Seeds and Skills for Women to Grow Vegetables

Hi folks,

We’re excited to tell you about a new partner in Haiti who is taking a different approach to improving the quality of life for Haitians in rural areas. Vision for Haiti is a US-based nonprofit organization that has been responding to emergencies and ongoing need in Haiti since 2010. Recently, Naima had the opportunity to speak with Beatrice Marseille, a nurse practitioner who founded Vision for Haiti and developed an innovative approach to community health.

Vision for Haiti operates a healthcare clinic in Meyer, a town two hours southwest from Port-au-Prince. In addition to general care, the clinic specializes in women’s health and diet-related health problems. A majority of their patients are women who are seeking healthcare services for themselves or their children, although men are also welcome and receive services. High blood pressure, diabetes, and other nutrition and diet-related health problems are some of the most common issues within the community — the causes of which can be addressed by accessing nutrient-dense foods like vegetables.

The nurses and doctors serving the community don’t rely on prescriptions alone to treat these issues. In addition to a prescription, the folks who attend the clinic also receive SPI seeds to grow some of their own food to feed themselves and their families. In addition to SPI seed, Vision for Haiti provides locally sourced seeds. This makes us happy; we encourage the use of high-quality local seed where it is available.

Vision for Haiti’s program is both a health incentive and a valuable resource. Those who choose to participate agree to a follow-up visit to the clinic. In return, Vision for Haiti provides seeds, training at their demonstration garden, and on-site garden checkups by an agronomist they’ve hired to support the community. Through the program, they also coordinate community-based gardening meetings to assess food security and nutrition levels as well as offer counseling about diet and how to improve nutrition.

Beatrice also highlighted some additional benefits of the gardening program: improved nutrition, economic power, and psychosocial well-being. Gardens provide fresh vegetables, which are high in nutrition, and the work from gardening provides both exercise and a sense of well-being. These are important components for the physical and mental health of their patients, and it also reduces reliance on medication to manage health issues. Because they are gardening and training together, patients are contributing to improved social interactions and community cohesion. Gardening gives patients the opportunity to give back to their families and community in an important way. Finally, growing their own vegetables also means that they are able to spend money they would normally use on food for other necessities. New skills and knowledge acquired from the training will last them a lifetime.

Beatrice and Vision for Haiti have a long history and deep experience providing health services to the Mayer community. By focusing on one community and managing the scope of their program, each gardener is more fully supported. They have worked hard to establish relationships with community members and local healthcare providers. Vision for Haiti’s demonstrated expertise and deep relationships form a foundation from which gardeners can learn how to benefit from the program and enroll other community members.

We’re honored to work with folks like Beatrice and Vision for Haiti, and we’re inspired by their long-term approach to family and community health. From us, for Vision for Haiti, thank you for your support of this project.

Hi folks,

Naima Dido, our Program Director, is currently on the road with Nancee Neel in the mountains of Guatemala where they’re working to grow a deeper partnership with a relatively new partner, Pop Atz’iaq.

An SPI neighbor, Nancee Neel, had served as an advisor and friend of the organization before she introduced us to their work. Established in the 1990s, Pop Atz’iaq has focused on craft-based livelihood development with women and men in the region around San Cristobal, and they have a strong track record of success. Catarina, the organization’s Director, reports that establishing a garden-based livelihood program has been a longstanding goal of the organization and its members.

For context, craft-based livelihoods depend on international market outlets, and those can be fickle. Garden-based livelihoods are more reliable, and this program will help diversify their members’ options for income. Catarina reports that social and economic conditions are deteriorating this decade, due in large part to the lack of rural development support from the government. Child malnutrition rates have risen to 80% in most of the communities served.

Naima and Nancee have been visiting the different Pop Atz’iaq communities for the past few days. Earlier this week, they had the honor of attending a stakeholder meeting where members continued to coordinate the garden-based livelihood project. They’ll continue to travel alongside Catarina through next week. Naima writes:

“The mountains are breathtaking. We even saw an active volcano on our way to San Cristobal.

We’re staying at a hotel near Pop Atz’iaq. We’re surrounded by small gardens of corn and beans. The only gardens growing vegetables are those associated with PA.

San Cristobal is beautiful and green. The area is culture-rich. Most of the women wear traditional clothes while all the men are dressed very western.

The Mayan culture is very strong and alive, but the Spanish influences are everywhere. The place seemed so familiar since I arrived. I realized the similarities between the coast of Kenya and Guatemala come from the Arab influence in the architecture.

The other very obvious thing is the difference between poor Mayan villagers in the rural agricultural communities and the urbanized and relatively wealthy mestizos population in city.

I am amazed at how the Mayan people here still proudly maintain their culture and traditions. Still, the Spanish language and non-Mayan people have control over resources and access. For many, Spanish is a second language and it’s the official language mandated in schools and government.

The staple foods are eggs, chicken, rice, maize, beans, and cheese. The style of cooking is very simple. Squash is also very common. Chili peppers, potatoes, tomatoes, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and onions are also popular, but trucked in from other regions. The vegetables grown here are exported throughout Central America.

Life for most people I’ve met involves hard physical work. People are very poor, but much like other communities I’ve met in my travels around the world, being poor doesn’t mean their lives are unhappy or unsatisfied.

Women I spoke to at the stakeholder meeting said their days are spent working in their homes, cooking, raising the children, tending gardens, weaving cloth for their own clothes and for the market.”

We’ll share more about Pop Atz’iaq in a future report. In the meantime, thank you for your support of these communities, and for your support of Seed Programs International. We truly cannot do what we do without you!