Women’s Earth Alliance Accelerator Program

OAEC is proud to partner with the Women’s Earth Alliance US Grassroots Accelerator for Women Environmental Leaders in helping to develop the first ever accelerator program here in the USA.     … Read more

Highlights from EcoFarm

Last week’s 35th annual EcoFarm Conference gathered nearly 2000 sustainable agriculture experts and allies for education, rejuvenation and celebration with a new twist: the Permaculture Track! Thanks to EFA’s Executive … Read more

The SOIL Permaculture Design Process

The SOIL Permaculture Design Process After touring the SOIL collection and processing sites around Cap-Haitien, we arrived at the SOIL office, farm, and associated KOMOP farm properties. (KOMOP is a … Read more

Symphony of "Konpos" with SOIL

Today’s work was to visit the SOIL composting site at the city dump in Twitye to learn about the specifics of the humanure handling and thermophilic composting practices. The SOIL … Read more

Wynne Farm

JeanCUWe met our translator today, Jean Arnaud. He is Haitian and has lived in the US off and on since he was 10 years old. He studied permaculture at UMASS and was part of the 2012 student team awarded the Champions of Change Challenge, part of President Obama’s Winning the Future initiative. Jean is a true ambassador for us – he straddles both cultures of the US and Haiti linguistically, culturally, ecologically; he is an experienced permaculturist understanding the work OAEC and SOIL are collaborating on, and he has worked with SOIL before so he knows all the players as well as others in related fields that we should learn from. We are so thankful for Jean Arnaud!

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Jean took us, SOIL staffers, Erica, Heather, and SOIL friend, Ingrid, up the mountain south of Port-au-Prince to visit Wynne Farm and Ecological Reserve (http://wynnefarm.org) in the Kenscoff area. Jane, the vibrant farm owner, grew up in Haiti with an American dad and Haitian mom. Her dad, Victor Wynne, moved to Haiti in 1923 and started a lifelong obsession with the cultivation and preservation of soil, water, and perennial food crops.

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Victor, an early permaculture pioneer, was exchanging ideas in letters with Bill Mollison, Robert Rodale, and other great ecology minds as he developed his understanding and skills for managing water and soil. Victor seems to have independently hit upon the concept of on-contour swales for water infiltration and soil retention! Over his life, he brought hundreds of edible perennials to his farm in Haiti including a large bamboo collection and Andean edibles (narranjia, pepino dulce, tamarillo, passion fruit) growing next to peaches and kale.  The home site at the farm sports roof water catchment, swale garden beds, sheet mulching, perennial food forests and annuals thrown in, etc.

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WynneFarmJean

Jane worked with her father until he died at the age of 94 (working on the farm daily until 93) and continues to implement his vision of the biodiversity farm and education center with her daughter, Melissa and her family. They are an inspiring team. Melissa is a yoga teacher, environmental educator, and all-around deep thinker. School groups from our PAP visit each week and cultivate biophilia singing about the importance of the Earth and her systems, repurposing plastic bags into sturdy totes, creating recycled paper brickets, all while stuffing themselves with loquats.

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Sound familiar? A true sister organization! Wynne farm seems to be a unique place with loving, earth system-minded caretakers in a sea of soil erosion. For more information about this amazing education and demonstration farm, check out their webpage at wynnefarm.org where you can read and listen to features done on them by NPR and the Toronto Star as well donate to their fine work. Viva la Wynne!

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USAID’s experimental farm, upper Wynne Farm.
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Double Black Diamond Agriculture

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We have arrived! First Evening In Port au Prince

Photo: Sashwa Burrous
Photo: Sashwa Burrous

After surviving an overnight flight and long morning of sleeping on the infamously freezing floor of the Miami airport, we (Kendall Dunnigan, Brock Dolman and Sashwa Burrous) arrived in the late afternoon to the warm and welcoming sounds of Haitian music pouring out of the little Port-au-Prince (PAP) airport.

Sasha Kramer from SOIL picked us up in the “basset mobile” (unfortunately, her sweet puppy was not along for the ride) and drove us through the bustling Friday afternoon streets of PAP to Rita’s Guesthouse.

Tap Tap Truck
Photo: Brock Dolman

Beautifully painted tap-taps (truck taxis called tap taps because you knock on the inside when you want to get out) honked and weaved through traffic. Women with baskets of goods for sale lined each street.

Port au Prince Sunset
Photo: Sashwa Burrous

As night fell, dozens of people gathered in the corner playground to eat, drink, and exercise on a variety of exercise machines. We were struck by the sense of calm, generosity, and safety that we were greeted with, a striking difference from the Port-au-Prince portrayed in the US media.

Barber Shop
Photo: Sashwa Burrous