SRDH Year in Review: 2021
May 1, 2021 Community Tree Planting for Haiti’s National Labor and Agriculture Day.
May 1 Mini Project
On May 1, 2021 SRDH led our first joint community tree planting day with the organization YoutHaiti. Together, SRDH and YoutHaiti held a presentation on the importance of planting trees, then led a group of 93 students to plant trees across Duchity. In total, over 3,000 seedlings were planted that day.
The May 1 Mini Project day raises community awareness for SRDH project objectives and engages youth in a hands-on educational experience. Jean-fenel Dorvilier, SRDH President, grew up planting trees on May 1, which is also his birthday. He attributes his love of reforestation and trees to these formative experiences on May 1. By sharing this experience with the youth of Duchity, we hope that many of these children and young adults will discover their own passion for reforestation, conservation, and/or agroforestry.
Seedlings germinating in bags until they are large enough to be transplanted.
Community Forest
SRDH began our community forest this year, planting our 1000 square meter plot with 1,236 seedlings. Centrally located within Duchity, this community forest is perfectly positioned to serve as a training ground for SRDH staff, community partners, and project participants. Additionally, this forest can provide forest products to the community of Duchity and habitat for Duchity’s native fauna. In 2022, we are focusing on purchasing or leasing surrounding plots of land to expand the community forest and implement a monitoring regime.
We received support from the organization Trees that Feed for planting our community forest. They provided us with 300 Breadfruit trees to plant in the forest as an additional tree-based food source.
Destruction from the August 14 earthquake.
Earthquake Relief
In the morning hours of August 14, 2021, a 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit Haiti and neighboring countries. The earthquake’s epicenter was very close to Duchity, wreaking damage and pain across the community. SRDH provided mutual aid through rebuilding homes and distributing food, water, and medicine to those asked for support. We thank those who funded SRDH so we could distribute supplies and contribute to rebuilding efforts.
SRDH President Jean-fenel Dorvilier preparing seedling germination bags.
A Peek into 2022
As we move into 2022, SRDH has a lot to look forward to. We are working on securing funding so we can purchase more land and expand our community forest. Based on land availability, we may be able to triple the size of this forest in 2022. Once the land has been secured, we have over 1,500 seedlings that are ready to be planted on this land.
We are thrilled to announce that we are preparing for our second annual May 1 Mini Project! SRDH staff and partners have already prepared 2,250 bags to grow seedlings in, so they are large enough to be transplanted on May 1.
We hope to build a lunch shelter and tool shed for SRDH workers and community members next to our community forest this year. This area can serve as a meeting location and shelter during storms for those working in or visiting the community forest.
Finally, we are beginning to plan the next phase of our project–implementation of agroforestry on farmer’s lands! We are still in the planning stages of this project; stay tuned for updates!
We Need Your Support!
To continue the work that we are doing, we need funding! Consider donating to SRDH using this link. Please note that this page connects you to our fiscal sponsor, where your payment will be processed.