Ag Development and the Garden of Eden...

This past week was filled with a number of blessings from above. God continues to open my eyes to his creation (both people and plants) while providing outlets for development and service.

ECHO's Executive Director, Dr. Martin Price, and his wife, Bonnie, came to visit this past week. They arrived last Friday just in time to settle in for a quiet weekend before hitting the ground running on Monday. Dr. Price came to visit the Small Farm Resource Development Project and begin planning for future years with Dr. Motis. It was really educational to listen to Dr. Price and Dr. Motis dream for the future of the project and the difference it could make first, to the local community of Bohoc, and eventually the entire country of Haiti and ECHO's extended overseas network. Since most Haitians rely on agriculture for their own subsistence, improved crop varieties and techniques have a high potential of improving their livelihood.

With this thought in mind, many of the trials and experiments which we are conducting on the farm are designed to find improved varieties and techniques. So the question then arises, what do we do once we have found a variety that may produce better than the local varieties? Well, we need to know if the farmers like it and if the community would accept it. This is what has made the Open Field Days with the farmers so interesting. Last Friday 14 farmers came to look at one of our experimental gardens and give us feedback about what crop varieties they liked and why they liked about them. It was a lot of fun to see the farmers examining all the different varieties and getting excited about ones they liked and have never seen before.

We repeated this event this Friday by inviting four groupma (sp?) leaders from the Bohoc area to tour the garden. In Haiti all the farmers are organized into groups called groupmas. This is a terrific system because each of the groupmas has a leader and they share information with the other members in the group. By inviting these four leaders, getting their feedback and ideas, and beginning to build relationships, the doors are opening to share information and plant materials with groups of farmers that may help to improve their livelihoods. I feel so blessed to be here at the time when ECHO is beginning to make these steps to partner with the local farmers in this way.

Thursday I was blessed to see another example of the mark that agricultural development is leaving on the community here. Thursday afternoon Dr. Price, Dr. Motis, Ely (HAFF's farm manager), Jenny, Carolyn, Beth, and I loaded into a HAFF pickup and headed into Pignon to visit a local farmer named Ivois. Ivois attended an agricultural school in Haiti and has since worked with a number of ECHO interns and staff that have come through Haiti. Ivois also acts kind of like an extension agent for this area of Haiti.

We arrived at Ivois' house and were greeted by him. He led us around to the garden behind his house and we all sat down. The garden behind the house was filled with banana and coffee trees with sweet potato growing on the ground and even some hibiscus plants with beautiful pink flowers. It was very green and shaded and I couldn't help but think how nice it would be to have a garden like this in the states. Ivois began with a devotion about how God gives good things to His children and a prayer before we left to see the other gardens. I was struck by the kind face and gentle manner of Ivois as he spoke about the beauty of God, His creation, and His provision. So beautiful!

We left Ivois' house and walked down the road and down a short hill to the gate of his first garden. We entered the garden to see trees of all different kinds. He was growing citrus, papaya, banana, coconut, and much more. As we walked a little farther we came across a small nursery. Ivois explained that he takes cuttings from his own plants, puts them in bags, and either sells or gives them away to different groups in the area that need plant materials. I was so amazed that not only does he farm all this land, but he is providing plants for others who may need them. Such a neat ministry!

After walking through this garden I thought we were done. We returned to the main road and began to walk back toward Ivois' house. However, we took a turn and walked up a small path to the left of the road. We walked along the path for a little bit and eventually came to the beginning of another garden. This one much larger than the last. We walked through again to find field crops, fruit trees, agroforestry trees, and so much more producing on this land. It is such a nice transition to see from the many other Haitian fields that are filled with corn or sugar cane.

Ivois explained to us that when he bought his land it was filled with sugar cane. He said he began to cut down the sugar cane, put in erosion barriers, and plant trees with the help of some former ECHO interns and staff. Other farmers in the area told Ivois that he was crazy for not growing the regular field crops. They said that he wouldn't be able to provide for his family and that he was a fool. Ivois told us that he had faith that God would provide and bless the land and crops, so he was willing to be a fool for God. What amazing faith! Now, years later, Ivois land is filled with fruit producing trees, coconut palms, and some land is still used for field crops. It is truly the Garden of Eden. His faith was so inspiring, but it was also encouraging to see the difference that ECHO is making in the world by sharing information, plant materials, and improved techniques.

At one point in the garden we stopped in the middle of a group of coconut palms and Ivois' son climbed up one and cut down a bunch of coconuts for us. They then prepared the coconuts and we feasted on fresh coconut milk followed by the flesh. Few things compare to a fresh coconut straight off the palm. Just another one of God's many blessings.

All in all, it was a terrific week and I learned a great deal about agricultural development, more of the impact ECHO is having on the world, the lifestyle of developing farmers, and God's goodness on all levels. Praise be to God from whom all blessings flow!