Plant With Purpose's Work in Haiti Featured in the New York Times

News about Haiti resurfaced in the media yesterday, July 12th, which marked the 6 month anniversary of the tragic earthquake. People blogged, reported, and Tweeted about what has been done to help Haiti since that fateful day. Our work in Haiti, including the progress we have made and the steps we are taking to protect Haitian farmers against potentially deadly hurricane storms, was featured yesterday in the New York Times. Here is a brief excerpt:

"Sabin's organization has so far hired some 2,200 workers to plant more than 170,000 trees to protect communities. The extra available labor has allowed him to scale up Plant With Purpose's operations, constructing more than 260 miles of soil erosion barriers to protect farmland from hurricanes and tropical storms."

Click here to read the full article "Devastated Haiti Braces for an Active Hurricane Season":

http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/07/12/12greenwire-devastated-haiti-braces-for-an-active-hurrican-11849.html?pagewanted=1

Haiti 6 Months Later: "Haiti is on its knees, but not down yet"

Today marks 6 months since the devastating earthquake in Haiti. Although there is still much to be done, the communities Plant With Purpose works with have made significant progress by planting trees, constructing soil conservation barriers, and providing incomes to support their families through our “Cash for Work” program.

Below is a firsthand account about the situation in Haiti from Plant With Purpose Technical Director Bob Morikawa who spent a total of six weeks in Haiti over a four month period after the earthquake and is returning next week to continue to work with our local Haitian staff to continue their relief and development efforts.

“It has now been six months to the day since the earthquake in Haiti which triggered one of the worst humanitarian disasters in recent history and also one of the largest relief responses ever seen. I myself arrived in Haiti on January 24th, crossing overland through the border between the Dominican Republic and Haiti since the Port au Prince airport was closed to commercial flights at the time. I found a country devastated as we have all come to know through the extensive coverage on the news and in social media. I also found many people hard at work, throwing all their energy into the immense task of bringing relief and shelter to the hundreds of thousands affected by the quake. I was very encouraged to find, first of all that none of our local staff were lost (one of our technicians tragically lost his wife and child), and second that our local staff were hard at work as well, organizing work teams to clear debris from the local feeder road, and making initial efforts to distribute water and supplies. Over the days and months to come, we and many other organizations were able to rapidly scale up our efforts, to meet the needs of many victims. The scale of the need was mind boggling, and although even our small organization was able to provide seeds, food, tools and employment to thousands, it never seemed like enough. Fortunately, we have come through a successful cropping season which has stabilized the food security situation somewhat, and thanks to the efforts of many NGO's at least temporary shelter has been provided for many. There are still thousands who find themselves essentially homeless, or in very vulnerable quarters and we can only hope for a mild hurricane season which would buy us all more time to improve recovery efforts.

Speaking from our own experience in the communities where we directly work, we found that the initial quake created an extremely fluid situation where many people from urban areas fled to rural zones (where we work) to take shelter with their relatives. This put an immense burden on already poor rural families and boosted family size from 6 or 7 members up to 10 or 12 members. Meals per day dropped to just one or less in many cases. Now, according to surveys we have conducted, many of those additional family members have returned to the city, and most families are eating 2 or more meals per day. This is still not back to pre-quake levels, but at least the trend is in the right direction. Now our efforts as an organization, and those of many organizations are shifting focus from immediate relief and instead we are putting our efforts into helping families make the transition to a more stable situation where food supply is secure, and income is reliable. In rural areas, this will involve such interventions as tree planting and soil conservation to stabilize farm fields, and income generating projects such as poultry and goat production. We will also continue--as we did before the earthquake--to work with community groups to help strengthen local leadership, and improve a community's ability to mobilize savings, and deal with their own economic issues. In fact we found that this was a distinct advantage for us because those relationships and the leadership built up prior to January 12th enabled both our organization and communities to respond more rapidly and with greater order and precision than would have been possible otherwise.

