Help Raise 50K for Haitian Farmers to fight Hunger

Thank you for your contribution to help Haitian farmers fight hunger on the island of La Gonave! As we transition into spring and a new planting season, Friends of Matènwa is excited to update you on how the Institute of Learning's school and community projects are going (and growing)!

Agriculture is central to life in rural Haiti, but because farming is looked down on as a path for the uneducated, most schools do not teach planting as a skill. With your support, over 450 students at 18 schools are learning basic organic gardening methods. Their classroom is outdoors - in their school garden plot, where they sow, weed, water, measure, and harvest. 2/3 of the schools are already growing enough produce for them to sell in local markets, boosting local food security while generating income for the schools. 

Institute staff also share their knowledge with families in each school's community. Right now, 90 families are applying organic gardening techniques in their own gardens, with support from the 42 local teachers the Institute is training. One parent from Mon Pikmi school shared with us that his brother and father-in-law have started using Institute techniques, after they saw how well the methods worked when he applied in his garden. 

We are excited to share these first fruits with you, and we look forward to many harvests to come as schools and communities build a resilient food system on the Haitian island of La Gonave. These classes are important first steps, and we are still looking to expand our efforts to offer seeds, supplies, and support to reach farmers. Please consider giving what you can to help more families move closer to this vision of sustainability and self-sufficiency.

Links:

• On this YouTube playlist, we showcase our garden projects