Donate for sustainability for Limbe, in northern Haiti

Dear friends and supporters of the Permaculture movement,

We are writing to you to request your assistance in an exciting new project that we will be involved with at the end of February. We are going to Haiti to learn and assist in the development of local food networks. We will be in the town of Limbe, in northern Haiti, west of Cape-Haitien.

Our friend, Rosedanie Cadet, is from Limbe and conceptualized this project, Noramise, while she was visiting her family in December (http://www.noramise.org). The goal of the project is to assist the community in response to the following challenges:

• Challenges in agriculture. Poor agricultural techniques have been depleting Haitian soils for centuries.
• Many people have left the countryside in hopes of finding jobs in the cities
• Malnutrition and inadaquate distribution of food
• Deforestation and Ecosystem Destruction

She planned to launch this project next October, but after the earthquake, she has moved up the launch date. The earthquake poses a huge additional challenge (and opportunity)

• Survivors from Port-au-Prince, who are originally from Limbe, are returning to live with their families. Many are facing a questionable future with a depleted rural economy in Limbe.
• Increased diaspora from Port-au-Prince and the state of the economy of Haiti puts increased demand on the need for local produce. The pressure on the upcoming growing season is felt both in Limbe and in greater Haiti.

The project is multi-tiered:

• Work with the network of the remaining farmers to share best practices and educate others interested in farming. Previous to the earthquake, the community in Limbe was either over 40 or under 18 years of age.
• Help set up a sustainable agriculture model on land owned by the church in Limbe, much like an extension service garden.
• Collaborate with farmers to improve soils, prevent pests, strategize for nutritional content, and enhance yields.
• Assist the community in building a food-processing facility which will create jobs and distribute preserved food (both in Limbe and greater Haiti).

Limbe is in a unique location, sheltered by two mountain ranges, and in a river valley. Its natural ecosystems are more intact than many other places in Haiti. Also, the soil is better than most areas of Haiti due to the microclimate of the region. It is a good location to learn from nature and experiment with techniques that restore the land. This project will serve as a demonstration site for agriculture throughout Haiti.

As many of you are aware, permaculture offers strategies for stewardship of land and community. There are techniques on how to maximize organic matter (fertility) in the soil as fast as possible. We highlight food plants that are high yielding and high in nutritional value. Permaculture Design is dynamic as it is based in the natural ecologies of each unique place. During our trip to Haiti, we will be learning about the unique cultural considerations for the community of Limbe. We will aid the community of Limbe in assessing their needs and what resources they have locally for meeting those needs on site. It is our goal to enrich their local environment through enhanced food security and jobs.

Since we will be there only two weeks, our (hopefully) achievable contribution during that time is to

• Listen, watch and learn about the culture in Limbe, to figure out how best to make permaculture-oriented suggestions for this project.
• Collaborate to set up a kitchen garden project at the church before the upcoming growing season
• Generate a list of plants to target for the project in the future. Begin to set up a nursery to make these plants available in the greater community

This project will be happening in segments with every group of volunteers that comes to help. We will be going Feb 22nd to Mar 7th. We humbly request contributions for our travel costs and for support of the project. Additionally, non-cash donations which we will take and leave in Limbe are:

• sleeping bag and mat
• seeds
• solar camping shower
• tin snips (to build rocket stoves)
• books: creole/english dictionary
• tropical plant resources
• hip waders
• handtools (snips, grubbers, hori hori)
• boots/waterproof shoes

We have fundraised our travel expenses! Thanks for all the support! Further donations to support our project can go directly through the project website at http://www.noramise.org Please mark 'To the Limbe Project'.

Thank you so much for any assistance that you can give. We will update you on the project upon our return. We intend to create a presentation to share with our communities back home.

Marisha Auerbach and Kelda Miller

mailto:queenbee@herbnwisdom.com mailto:kelda@riseup.net