Take a moment to consider the resilience of Nelta Fils-Aime, who was displaced from Port-au-Prince where she worked and lived with her 5 siblings. She has since returned to the countryside with her siblings to live with her father. She is not a member of Plant With Purpose’s programs but her father is. Through the soil conservation work provided by Plant With Purpose she has been able to contribute to her household. She has no plans to return to Port-au-Prince for now but says she is grateful for the opportunity to make some money for her family. Everyone refers to her as very courageous, because the work she does, she does with only one hand. She is uncertain of what will happen next, but says she would like to start her little business and stay in the countryside.

The work is far from over. Haiti was one of the poorest countries in the world even before January 12th, and I had always thought that people were living on the edge. It turns out that now that 'edge' has been moved to a place I simply would never have imagined. It is surely a testament to the resilience of the people of Haiti, and as a locally popular song inspired by these events says "Haiti is on its knees, but not down yet."

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Since the earthquake, Plant With Purpose has provided 125 tons of food to 15,000 Haitians, distributed nearly 80,000 pounds of bean seed to over 2,000 families, and employed over 2,000 farmers through our “Cash for Work” program. Additionally, farmers have constructed over 260 miles of soil conservation barriers and planted over 170,000 trees. The “Cash for Work” programs are allowing people like Nelta to stabilize and contribute income to support their families.

Plant With Purpose has raised nearly $1 million to support all of our Haiti relief efforts, and part of that support has been provided by partner companies of 1% for the Planet, a non-profit that blogged about our work in Haiti last February (click here to read that blog.) 1% for the Planet has blogged about our work in Haiti again today, which you can read here: http://onepercentfortheplanet.org/blog/

Plant With Purpose has responded to the immediate and interim needs in Haiti where we have built long-standing relationships over the last 13 years. Please consider partnering with us as we continue our long-term recovery efforts in Haiti. To make a donation, you can visit our website, www.plantwithpurpose.org. You can also subscribe to our blog to receive updates on our work in Haiti at www.plantwithpurpose.blogspot.com.

How Plant With Purpose Helps Farmers "Produce" through Empowerment

By Annie Fikes, PR and Events Intern

I’m not “outdoorsy” by any stretch of the imagination. I love wandering around in forests, playing sports, taking nature walks, and going to the beach, but it would take a superhuman amount of persuading to get me into anywhere near a week-long backpacking trip or a mountain climbing harness. When I left my native San Diego for college in Seattle last September, I entered the land of Birkenstocks, Northface parkas, hiking, snowboarding, skiing, snowshoeing, kayaking, and weekend backpacking trips.

At least three of my friends keep full mountain climbing gear in their dorms and scurry off to scale cliffs every chance they get. I, on the other hand, am still physically and emotionally scarred from my first and last attempt at mountain biking.

I never expected to participate in any “Outdoor Adventure” and “Recreation Program” trips until I saw the flyer for a day trip to a local farm. Off I went to work on a biodynamic farm on the first truly gloriously sunny day of spring. It was blissfully un-extreme. I escaped from the city to a gorgeous valley where I got to sit barefoot in the dirt, planting broccoli and kohlrabi and learning about sustainable agriculture from a philosophy professor-turned farmer.

Biodynamic farming is based on the idea that soil and the farm are living organisms. Biodynamic farms attempt to be entirely self-sustainable and individual, striving to break free from the massive, environmentally detrimental farms that dominate American food markets. Biodynamic farms try to preserve soil quality for future generations, provide produce to their local area, make their own fertilizers and composts, and always avoid pesticides.

I left Jubilee Farms covered in dirt and sweat and enlightened by new ideas. I couldn’t help but think about what I learned there when I read about the GMO corn and tomato seeds that an American company, Monsanto, attempted to donate to farmers in Haiti. Monsanto’s seeds were treated with fungicides deemed so dangerous by the EPA that American agricultural workers must wear mandatory protective gear when handling them.

Haitians are extremely angry about the introduction of these foreign and dangerously treated seeds into their market. A group of Haitian farmers, the Peasant Movement of Papay, has been leading demonstrations against Monsanto and burning the donated seeds. Haitians, like biodynamic farmers in America, want to protect the integrity of their local markets, agriculture, small farmers, and environment. One farmer, Jonas Deronzil, said, “People in the U.S. need to help us produce, not give us food and seeds. They’re ruining our chance to support ourselves.”

