa’s GlobalGiving project to empower local farmers to fight hunger on Lagonav Island in Haiti. We are grateful for your generosity and your solidarity.

Now more than ever, as gangs increase their campaign of violence and chaos, taking control of more territory on the mainland, the people of Matènwa need to be able to produce their own food.

Your generous support is making it possible for more school children to learn the skills they’ll need to plant and maintain successful school gardens and for their parents to get support to diversify their crops by adding home vegetable gardens to what they grow.

What’s Making it Difficult to Get Food From Haiti’s Mainland to Lagonav Island?

Transporting food from Haiti's mainland to Lagonav Island is currently challenging due to several factors:

1. Gang Violence and Insecurity: Armed gangs control approximately 80% of Port-au-Prince, disrupting transportation routes and hindering the movement of goods, including food supplies.

2. Economic Instability and Inflation: Haiti faces significant economic challenges, with inflation rates reaching 30% as of July 2024. This economic instability has led to increased food prices and reduced availability, making it difficult to procure and transport food to areas like Lagonav Island.

3. Long-Term Costs of Repeated Natural Disasters and Infrastructure Damage: Haiti is prone to natural disasters such as hurricanes and earthquakes, which have damaged infrastructure and disrupted supply chains. Recovery efforts are ongoing, but the cumulative impact hampers efficient food distribution.

These combined factors create significant obstacles in delivering food from the mainland to Lagonav Island, exacerbating food insecurity in the region.

How is Your Support Strengthening Local Food Production on Lagonav Island?

Thanks to your support, the Matènwa Community Learning Center (MCLC) is actively enhancing local food production through these ongoing initiatives:

1. Community Nursery and Gardens: MCLC has established a community nursery and garden, providing hands-on agricultural education and resources to residents. This initiative equips community members with the skills and materials needed to cultivate their own food, promoting self-sufficiency.

2. Tree Planting Programs: In collaboration with organizations like the Trees That Feed Foundation, MCLC distributes fruit trees to schoolchildren, who plant them at home. This program aims to enhance food security by increasing the availability of fresh produce for families.

3. Organic Gardening Education: MCLC integrates organic gardening into its curriculum, teaching students sustainable farming practices. This education extends to the broader community, encouraging the adoption of organic farming techniques to boost local food production.

4. Breakfast Program with Locally Sourced Food: MCLC provides a daily breakfast for its 330 students, sourcing ingredients from local producers. This program not only ensures that children receive nutritious meals but also supports local agriculture and stimulates the island's economy.

Through these efforts, MCLC is fostering agricultural development and working towards food security on Lagonav Island.

Thank You!

Thank you again for your generosity and solidarity. None of what we do would be possible without you. You are making a real difference in the lives of vulnerable children and families in rural Haiti during a very difficult time.

Links:

• Our 2024 Annual Newsletter is here!
• Get the latest from Haiti on our Facebook page.
• We've earned a four-star rating from Charity Navigator.

Thank you for your generous support for the Matènwa Community Learning Center's project 'Help Raise 50K for Haitian Farmers to Fight Hunger' on GlobalGiving. We are grateful for your generosity and your solidarity!

500 More Families Get Seedlings and Seeds to Plant Gardens

Your generosity made it possible to distribute seedlings and seeds to 500 more families in communities throughout Lagonav Island during some of the most difficult times in recent memory in Haiti.

Families were trained on how to plant and care for organic vegetable gardens at their homes.  Training includes a variety of techniques to improve their yield without chemical fertilizers, such as using compost and natural insecticides.

Thanks to you, these families are now better able to grow their own food and provide for themselves, instead of relying on handouts from aid agencies or purchasing food produced on the mainland.

79 Families Receive Water Catchment Systems

Drought is a constant reality on Lagonav Island. Families lack a regular source of water that they can use to irrigate their crops and vegetable gardens and use for cooking and hygiene needs.

Your gift helped provide rainwater catchment kits for families that include gutters, pipes, and cisterns to capture and store rainwater. Trained local technicians install the systems and teach families how to use them for everyday tasks like planting and irrigating backyard vegetable gardens and larger crops, and how to make any repairs that might be needed. With a regular source of water, families can now grow more and different types of crops and vegetables, improving their own nutrition and providing a source of income by selling excess food in their local market. We hope to get more donations so that we can supply more families with these water catchment systems.

What Impact Do Home Vegetable Gardens and Water Catchment Systems Have on Families?

Anecdotal evidence collected during workshops and home visits with families who received rainwater catchment systems last year showed that many families were experiencing the following types of improvements:

• Healthy vegetable crops even in the dry season;
• Decreased hardship to collect water for household usage during all seasons, leading to children arriving on time for school and parents stressing less about water procurement.
• Households reported experiencing increased time in conversation with children too;
• Increased variety of vegetables raised and consumed in meals, including cabbage, bell peppers, Scotch Bonnet peppers, tomatoes, carrots, beets, lettuce, eggplant, and watermelon;
• Increased spending power either because families no longer needed to use household revenue to purchase vegetables, or due to new revenue from sales of vegetables; and,
• Integration of new sustainable farming practices.

We anticipate that the 79 families who recently received rainwater catchment systems will realize similar results. We will continue to work with these families to provide any support or technical assistance needed to ensure that their water catchment systems work well and that their home vegetable gardens are producing.

Thank you again for your generosity and solidarity. You are making a real difference in the lives of vulnerable families in rural Haiti.

Schools and Families Have a Successful Garden Harvest Despite a Caterpillar Infestation

A serious caterpillar infestation impacted school and family gardens across Lagonav Island. Despite their efforts to hand pick them off the plants, their crops died. This forced everyone to have to start from scratch. They grew more seedlings, transplanted them, and a successful garden harvest of hot peppers, scallions, and tomatoes was realized by the 20 schools and families with whom we are currently working.

Links:

• Visit our website.
• Follow us on Facebook!
• Check out our Instagram.