If Pigs Could Fly —Haiti On his T-shirt, “Always Hungry.” Nelinsky doesn’t know what it says, but he knows what it feels like. Barren gardens show the effects of the drought all over Haiti. It wasn’t simply the loss of a cash crop, like almonds in California, it was the loss of corn, beans, and more that families grow to feed them- selves. But in other ways, Mon Bouton improved this year. Mon Bouton in November 2015 If Pigs Could Fly—Haiti 318 Tioga Court, Palo Alto, CA 94306 http://www.ifpigscouldflyhaiti.
Transcript
If Pi
gs C
ould
Fly
—Ha
iti
On his T-shirt, “Always Hungry.” Nelinsky doesn’t know what it says,
but he knows what it feels like. Barren gardens show the effects of the drought all over Haiti. It wasn’t simply the loss of a cash crop, like almonds in California, it was the loss of corn, beans, and more that families grow to feed them-selves. But in other ways, Mon Bouton improved this year.
Mon Bouton in November 2015 If Pigs Could Fly—Haiti
IPCF NEWSLETTER, NOVEMBER 2015We have good news on many fronts! This has taken 13 years of effort
by Dr. Randy Mont-Reynaud and the In-country Director, Elisée “Toma” Abraham. Enjoy the story in pictures!
Learning by doingThe older boy, Onel, shows Nelinsky how to clear the terrain in preparation for seeding. The youngest children learn from the adults and older siblings around them, as in most traditional cultures.
Seeds are planted. Five-year-old Nelinsky helps without even being asked, by observing those around him. He brings bamboo. This will be needed to fence the plot and keep the amimals out.
Farming in Mon BoutonNelis uses traditional slash and burn techniques. Burning not only clears the ground, but provides potash for the crops.
We are often asked for a list of specific needs to continue the collaborative work we do with the community in Mon Bouton/La Tournelle, Haiti. Please read our blog http://www.Haitinextdoor.com.
Below is a list of current project needs; note the Donate Now button on our web site http://www.ifpigscouldflyhaiti.org
CURRENT NEEDS:
• Trees: With the new road now up to the base of Mon Bouton and the school, our families are charged with planting trees to protect the road. Fruit trees will retain the soil and provide cash crops and food for the region. Cost: $25.00/month will kick start this.• Housing Repair and Rebuilding: Rural homes and schools, subject to hurricanes and vagaries of weather,needrepairandreplacementoftinroofing.El-derly folks, such as our beloved Gran Dodo and Maman Nelis, have homes in need of repair and protection from rodents (e.g., they need a cat, and food for the cat!). You can support all, or part of family housing/shelter needs. Sponsor a child or a family by donating to the Shelter Fund. Photographs and names provided on request to sponsors. Cost: $25.00/month. • Solar Panels: Solar panels are the best way to provide power for our remote rural families. We need one solar panel for Toma’s work space/communication and to provide power for visitors (like you!). Please mark your support for solar panels and storage batter-ies. Food: The situation is chronic. Since this year’s drought, loss of crops lead to food shortages, and the cost of imported food skyrocketed. We have collabo-rated with local volunteers and started a model garden, using the runoff from the solar powered pump system. We planted seeds (tomato, beet, spinach) and fertilized by slash and burn. We provide a snack at 3 schools through Pwojet Mamba, serving Patay” (fried dough with anchovies); we also support salaries for cooks. Cost for Mamba project workers, fuel and supplies: $200.00/month. • Water: Your contribution to the Water Fund will support our “Water Master” and team to maintain the solar equipment we installed. Cost: $50.00 per month.• Medical Supplies: Our “barefoot” veterinary doctor is hoping to purchase a small refrigerator to keep veterinary vaccines for pigs and goats. Please mark your donation “veterinary supplies.”
Don’t let the light go out!I am always asked, “Haiti, eh? Is it any better there since the earthquake?” And my answer always is: “The earth-quake WAS the tip of the iceberg.” My many photo-graphs include dozens of pictures of city streets piled high with trash, broken cement, garbage and animals (andhumans)riflingthroughit.AndthosearetheBE-FOREphotographs,priorto2010.
