GFDD and FUNGLODE’s EcoHuertos Program Takes Root in Haiti

GFDD and FUNGLODE’s EcoHuertos Program Takes Root in Haiti

Santo Domingo, 20/6/2013

O  n June 22, GFDD/FUNGLODE are proud to announce that Ecohuertos, a program that supports the creation of organic and sustainable vegetable gardens in schools and communities throughout the Dominican Republic, will be heading to Haiti to meet with twenty women in the village community of Le Brun in the municipality of Paillant, Haiti.

As part of this expedition which runs for 9 days until the July 1st, Ecohuertos will be accompanied by two American non-profit organizations, HavServe, which promotes community-led development through volunteer initiatives in least developed countries and Global Coalition for Peace a sponsor organization, which promotes a mentorship program led by Ms. Rose Lord for women seeking to improve their lives through growing healthy food and forming co-ops. A series of workshops have been planned as part of this project, including sessions aiming to educate the local community as to the ways in which gardens can act as a sustainable food source, and sessions focused on the importance of planting and seed maintenance.

The village of LeBrun is located 130 km southwest of Port-au-Prince and is ideally situated to serve as a central hub from which services and resources can benefit the residents of the village as well as the surrounding communities. Approximately three hundred local villagers have been identified as volunteers and participants in HavServe projects and programs.

GFDD hopes that this particular project will help provide local Haitian families with local and more sustainable agriculture practices that can help to ‘decouple’ fossil fuel energy from food production whilst at the same time allowing the generation of income in the local economy.

About EcoHuertos

The motivation behind the creation of the EcoHuertos Program, an initiative of GFDD and FUNGLODE, arose from the interest of students participating in the Community Garden Workshop conducted by Rose Lord of Make Gardens Not War, during the I DR Environmental Film Festival (DREFF) in 2011. The Make Gardens Not War organization is an initiative of the Global Coalition for Peace.

To learn more about the initiative and its green service offerings, visit:

http://www.eco-huertos.org

http://www.havserve.org/