HTRIP Completes Planting of 10,000 Seedlings in Areas Hard Hit by Hurricane Matthew
During last year’s hurricane season, Hurricane Matthew struck the southern peninsula of Haiti—leaving behind devastation. Homes, livestock, crops, and trees in this region were lost. While the areas that were hardest hit by Matthew are beyond the coverage area of Hopital Albert Schweitzer, HAS staff made a commitment to support the recovery effort by replanting valuable fruit and timber trees. The work was completed thanks to an HAS initiative called the Haiti Timber Reintroduction Program (HTRIP), and donations from Haiti Friends and a campaign among the HAS staff members.
After almost a year’s worth of preparing the seedlings, the plan came to fruition the weekend of August 25th. HTRIP’s manager, Melissa Sanon, accompanied by her capable team headed out to far tip of the southern peninsula to conduct 3 full days of tree planting in the cities of Abricot, Beaumont, and Jeremie. With them, they transported species that are valued in these local communities for consumption and/or income generation. The selections included breadfruit, tamarind, mango, coconut, lime, orange and grapefruit seedlings.
In the span of the weekend, 10,000 fruit seedlings were planted.
In reflecting on the experience, Melissa expressed that people were very thankful and expressed that this act of service by HAS via the HTRIP program was a way of giving and aiding the region’s recovery in a sustainable manner. It was a donation that will provide lasting benefits far into the future.
Thank you to all those who made this lasting contribution possible for those individuals who lost so much when Hurricane Matthew hit. If you would like to learn more about Hopital Albert Schweitzer’s HTRIP program please contact Melissa Sanon at msanon@hashaiti.org.