Proverbs 13:14 – “The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, turning a person from the snares of death.”

Teaching sustainable gardening methods is a very important part of our development for sustainability outreach. Most of you know about our very popular three-week training course in sustainable gardening in Haiti, and our long-time supporters and followers also know about our two-year long, expanded course that we teach. Wilner Exil, our ATC (Agricultural Training Center) Director has a master’s degree in Agronomy and Agriculture and teaches both of our training classes. These training courses are our “extension” program. Because we cannot go out into the remote areas of Haiti to teach and train, we have the ATC with a nice classroom, demonstration gardens, Model Home, shade houses, and a bunkhouse for the students to come in order to learn life-changing sustainable gardening in our training classes.

Today, we began our next two-year training class. We have 12 students registered for the two-year commitment, and they will come for classwork on Thursdays and practical work on Fridays. This year’s class is different from prior years in that we have students coming not only from Miracle Village (which the course was originally designed for) but also from Fond Parisien, Ganthier, and even Croix de Bouquets, about 25 miles away. Over the next two years, these students will learn many topics such as soil science, composting, using mulch, seed saving, natural fertilizers and insecticides, and many other things. Soon, the students will be producing wonderful gardens, such as these shown, so they are very happy to be chosen to participate in this training program. This is one of the many ways your gifts of support to our sustainability outreach helps many Haitians. This is “helping Haitians help themselves.”

Rad Hazelip, Assistant Executive Director