Help Raise 50K for Haitian Farmers to fight Hunger

Thanks to your support, hundreds of families on Lagonav Island are growing food, increasing their income, and adapting to drought and climate challenges — with guidance from local agronomists and the determination of farmers like Yvrose.

Because of your generosity, the agricultural program at the Matènwa Community Learning Center (MCLC) continues to help families strengthen food security and build resilience in a changing and increasingly difficult environment.

Led in the field by MCLC agronomists Elijene and Balaguel, this work is helping communities adapt to water shortages, poor soil conditions, and climate variability — while creating new economic opportunities, especially for women.

Thank you for making this possible.

Progress This Quarter

School Gardens

• 22 school gardens are currently active across the region.
  
  
• While no new school gardens were launched this quarter, additional families are preparing to establish new gardens in the coming months.

These gardens provide fresh food for school meals and serve as hands-on learning sites where students gain practical agricultural skills.

Family Gardens

Approximately 375 families are now maintaining home gardens with support from the project.

For many households, these gardens provide:

• Daily access to fresh vegetables and fruit
  
  
• Reduced food expenses
  
  
• A reliable source of small but important income

This household-level production is a critical buffer against rising food prices and economic instability.

What Farmers Are Growing

Current crops include:

• Cabbage
  
  
• Eggplant
  
  
• Leeks
  
  
• Sweet peppers
  
  
• Hot peppers
  
  
• Parsley
  
  
• Papaya

Recent harvests included:

• Tomatoes
  
  
• Carrots
  
  
• Beets
  
  
• Leaf cabbage
  
  
• Parsley
  
  
• Leeks

Tomatoes, eggplant, papaya, carrots, hot peppers, and parsley performed especially well.

Some crops — particularly cabbage — faced challenges due to:

• Water scarcity
  
  
• Poor soil quality
  
  
• Free-roaming livestock
  
  
• Climate conditions

Even so, farmers continue planting, adapting, and improving their practices with ongoing technical support.

Training and Materials Provided

During this reporting period:

• 5 training sessions were conducted
  
  
• 54 farmers and gardeners participated

Participants received:

• Seeds
  
  
• Technical guidance from agronomists
  
  
• Essential tools, including hoes, shovels, watering cans, rakes, twine, measuring tape, and other equipment

Your support ensures that families not only receive materials, but also the knowledge needed to sustain and expand their production over time.

Climate Resilience in Practice

Water scarcity remains the greatest challenge. In some communities, families struggle to secure enough water even for daily drinking, making irrigation extremely difficult. MCLC is currently seeking grant funding to improve access to water for families.

Another ongoing challenge is free-roaming livestock, which can damage gardens when animals enter unfenced plots. Families are taught how to plant shrubs that serve as a natural fence to keep animals away from gardens.

To help farmers deal with pests, agronomist Balaguel is teaching the use of a homemade natural insecticide, made from locally available ingredients. This low-cost, environmentally safe solution protects crops such as cabbage from insect damage.

These locally developed solutions are essential for building climate-smart, sustainable agriculture in resource-limited conditions.

Story of Impact: Women Leading Change

This project is also strengthening women’s economic resilience.

Yvrose, a single mother of two daughters, began gardening after participating in MCLC's training program. Three years later, her garden now provides daily food for her family and income from produce sales.

By saving a portion of her earnings after each market sale, Yvrose accumulated 13,500 gourdes. She used this savings to purchase a pig for 7,500 gourdes, creating a new source of future income for her household.

Her daughters now have school supplies and uniforms, the family eats regularly, and their financial stability is growing.

Yvrose says:

“I will never stop gardening. This work is mine.”

Her story reflects the broader impact of your support — helping women increase their independence, invest in their children’s education, and build a more secure future.

Thank You

None of this progress happens without you.

Because of your support:

• 375 families are growing their own food
  
  
• 22 schools are teaching agriculture and nutrition
  
  
• Farmers are gaining skills and tools to adapt to climate challenges
  
  
• Women like Yvrose are building income and stability for their families

With continued donor partnership, MCLC — guided by agronomists Elijene and Balaguel — will keep expanding opportunities for families to grow food, strengthen their livelihoods, and face an uncertain climate with greater confidence.

Thank you for standing with Haitian farmers and for investing in resilient, locally led solutions.

Links:

• Learn more about school and family gardens.
• Read MCLC's grant application to improve families' water access.

At the Heart of Learning, Something Is Growing

Do you remember the first time you planted a seed and waited for it to sprout? That quiet mix of hope and wonder fills the gardens of the Matènwa Community Learning Center (Lekòl Kominotè Matènwa, LKM) every day.

Here on Lagonav Island, students learn that when they care for the soil, they are caring for their community. With your support, MCLC continues to show what’s possible when education grows from local roots—where each lesson nurtures self-reliance, teamwork, and dignity.

Because of your generosity, children aren’t just learning about agriculture—they’re growing food that feeds their classmates and cultivating confidence that will nourish their futures. Thank you for believing in their potential and in the simple, beautiful truth that learning and resilience grow side by side.

