Schools Out for the Summer (appropriately, it’s about 90F!)

My final day of teaching small farm and garden design at Zamni Agricol CFFL school started with coffee and bread (typical Haitian street breakfast) and ended a few minutes ago with a last minute request for me to teach again Tuesday.

Students presentations of their design project proved they totally got the idea of bringing local mountain culture, plants and architecture into the new garden.

The aviary team suggested a roof of rice thatch and the stair team said, ‘we don’t have stairs in Haiti, we have slopes.’ True. Donkeys , horses, goats nor old people like steps. There haven’t been resources to build concrete steps. Rain ruins dirt steps. So the walk will be a slope paved with a beautiful pattern of stones set in dirt.

Later, every one put on work clothes and we had 3 hours in the garden site. We gardened in teams. Team 1 made beds for giant bamboo. Team 2 dug and divided Crinum asiaticum from the ambulance graveyard. Team 3 planned and smoothed walkways. And Team 4 (the ones who came late) picked up about ten boxes of trash.

The momma chicken sat on her nest protected in the chandilier hedge.

We ate Georgia pecans, a treat I brought from home, and said goodbyes till next time.

Then minutes ago, as I was writing this, the director (who’ll be visiting SC soon –listen to Your Day to hear his beautiful accent) asked me to teach again Tuesday. Haitian style!

But first a long weekend with old friends and new in the green mountains. This island is divided by decades of cruelty, abuse and hatred. So crossing the border for natives on either side is frustrating. I can cross more easily though. So 3 new friends, all teachers at CFFL will travel with me to visit my Dominican family!