Plant With Purpose strives to help people “produce” when it empowers local farmers in the countries that it works in to farm their own food in ways that will protect their local environment. When I work with Plant With Purpose I do it from a desk, but I feel like my opportunity to get out into nature at Jubilee Farms gives a little bit of an understanding of what Plant With Purpose is really about and the amazing relationship that people can have with the planet.

To read more about Monsanto seeds in Haiti, check out this article: http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2010/06/haitian-farmers-burn-monsanto-hybrid-seeds/

Children & Burundi

By Annie Fikes, PR and Events Intern

Last week, I had the opportunity to work at Summer Blast, my church’s mini K-6th summer camp. I am the leader of the 3rd and 4th grade group, the Blue Dolphins. I couldn’t be more excited about Summer Blast. I am all about singing songs, doing dance moves, playing games, and chasing after 8 kids with my clipboard and team sign in tow.

It was lucky that I was stoked to be part of Summer Blast because the Blue Dolphins are loud, excited, energetic, competitive, and talkative. It was imperative to them that I knew that dolphins aren’t actually blue, and that even though sharks could eat dolphins (5th and 6th graders are in the White Sharks group), we would be okay because “dolphins have bigger brains than sharks.” After a talking-to because of some unfortunate behavior during their games session, the Blue Dolphins remained loud and energetic, but proved that they could listen and follow directions while having fun. I had a great time talking to them about God, the Bible movies, books, and World Cup Soccer. Being present while children learn about God never ceases to amaze and inspire me.

A few months ago, another intern, Stephanie Rudeen, blogged about Burundi’s civil war and path to recovery. Burundi was plagued by 40 years of ethnic conflict between the Hutu and the Tutsi people that live there. Hundreds of thousands of people died and even after peace was achieved in 2006, thousands of refugees remain impoverished and homeless as they attempted to return to their homeland.

Although the conflict is over, the 2009 United Nations report on Children and Armed Conflict states that the Parti pour la libération du peuple Hutu-Forces nationales de libération (Palipehutu-FNL) continues to recruit children, even after it declared an end to hostilities with the government in 2008. Sexual violence against children is frequent in Burundi, and is even committed by members of the National Police, National Defense Forces, and FNL members.

The U.N. report states that there is “no formal action plan” to stop the recruitment and abuse of children in Burundi, but attempts have been made, some of which were successful, to demobilize children and reunite them with their families. The FNL currently refuses to discontinue the recruitment and use of child combatants.

Stories like this break my heart, but are unfortunately common. I think about children in countries such as Burundi and how they are no different than the Blue Dolphins. Those children deserve to be safe, play games, do crafts, and learn about God just like children here. I’m very glad that Plant With Purpose is working in Burundi. As refugees learn to farm their new land in sustainable ways, discover God’s love for them, and become empowered through Plant With Purpose’s work, Burundi will become a more stable and peaceful country. Burundi can become transformed into a nation that is safe for children through such operations.

For more about Burundi, see Stephanie Rudeen’s blog from Thursday, April 8th, 2010 or this U.N. link: http://www.un.org/children/conflict/english/burundi.html.

Say Hello to James Ellett, our New Grant Writing Intern!

by James Ellett

Allow me to let you in on a little secret.

It's hard to find a job right now.

It hasn't been publicized very well, I know. It hasn't been in the headlines for the past few years, but trust me when I say that places are not hiring. If I didn't know better, I would say the so-called "economy" is, what the experts call, "not doing very well."

"But James," you may say, "only a few years ago people could get houses for no money at all! Surely that's a sign of sustainable economic health if there ever was one."

I hear you, astute reader, but I am telling you, something is not right.

