From Garden to Market

We started out on January 4th by going to a market. Everything could be bought that was imaginable. All of the students tried to buy a goat for a family in need of one but when our group was seen as the buyers, the price jumped dramatically. Since the goat purchase was not successful, we decided to go to the local bakery and buy some delicious bread made by hand.

After the market, we took a walk to Saul's irrigation farm that the UCCC students also utilize and plant a variety of crops. The irrigation garden has a cement channel that runs through it with water that is pumped out and used for the growth of crops.

Teaching first graders after lunch was an experience that was quite something with words from the colors to the months to even a dance session.

Feeding centers in the neighborhood are used for children to get a bite to eat two times a week. There are eight of these centers and we got the opportunity to help hand out the food and then play some games with the children. Each child brings there own bowl and spoon and handed us the bowl to be filled with a rice and beans mixture that even though was very hot, it was consumed in a very quick manner.

January 5th began with a morning of teaching 5th and 6th graders about agriculture. This was even a very good experience to learn more about the agriculture used in Haiti. We then took a trip back to the irrigation gardens to take soil samples with the college students that was later tested. While at the gardens we got to hand plant leeks and to give some suggestions to the students on how to better the production of how they were growing the crops.

Later on in the evening we went out to the classroom with the students that pulled soil samples and tested them for N, P, K, and pH. We then described to the students the importance of the nutrients in the soil.

The long day ended with a few games of volleyball and then supper and a few more games with the students and some visitation time to learn more about them.