Part of our teaching and demonstrating at our Agricultural Training Center (ATC) is something called “Appropriate Technologies.” That’s a fancy way of saying there are simple, affordable, and achievable ways (“technologies”) to add improvements to daily life for rural Haitian families fighting poverty and hunger. Appropriate Technologies are simple things like rocket stoves for faster, improved cooking; solar for lighting and cell phone charging; drip irrigation for maximizing scarce water; compost toilets for improved sanitation; improved water harvesting; and tire gardens.

Recently, Wilner had the students working on “tire gardens,” making a garden out of old used tires. When you cut the bead off one side and turn the old tire inside out, you can make a durable vessel to hold soil for a nice garden. A family of 6 can live off a group of tire gardens. This is especially useful in areas that don’t have tillable ground for regular gardens, as is found in many areas of Haiti.

Here you see the students cutting and making new tire gardens, then filling them with good homemade soil. After sowing seeds, they add a protective mulch that will keep the soil protected from too much sun and wind and help preserve the moisture. Soon there will be harvestable crops growing in these new tire gardens.

When you support our Development for Sustainability programs, you are giving the gift of new skills, dignity, and hope that lasts for generations. God bless you for blessing others.

Rad Hazelip, Assistant Executive Director