In our mountain zone, there have been many, many im-provements:ThankstoDr.EricSabelman’singenuity,andEliseeAbraham’sDIYadaptations,ourareagetswaterpumpedupfromaclean,reliablespring.Elisee’sefforts,coupled with my own never say never energy, got an earthquake-proof school constructed and furnished by Digital (Haiti’s equivalent to AT&T). Digicel and Samari-tan’s Purse were moved to construct a road - in order to get equipment up for the school. These spin-off proj-ects have also provided paid work to the community. If Pigs Could Fly - Haiti has its own small school feeding program - which employees a team of workers. This team starts before 5 a.m. to prepare a small nutritious snack for the local school children. Given the many con-straints (lack of wood or other fuel; crop failure; poor soil; vermin), children will not get anything to eat until noon or later. Often, this is the only meal in the day.
Somehow, though, the children mature, bear children themselves (albeit, some weak and sickly); the mountain folk survive. We have supported teachers in the school. Over the years, we have helped some get training in tailoring and cooking. One of our young women is now running for a local political post!
Yes, in a way, it’s small change for small changes. www.If Pigs Could Fly-Haiti.com manages on a shoestring, and a hope and a prayer. Please join us this season in any small way to provide for this remote community in the mountains of Haiti!
Toma, Our in-Country directorWe acquired huge bags of seeds, out of date, from a fellow in La Ville (Poprens). Toma scoops them into paper cones we made to distribute to families throughout the zone
Our example inspires other communitiesJack from Au Pak, a neighboring community, scopes out their spring for adding a solar pump like ours. To repli-cate our success was our long-term dream.
Toma also is the town veterinarian, another vital skill in pro-tecting the town food supply. Here, he and his friends corral a pig so that Toma can remove maggots from a sore. To keep
vaccines and medicines for livestock on hand, he needs a tiny refrigerator
about the size of a small safe, one that runs gas, or even on electricity generated by his solar panel. The one he had for many years was appropriated by its owner, a visiting Ameri-
can.
Caring for the animals
The drought — and helpAll of Haiti was hard-hit. This is tough for people and communities that live on what they grow. Below, Randy and Onel hold compost donated by Haiti Age Interna-tional,anon-profitthatalsoprovidestools and training, targeting elderly people (but classes open to all.
WaterBecause of our new solar water pump at the all year spring, the “Wash Wash,” our zone had water when surrounding areas did not.
Nelinsky with hose for the garden project
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Bethony reads aloud from one of Randy’s little Kreyol books, engrossing translations of Aesop’s fables and science vignettes from non-Western as well as Western sources. Sadly, few books ex-ist in the easy-to-learn phonetic Kreyol.
There have been many improvements in the past 6 years, but one thing we can’t get enough of is food. Children here in these photos show that they have the capacity for empathy and shar-ing, even though they are merely 5 or 6 years old – they still share their small portion with siblings and cousins.
As for homes, the homes of Mme.Kaolin’sfamilyof10,and also that of an elderly woman, Mme. Gran Dodo, are in disrepair. Wooden planks and paint are needed, and funds to pay to feed the volunteer laborers who will step up from the community.
The mural was a recent addition to one wall of the new school. Digicel contributed materials for con-struction. This multi-year effort was completed this
Onel shows off his good marks, which earned him a prize. The curriculum is taught in Kreyol and French. The daily snacks from our project go to his school. The Mamas Makin’ Mamba project goes to three schools.
Education
A drought-stricken tree.
Food
Housing
A Note from our Founder It’s been heartening, with the news full of gloom from the four corners of the globe, to witness the goodness and achievement that grows in rural Haiti – thanks to the support of friends from different religious communities in Palo Alto. I’ve been at this for – what, is it –14years–and,indeed,it’salltooeasytogetdiscouraged. Between hurricanes and droughts and political coups – the earthquake was just the tip of the iceberg. Here in our mountains, where the price of a Palo Alto latte represents a generous daily wage (if, indeed, there is paid work to be found), contributions from you go a long way. IPCF–Haiti volunteers cover administrative costs and travel;100%ofdonationsservesthemountaincommunities. Thanks to you all, I can maintain, stubbornly, my dedication and belief that a small good thing is not for nothing in our world.
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If Pigs Could Fly—Haiti has a NEW ADDRESS:318 Tioga Court, Palo Alto, CA 94306
HOW TO DONATE:
Donate Now button on the website http://www.ifpigscouldflyhaiti.org
Read our blog, http://www.Haitinextdoor.com
Checks made out to If Pigs Could Fly—Haitican be mailed to us at: 318 Tioga Court, Palo Alto, CA 94306
Your donation is tax-deductible.
If Pigs could Fly – Haiti’s in-country director, Elisée (Toma) Abraham, prepares the soil, accompanied by the projects’ founder, Randy Mont-Reynaud.