A bad economic situation naturally makes one think hard about one's future, and that's exactly what I, two years ago, ended up doing. I thought about how I, a Cal Poly graduate with a degree in mathematics, was supposed to pursue my new-found dream of working in the nonprofit international development world. Where was I supposed to look when nobody wanted to hire anybody? Well, the President of the United States told me to go back to school, and, like any good patriot, that's exactly what I did. I enrolled myself into the Masters of Business Administration program at Chapman University in Orange, CA. Once enrolled, I decided that it would be a great idea to get involved in some way with an awesome nonprofit--perhaps a Christian one that works in 6 different countries pursuing a holistic approach to sustainable development (or, you know, something like that). Well, God provided, as God always seems to, and through a long series of lucky (divinely ordained) events, dropped me right into this Grant Writing Internship at Plant With Purpose.

I feel truly blessed to be working with such a fantastic organization. I have been given a heart for the poor and oppressed in the world, and have a passion for using what I've been blessed with to restore this world to what it was intended to be: a world of peace, love, and perfect relationships between human and human, human and creation, and human and God. I am excited about the approach that Plant With Purpose takes to healing the land and its people, and I can't wait to see this amazing work carried out.

As the Grant Writing Intern, I will be helping grant writer extraordinaire, Aly Lewis, in her quest to raise funds for Plant With Purpose through researching and applying for various grants from various foundations. I will also be a regular contributor to this very blog, giving you, the faithful reader, all the updates and Plant With Purpose information you can handle.

Thanks for your continued interest in Plant With Purpose, and happy reading!

A Brief History Lesson

by Corbyn Small

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, everyone knows it because 90% of the time people mention Haiti's plight they insert that fact somewhere in their commentary. Did you know that the island of Haiti once contributed to 25% of France's wealth? It’s true.... Did you know that Haiti was the first slave nation to gain independence from an uprising against one of the world’s most powerful nations? Also, true... So what happened?

I have been preparing for my trip to the Dominican Republic for the last few weeks and in preparation I picked up a book called Collapse, by Jared Diamond. The book contrasts Haiti and the Dominican Republic's beginnings as nations. Diamond's book focuses on societies through history that either succeeded or failed, and why. I wanted to share a little bit of Dominican and Haitian history with you all (Keep in mind this is a brief summary and many details and events have been left out.)

Hispaniola, the island shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic today, was originally inhabited by Taino Indians. In 1492 the famous Spaniard who sailed the ocean blue stumbled upon an incredible land which included gold, valuable timber, and fertile soils for sugarcane production--all of which could be mined and harvested for little or no cost to the Spanish just by conquering the indigenous Taino tribes. Tragically, the Taino's population dramatically declined in the early years of Spanish rule because of Eurpean diseases and poor treatment, so much so that the Spanish began importing slave labor from Africa to mine and farm the island's valuable resources. Spain set up colonies around the island that used indigenous labor and exported Hispaniola’s natural resources abroad.

Spain's interests and the interests of its conquerors were moving on however. Columbus found riches beyond his wildest dreams as he conquered lands on the Americas’ mainland like Mexico, Peru, and Bolivia. In the 1700’s, as Spain’s attention was elsewhere, France began conquering the Spanish colonies on the western end of Hispaniola and started importing African slave labor to work the land, creating a major export center to the rest of the world (in 1795 France had 700,000 slaves compared to Spain's 30,000 on the other side of the island). At one time, present day Haiti provided 25% of France's incredible wealth.

In 1795 Spain ceded its less than valuable land and small scale economy to France and the entire island was under French rule for a short time. The slave populations on the island far exceeded the number of French who operated the colonies (by 91%) and in 1791 and 1801 slave rebellions broke out. France’s armies suffered heavy losses trying to maintain control and as Diamond explains, "In 1804, having sold its North American holdings to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase, France gave up and abandoned Hispaniola. Not suprisingly, French Hispaniola’s former slaves, who renamed their country Haiti (the original Taino Indian name for the island), killed many of Haiti’s whites, destroyed the plantations and infrastructure in order to make it impossible to rebuild the plantation slave system, and divided the plantations into small family farms.”