This Quarter at LKM (August–October 2025) From Manyòk to Kasav

In October, fifth-grade students harvested cassava from the school garden, then washed, grated, and pressed it to make kasav, the traditional Haitian flatbread that sustains so many families. They didn’t just observe the process—they completed it from soil to stove. Through this, students saw how their labor could become nourishment for the whole school community.

Raising Onions and Tomatoes

Students and teachers explored creative, low-cost ways to propagate new plants using recycled materials. For the onion activity, they placed fully grown onions in the top halves of plastic water bottles cut in two. The bottom halves held a little water so that the onions rested just above it—close enough for humidity to reach the roots but without touching the water itself. Soon, delicate white roots began to appear, showing students how regeneration can happen with care and patience.

For the tomatoes, students laid thin slices of ripe fruit directly on soil. Each slice contained seeds that soon germinated into clusters of seedlings ready for transplanting. Both activities helped students understand how life renews itself—and how simple household materials can spark new growth.

These small experiments capture the heart of MCLC’s approach: turning creativity and local materials into lasting knowledge.

Learning with Agronomist Elijèn

Agronomist Elijèn guided students as they planted carrots in the school garden. He showed them how to prepare soil, weed carefully, and manage water—lessons they could later apply at home. His teaching turns theory into practice, reinforcing MCLC’s belief that the best classroom is often the one beneath the open sky.

“Patat nan sak” (Sweet Potatoes in Sacks)

In partnership with agronomy students from the University of Fondwa, MCLC experimented with growing sweet potatoes in sacks—a low-cost, space-efficient method ideal for families with little or no arable land. It’s one more way that innovation and community learning are taking root.

Stories of Growth and Change Djawens’ Story: Growing Change

Have you ever watched a child take pride in something they built with their own hands? That same spark lives in Djawens, a student who has been part of MCLC since kindergarten. From the beginning, he loved the feel of soil between his fingers and the quiet patience it requires.

Now, as the student responsible for the sixth-grade garden plot, Djawens leads his classmates in planting and caring for vegetables that help supply the school’s breakfast program. Every weekend, he returns to the garden to water, weed, and check on the plants. His dedication has inspired his peers—and reminded his teachers that leadership often begins with care.

When MCLC’s educators talk about what their gardens teach, they often point to Djawens. He shows that when young people are trusted with responsibility, they grow into it—and pass that confidence on to others.

Jean Agga’s Story: Returning Knowledge Home

Can you recall a teacher or mentor who opened a door for you—someone who saw your potential before you did? That’s what MCLC did for Jean Agga.

In 2023, Jean graduated from MCLC with a passion for learning but no path to higher education. The following year, MCLC partnered with the University of Fondwa, allowing graduates to take the entrance exam right on campus. Jean seized the opportunity—and earned a scholarship to study agronomy.

Now in his second year, Jean is one of the first MCLC graduates continuing university studies through this partnership. He reflects:

“Thanks to this opportunity that MCLC gave me, I will be a great agronomist. My dream is to start an agronomy school in my hometown so I can share all I have learned with the youth there, so we can develop our community.”

Jean’s journey captures the heart of this project: education that equips young people not only to feed their families, but to return home and multiply opportunity for others.

Your Impact Across 2025 (Calendar Year)

While these stories reflect the most recent quarter, your generosity has shaped transformation across the full 2025 calendar year:

• 223 families planted new organic home gardens.
• 32 school gardens strengthened food security across Lagonav.
• 75 rainwater tanks and 30 wheelbarrows were distributed to families to improve irrigation and productivity.
• 187 field visits were conducted to observe classrooms and gardens, offering mentoring and follow-up support.

Each number represents a family nourished, a teacher equipped, a child fed—and your compassion at work in the soil of Matènwa.

Why It Matters

Haiti faces immense challenges—economic instability, gang violence, climate change, and rising food prices that make daily life harder for rural families. Yet in the midst of this uncertainty, the people of Lagonav continue to plant, nurture, and hope.

The gardens you help sustain are more than lessons in agriculture; they are anchors of stability and dignity. Each student who learns to plant, compost, or irrigate gains a skill that can feed a family. Each family that starts a garden takes one more step toward independence.

Because of you, MCLC can keep connecting education with food security—proving that when learning is rooted in local realities, entire communities can thrive.

Thank You

What do you hope will grow from your own life’s work? In Matènwa, that same hope takes root each time a child plants a seed.

Your generosity continues to plant seeds of knowledge, nourishment, and resilience. Because of you, hundreds of children are learning how to grow food, care for the earth, and lead their communities toward a stronger future.

Every cassava root, tomato seedling, and family garden is a reflection of your belief in what’s possible. Mèsi anpil for standing with Matènwa and helping this work grow.

— The Friends of Matènwa Team
(In partnership with Lekòl Kominotè Matènwa, Lagonav, Haiti)

Links:

• Check out our YouTube channel for school garden videos!