And the work goes on . . .

This was another busy week for Wilner and the crew of the Agricultural Training Center (ATC). You have read that recently, we had a week-long volunteer work party to clean the roadway back to our ATC. All the weeds, grass, and growth that were pulled out have now made their way to the large compost bin to make good organic fertilizer. It should be ready in about 3-4 months.

The team also made their usual weekly harvests of produce and fruit to take to the kitchens at Love A Child. Everyone loves those weekly visits. The cows, goats, and chickens also got their requisite attention throughout the week, and all the animals are growing well. Finally, the ATC team worked almost every day in the shade house, tending to the more than 1,000 papaya seedlings for our large “edible plant nursery” project to plant 10,000 papayas throughout the community. The papaya seedlings are at a stage where we “harden them off,” or prepare them to go from the relative protection of the shade houses, out into the full sun, wind, and rain when they get planted. This technique is called “sevowaj” in Creole, which means to make them adapt to their eventual conditions where they are planted. It normally takes 1-2 weeks to “harden” the tender plants.

All in all, it was another busy, but rewarding and fruitful week. Literally. God bless Wilner and his dedicated team of skilled gardeners, and God bless all our donors who support our work to improve lives under God in Haiti.

Rad Hazelip, Assistant Executive Director