Planting Knowledge, Growing Change

Written By Max Touloute

Bonjour, bonsoir, se Max,
(Good day, good evening, it’s Max),

I am here to update you on the work we have started with the farmers in Haiti H2O’s partner communities. This is my first time addressing you all, so I would like to informally introduce myself to you!

A little bit about me:

One of my greatest joys in my time with Haiti H2O is seeing the direct impact on the lives of the people we touch! I wish I could share with you that emotion of fulfillment from being part of what we are able to do together. I’m glad that I can travel to Haiti these days and share some updates with you.

Here are a few random facts about me, Max Touloute: 

  1. I am the son of Jeanne Touloute and Paul Touloute—I grew up in Les Cayes, Haiti, and moved to the States as a teen.

  2. I love the beach, I mean LOVEEE the beach. 

  3. I love my country, Cayman Islands is a close second. 

  4. My favorite fruits include mango, jackfruit, soursop, and watermelon!

In my writings, I will try to be as educational as possible with a sprinkle of dry, stoic humor to make life seem less mundane.
[Now back to business…]

Haiti H2O, in all of its essence, is here to help improve the lives of Haitians in ways that have a multiplying impact. One way we are continuing that is through our farmer education program! 

This outreach equips our partners to produce more food to not only feed their families, but to share within the church communities and, hopefully, be able to sell the extra produce for additional income.

Haiti H2O is working with Partners in Progress (PiP), an organization from the Artibonite region, about a 2.5-hour drive north of Port-au-Prince. The people in the PiP training program have experimented and improved upon their own agroecology techniques. Their mission now is to share this information in other rural Haitian areas to benefit as many people as possible.

The first part of the education process took place at the end of April through an interactive classroom session. We had over 20 people in attendance, including six people from Bassin Caiman, five from Saint Martin, and seven from Plain Matin. 

During the course, we touched on the topics of cover crops, soil biology, nitrogen levels, water retention, composting, ramp vivant, and many more. The session went close to two hours over the allotted time because the farmers that came were so engaged (The vibes were up, bro— lol!). I was surprised that something I thought would be boring could be so captivating. It was also the first time in a long time that the farmers had been able to get together in person. All in all, the session was a great success!

The second part of training took place in June when two instructors from PiP flew down to Les Cayes. They were able to visit our partner communities to learn about the topographic differences in each area, meet the farmers, and bring seeds for the tree nursery. 

The tree seeds were picked based on techniques we learned during the first session. These specific trees are used to improve the health of the soil—in the life above and beneath— by using techniques like syntropic forestry, forest gap, and mulching.

As of right now, we have about 3,000 seedlings, including:

Our partners are in this for the long haul—and this is only the beginning. We look forward to adding on to the nursery as materials and seeds become available. The goal is 7,000 trees, but I want to go big, aiming for 10k!

We are being diligent and consistent in our approach to this process because we understand the impact this can have on future generations in each of these communities. Thank you for making this possible!

With love,

Max


P.S. As I get more involved with writing updates, I would love to create a pen-pal type of relationship. You can use the comment section below. I would love some feedback from you after reading this:

  1. Let me know if you have any questions in regards to what we are doing with the agroecology program.

  2. Let me know any topics you would like me to write about as I take another trip to Haiti in the near future.

Max Touloute
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