Sadhana Forest Haiti sits in Anse-à-Pitres, a town in the southeast corner of Haiti where most trees were cut for charcoal. Its 4 acre campus is on a large area of bedrock with very little soil, so rain tends to run straight off.
The usual ways of holding water, which rely on shaping soil, don't work well on rock. So the local team found its own. They build bunds, low walls along the land, out of rocks, then cover them with discarded clothing. This slows the runoff and helps the water soak in. Over time, tree roots help break up the rock so more water can get through.
The trees start life in the campus nursery, which can grow up to 50,000 saplings at a time, in one or two batches a year.
The centre also has its own borewell, with a tap at the gate. It is the only free drinking water in town. Every day, people come to fill containers for drinking, for their homes, and for watering the trees they planted.
The work is slow. Trees the team planted years ago now stand taller than the buildings around them.
Sadhana Forest Haiti plants food trees with families around Anse-à-Pitres. See the project.
Sources: Sadhana Forest, "Sadhana Forest Haiti" (centre page).
