End of the Year Note from the Executive Director, Michael Anello:
Folks, I am astonished!
I called the Haitian Embassy in DC to schedule a January meeting about our reforestation work. The receptionist on the phone was fun to speak with, and we chatted in Creole.
To explain my eagerness for a meeting, I told her about the trees along the Jacmel Road that CODEP has planted. Sure enough, she has an aunt who lives in Léogâne.
“I know those trees,” she said. “We all know about those trees. You mean that you are the people that planted them? That’s incredible.”
This wasn’t the first time. A few weeks ago, I read in The Haitian Times about a woman who has designed shoes for a Nike program that will raise money to combat poverty in Haiti. Her design builds from the August uprisings. The shoes are the colors of the Haitian flag and AUGUST is painted on the tongue of each shoe.
As an impulse, I called her. Sure enough, she is Haitian-American and her mother comes from Léogâne . “Everyone knows those trees. It is good to learn about CODEP and what they have done.”
Yes, our trees are known far beyond the patches of land that they shade. The Jacmel Road snakes up and over the steep central mountains connecting Léogâne with Jacmel. All along the road are trees. Some are clustered in places like a checkerboard pattern. Elsewhere, they are scattered lightly across valleys providing shade for homes and gardens. One concentrated tract of trees is large enough to be seen from space!
The trees are astonishing. Our story is astonishing. Tell it to everyone you know.
Michael Anello, Executive Director
The Haiti Reforestation Partnership Project’s Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/HaitiReforest/