It’s been raining more than usual lately which means the dogs paws are extra muddy and late afternoon Zoom calls are off the table. Heavy rain drops, metal roofs, and conference calls don’t mix, but we take our wins where we can get ‘em.
Rain is a win.
Rain means the gardens are alive and well.
It’s hard to believe that we’ve been growing food for 10 years now.
When we imagined a place where children could recover from malnutrition with their parents rather than in orphanages, we imagined a place with food.
Food growing from the dirt and food hanging from the trees.
And parents could benefit from the earth, learning from and spending time in the gardens while their babies napped.
a mother at Second Mile Haiti-Cap Haitien waters pepper plants during a garden session
So…in early 2013, when the buildings seemed a few months shy of completion, we put seeds in the ground and planted plantain and banana trees.
We hoped to have something to show by the time the first families arrived at the center.
We hoped.. and by golly, we did!
The first lunch ever prepared at the center was made with love for a mother named Claire and a baby called Marie Ange.
Second Mile cooks, Gigi and Magoul (still with us today), showing off a garden haul of cabbage, carrots, and spinach that we grew onsite in May 2013
caregivers at Second Mile participating in a gardening class circa 2019
Today there are more than 60 plant varieties growing around the centers.
Stop by on a Tuesday or a Thursday in Cap Haitien or Saint Raphael and you’ll find around 40 mothers and grandmothers with their hands in the dirt — transplanting green onions — or reaching for ripe fruit from one of several hundred fruit trees.
Some of our earliest trees were generous donations from friends at Bonne Terre and Cory & Thede. And we thank them for inspiring us.
Children recovering from malnutrition and their siblings get a variety of farm fresh goodies for their mid-day snack. Papaya, egg, and pumpkin.
On Fridays, when they pack up their babies to go home for the weekend, caregivers take home whatever surplus we have to offer.
Ten years later and the cooks still take full advantage of the garden’s offerings, making stews with yams and arrowroot.
They add spicy Moringa leaves to rice dishes. Their rich sauces contain scotch bonnet peppers and okra.
Most importantly, the gardens’ benefits are still extending far beyond the centers’ gates.
Our nurseries have afforded many hundreds of families with fruit trees for their own “food forests.” More than 10,000 trees in total.
And 750 women have taken the skills they learned from the agronomists at our Centers and applied them to their own vegetable gardens.
Second Mile Haiti beneficiary, Rose Guerda, hides a smile while showing off the carrots she’s growing in her home garden
Today marks exactly 10 years since we opened our doors in Cap Haitien, Haiti. The gratitude we feel for all supporters—past and present—is endless!
There are a handful of reasons why we've managed to make it to this milestone. Monthly donors—our Kollektif—is one of them.
We’re delighted by the 6 new monthly donors who have joined the Kolektif since our last email. We still need 24 new monthly donors to support Second Mile Haiti this year.
If you’re looking for a way to support this work, this is a great one—we need you more than ever.
Love from 🇭🇹