"A Hand Up not a Hand Out" to our local farmers.

Our work continues in Boucantiste and Bernaco where the bulk of our workforce continues to maintain and grow our grass.

In Bernaco we added corn and sugar cane to the crops the growing list of available food for the local community.

Our plans to start a tree nursery to begin the process of reforestation has begun with the planting of 1,000 Cacia tree saplings. 

Each of the food crops not only feed our families, but also offers the opportunity to take produce to the market and make a little extra income for our workers.

It all requires funds to accomplish.

BonZeb currently still needs commitments for $2,000 per month for payroll. This is an ongoing need that is there every four weeks and will be growing as the nursery and sugar cane plantation(see picture) begin operating.

In order to move the sugar cane stalks up to our property we needed to hire a donkey train for transport, as the road that once went through the property has now been abandoned by the government and is impassable for motor vehicles. The cost of a train, ten donkeys, was not available so we hired fewer donkeys and did more trips to get the stalks to our fields.

We are now in the rainy (hurricane) season and the rains are watering all our crops and tree saplings. This is very welcome, although it also means more damage to the already severely damaged road from Bernaco to Boucantiste. Haiti has two rainy seasons each year and the fall is the longest. We need to rain to be able to servive the months of drought that follow. With all the young fields that have been planted this moisture will allow the crops to take root and grow and with enough water to make it to the spring and the next rainy season. That is what we pray for every year.

The water pump and plow that that I shareed in my last update are helping over four dozen local farmers in and around Bernaco have been very useful to planting and irrigation of their crops. 

There is a need and request from the locals for these same implements further up the hillside in Boucantiste. The cost to bring a plow is $3,000 and a water pump and piping is $2,000.

Our wish list remains at $10,000 and our ongoing need is $26,000. It seems like so little to help employ, feed, and improve the lives of hundreds of individuals.

I hope you can help us by being a recurring donor and wish to make just a one-time donation please do.

Thank you.