Since the times of this familiar children’s nursery rhyme, Mulberry’s seem to have enjoyed a special place in rural social development. So too in rural Haiti. Today, Wilner gave 5 young Mulberry trees to Pastor Joseph of the Love A Child church in the mud cookie village of Sapaterre. Pastor Joseph says everyone is excited to plant the new trees around the church and community. These trees will grow up to give a welcomed harvest of fruit that will be enjoyed by the whole community – both people and birds. As you have read before, we use the Mulberry trees in our Edible Plant Nursery because of their many benefits: providing a healthy fruit treat, stabilizing the soil, providing a lot of shade and biomass from their leaves, and providing seeds for birds, especially for free-ranging chickens who will happily trade the trees’ seeds for their protein-filled eggs. Mulberry trees can grow very large and often become a comfortable meeting place underneath their ample shade. Mature Mulberry trees often serve as a foundation for communities who appreciate more than just their fruit. We recently also gave Pastor Claude some Mulberry trees for his growing orphanage near Love A Child. I am sure there are many children already singing and playing around these Mulberry bushes. Love A Child’s sustainability projects help Haitians to be able to help themselves. Thank you for your gifts of support for this work. God bless you.
Rad Hazelip, Assistant Executive Director
