Help Raise 50K for Haitian Farmers to fight Hunger

Training 10 More Schools to Plant Gardens

Thank you for your generous support for Friends of Matènwa’s GlobalGiving project to fight hunger. We are grateful for your generosity and your solidarity!

A growing number of school gardens are being launched by schools that are partners with the Matenwa Community Learning Center on Lagonav, becoming one of the most visible new signs of hope. The harvest from these gardens not only fills the empty stomachs of school children, it fills their minds with creativity and wonder. 

This fall we started training 10 more schools on Lagonav Island in how to plant and maintain school gardens. Planting small vegetable gardens in rural schools engages students in participatory, discovery-based learning methodologies and empowers parents to get involved in their children’s education. The gardens are also a source of healthy food in impoverished communities.

The 10 new schools started out by planting tomatoes, cabbage, and peppers. 

Site visits are conducted with participating schools, giving agricultural technicians and teacher trainers the opportunity to underpin teachers’ capacity to implement lessons using the gardens as learning laboratories and to reinforce teachers’ and students’ skills in sustainable agriculture. 

Students are encouraged to replicate their new skills to plant vegetable gardens at home too. This is the second year we’ve had preschoolers learn to plant in the garden at the Matènwa Community Learning Center too. One of the photos is of the garden in front of their classroom. They’ve planted peppers.

Teachers and principals are coached to make plans to facilitate school gardens to become a revenue source for schools too.

Experimenting With Planting Grains

Normally we’ve focused on planting vegetables but this year we are experimenting with planting grains like millet, which is a staple.

Because of the present insecurity, staples like millet, rice, and cornmeal are getting very expensive and less is being transported to the island, so the Matènwa school is trying to grow some of its own.

What School Directors are Saying About the Training

“Words are not sufficient to express my happiness and satisfaction stemming from our partnership with the Matènwa Community Learning Center. First, the training I received from [the project] – despite all the experience I have – helped me to see how much I didn’t know. I now feel so much better prepared as a principal to manage my school. Through this program, I have really mastered what it means to be a school principal. Through the training, I’ve come to transform several misconceptions I had, and I’ve seen the same thing in my teachers. This has especially been evident in the school garden project. Before [the project], we didn’t think that school gardens were important. We didn’t believe in school gardens. Now, thanks to the training, we’ve experienced so many advantages from our school garden. Thanks to this program, we will continue on this path and keep our school strong. Thank you!”

- Kely, Principal, Nouvèl Vizyon School, Nan Kafe, Lagonav Island, Haiti

“I’ve been teaching for more than 20 years. I now feel like I’ve done something wrong. I truly was not prepared to be a quality teacher. The training I’ve received through [the project] has helped me to see this. I used to think I was a good teacher. I came to see that I wasn’t. I have really enjoyed how the trainers have led us to learn, respecting us all no matter what level of education we have. I have been farming for a long time. I have learned so much from [the project’s] agricultural technicians. I have learned so much about how to prepare and teach lessons. Thank you for all of it. I promise to apply everything I’ve learned!”

- Delcarme, Teacher, Nazarèt School, Mon Repo, Lagonav Island, Haiti

Thank You

School gardens feed young bodies, but they also feed the rural soul, promising that life there is as important as it is in the city. They give students and their families a reason and a means to stay and contribute to their own community, which helps the entire community flourish.

Links:

• Visit our website to learn more about school gardens!