From then on, there was a whole political history that severely affected the downward spiral that Haiti has faced and the forward progress that the Dominican Republic has seen in the 19th and 20th centuries. Haiti’s foreign policy has been one of seclusion, removing itself from the global economy and focusing on subsistence farming, in addition to making it illegal for immigrants to own land. On the other hand, the Spanish reacquired control of the eastern end of the island shortly after Haiti’s independence was declared and they immediately began allowing foreign investment and focusing on rebuilding the Spanish side of Hispaniola as an export economy. The environmental policies adopted by each of the countries' respective leaders also played a huge role in the direction that the landscapes took. (picture of Haiti DR Border) The Dominican

leaders started protecting forests from logging and slash and burn agriculture and eventually subsidized propane and natural gas to decrease the market for charcoal. Meanwhile, Haitians, with twice the population and half the amount of land as the Dominican Republic, continued deforesting the land as a way to provide for their families when subsistence farming was not enough.

‘One Island, Two Peoples, Two Histories’ makes for a most appropriate title for Diamond’s chapter on the island of Hispaniola, and I would highly recommend reading it if you are interested in learning more. I am so grateful to be working for an organization that is effectively addressing root causes of poverty in both

Haiti and the Dominican Republic, working with the land and its people towards transformation.

Sources: Jared Diamond, Collapse

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Corbyn Small serves as Plant With Purpose’s Outreach Coordinator. He cultivates relationships with donors, churches, artists and musicians to generate interest and enthusiasm for Plant With Purpose’s life-changing programs. He is also responsible for the volunteer and intern opportunities in the Plant With Purpose office. corbyn@plantwithpurpose.org

It's Complicated

by Aly Lewis

We’ve been seduced.

According to development blog, Tales from the Hood, in the recent post, Cost, “we’ve become totally seduced by the belief that solving the basic problems of the world can be done cheaply and easily.”

And the seducer?

NGOs. Charities that flaunt such irresistible slogans as “ ‘98 cents of your dollar goes directly to beneficiaries’, ‘your $100 buys a poor family a cow and gets them out of poverty’, or ‘feel good about making a difference while on vacation.’ ”

Saving the world is just one click—and your credit card information—away.

Whether the starry-eyed romantic or the diehard cynic, we’ve fallen head over heels with programs that boast of tangible results, low overhead, and quick fixes to the world’s problems, but the truth is, it’s complicated.

As a staff member of an NGO that writes about the difference Plant With Purpose is making in the lives of the rural poor, I can’t figure out if I’m the seducer or the seducee (not to be confused with the Sadducees of the New Testament). When I report on the use of grant funds I want to tell funders that we’ve met all of our objectives, that lives are being transformed, that their money is already making a difference. I want to say X number of families no longer live in poverty and no longer have hardships.

But it’s just not true. Sometimes we don’t meet all of our objectives because of drought or economic downturn or political unrest. Sometimes responding to immediate needs or adapting to a rapidly changing environment is just more important. Sometimes we make mistakes, but we learn valuable lessons from our mistakes as well.

Don’t get me wrong, I believe Plant With Purpose’s programs are making a remarkable impact on the lives of those we work with—I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t. We do report real stories of progress and transformation. Families are improving their nutrition and increasing their income and sending their children to school. Your donations are making a difference.

It’s just that oftentimes reality isn’t some ride-off-into-the-sunset-happy-ending. That’s not reality in my life, or the lives of most people I know, and it’s not the reality of the people we serve.

While we may not be able to give you glorious results all tied up with a pretty bow, you can rest assured that Plant With Purpose is committed to working with rural communities to engage in the process of empowerment and transformation, no matter how messy or complicated that is. At Plant With Purpose we wholeheartedly believe in empowering the poor to take charge of their own lives and solve their own problems. Yes, we provide technical assistance and training. Yes, we plant trees and administer microloans, but the real, often intangible, result of our partnership is a restoration of people’s dignity as they gain the skills and confidence they need to work toward a better future.

And that is something I think we should all fall in love with.

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Aly Lewis is Plant With Purpose’s Grant Writer. She researches funding opportunities, writes proposals, and submits progress reports on funding received. She also writes the content for Plant With Purpose's Sponsor A Village program.