Reforestation and Food Security in South East Haiti

Name: Reforestation and Food Security in South East Haiti
Brand: Sadhana Forest
SKU: 232507
Rating: 10 (3 reviews)

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Location

Haiti

Length

1 to 52 weeks

Project Types

Agriculture Childcare Climate Change Community Development Environmental Conservation Reforestation Education Health

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Program Details

Age Max

Timeframe

Year Round

Housing

Lodge Tent

Groups

Small Group (1-15) Medium Group (16-30)

Travel Type

Budget Family Senior Travelers Solo Women

Pricing

Starting Price

Price Details

This is a nonprofit ecological project that does not generate any income. Therefore, we cannot provide free food for volunteers. We have communal (mostly organic) wholefood vegan meals three times per day. The total cost of food per person is 6 US Dollars per day. This food contribution is only used for food and helps to support your stay with us.

What's Included

Accommodation Meals SIM cards Travel Insurance

What's Not Included

Airfare Transportation Travel Insurance Visa Wifi

Last Updated: Sep 02, 2021

Last Reviewed: Oct 22, 2021

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4 travelers are looking at this program

About Program

We are an international reforestation and food security organization working in India, Haiti and Kenya. Our work in Haiti started in 2010. Our aim is to support long-term food security for people living in the area of Anse-à-Pitres, in southeast Haiti. We do this by growing indigenous food-bearing trees in our nursery and planting them in partnership with the local population.

Volunteers come and live on our sustainable, off-the-grid, solar-powered campus. We provide them with food and accommodation. We practice an eco-friendly way of life that includes whole food veganism, alternative construction, biodegradable cleaning products, and compost toilets and we aim to be zero waste. Volunteers take part in tree planting work and also perform various maintenance tasks around the community. We also host a solar powered mill and a natural learning space for local children.

We are happy to welcome volunteers here any time of the year and always have space available!

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Program Highlights

Reforestation
Long-term Food Security
Food Forestry
Sustainable Living
Veganism

Program Impact

By providing local people with indigenous food-bearing trees and showing them how to take care off them we build long-term food security and resilience against the effects of climate change in an area severely affected by malnutrition and extreme weather events.

Program Reviews

10 Rating

based on 3 reviews

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Rating Spread Volunteer

9-10 rating 100%
7-8 rating 0%
5-6 rating 0%
3-4 rating 0%
1-2 rating 0%

Impact 10
Support 10
Fun 10
Value 10
Safety 9.7

Showing 1 - 3 of 3 reviews

The work being done by Sadhana Forest Haiti is really extraordinary. They are in a remote place where there is a lot of poverty and malnutrition and few other NGOs present. Yet, they are managing to make a very concrete long term lasting impact on the lives of many people there.
The project is very accessible and it is easy to join as a volunteer. They have a holistic broader vision of community, sustainable living, veganism, zero waste and so on. They are doing more than just planting trees here, they are experimenting to see how to can live in the most compassionate way, and with simple but effective means, have the highest possible impact on peoples' lives!

What is your advice to future travelers on this program?

This is really a great place if you want to go off grid and have a different experience and explore alternative ways of living and contributing to the world.

My visit to Sadhana Forest Haiti was an unforgettable experience. This place is a truly unique opportunity to experience what it is like to invest your time and energy into a project that really matters. With the experience of more then 7 years Sadhana Forest Haiti is cooperating with the local people to create food forests for long-term food security and restoration of the environment. Sadhana Forest Haiti is a place of hope and love based on wonderful core values like, veganism, gift-economy, unschooling, sustainable living, zero-waste etc. By volunteering at Sadhana Forest Haiti you have the unique opportunity to meet amazing like minded people and explore the beauty of the Carribean as well. I highly recommend you to pay Sadhana Forest Haiti a visit and help this amazing project in a place where your help is really needed!

What would you improve about this program?

It's already amazing and the more volunteers the better!

I have volunteered 3 months at Sadhana Forest Haiti and looking back I can say that it has been a life changing experience! While on the one hand learning about the life of the local people in Anse-à-Pitres and enhancing my understanding of what it is to be human in different parts of the world, I have found a home where hope for a better future for all of us on this planet as well as the dedication needed to practice the change is unbreakable. If you are looking for an authentic and once-in-a-lifetime experience, want to try the most compassionate diet and eat whole food vegan meals, would like to live without creating any waste, are ready to live within nature and in the most eco-friendly way possible AND wish to plant indigenous drought-resistant food producing trees for the people who need it the most, Sadhana Forest Haiti is made for you :)

What would you improve about this program?

By YOU coming to volunteer :)

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Questions & Answers

Alumni Interviews

These are in-depth Q&A sessions with verified alumni.

Why did you choose this program?

When I first read about Sadhana Forest Haiti, it sounded too good to be true. A vegan organization located in the Caribbean that plants indigenous drought-resistant food-producing trees for the poorest people on Earth for free?! As a person wanting to give back to the world, it was impossible to not choose Sadhana Forest Haiti!

What did your program provider assist you with, and what did you have to organize on your own?

Sadhana Forest Haiti has been supportive of every step I took in preparation of my trip! Even though I was hesitant at first to bother them with my questions, I was surprised every time I receive their instant answers which were always filled with a true sense of care. The interaction with the staff continued to be underlined by this warmth and personal care throughout my experience.

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What is one piece of advice you'd give to someone going on your program?

My advice to future volunteers is to be ready for a unique experience on the edge of the world! It surely is not a holiday, and many things can be challenging, as life is just so different over there. Make sure to bring natural, vegan, cruelty-free mosquito repellent, and some light and thin trousers as well as long sleeve tops to not get annoyed by the mosquitoes. Other than that, bring an open mind and open heart.

What does an average day/week look like as a participant of this program?

An average day starts with the wake-up call at sunrise and the morning circle where the community gets together to divide the seva (selfless service) of the day. Then, there are two shifts – one until breakfast and one after that until lunch. This is the time when you get to plant seeds in the nursery, go out planting in the private backyards of the local people, maintain the community, cook for each other, etc. On afternoons and weekends, you are mostly free to do whatever you like. You can go swimming in the Caribbean ocean, eat in a local Haitian restaurant, read in a hammock, or give workshops to the community.

Going into your experience abroad, what was your biggest fear, and how did you overcome it? How did your views on the issue change?

When I arrived at Sadhana Forest Haiti, I came straight from my home, a big city in Germany, and was excited for big changes. However, I was also concerned about how I would deal with the drastic change in my lifestyle – using compost toilets, living in the open nature without any doors, living in a community, dealing with a different climate, a different culture, a complete different feeling for life! In the end, I found myself adjusting and understanding that I am much more flexible than I thought. Big thanks to the Sadhana Forest Haiti staff that guided me though this unique experience!

What is the most memorable moment that comes to your mind?

I remember planting trees into the private backyard of a local Haitian with another volunteer who turned to me and said, “Can you believe it? These trees we are planting here will outgrow us. They will stay on Earth longer than we will and feed many many families with the food they will produce. This is the beginning for them. In their new home forever!”

About Sadhana Forest

Sadhana Forest is an international vegan organization working on water conservation, indigenous reforestation and food security in India, Haiti and Kenya.

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