Sunday, August 20, 2006
About Double Harvest
The Double Harvest organization enables Haitians in the surrounding areas to earn a living in agriculture and horticulture in a Christian environment, providing significant lifestyle benefits over what they would normally experience, which is basically nothing. According to one website, the average annual salary of a Haitian national is the equivalent of US$90. I cannot even comprehend what that means.
Double Harvest has a two hundred acre farm where they grow mostly vegetables and grains. In their two acres of greenhouses, approximately two million tree seedlings are processed annually for reforestation programs. But the flowers that they produce for local wealthy residents (which aren't many!) like ambassadors and government organizations are varied and simply stunning! I took so many photos of beautiful flowers and plants on my June trip that I filled up my memory card before I could take any photos of the Spaldings! They are also considering starting a tilapia fishery onsite - tilapia are "durable" fish and thrive well in hot water, and securing quality, healthy meat is difficult for Haitians. This could help fill the Haitians growing demand for protein (other than beans, which are included in most of their meals).
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Double Harvest provides a low-cost medical clinic just outside their main compound. Healthcare is expensive when you don't have any money, so their clinic is very popular. Each day the outdoor waiting area is filled with people to see the two doctors on staff with Double Harvest. They are a Haitian husband and wife couple who have dual citizenship in the United States and are very sweet & polite. Surgeons from the U.S. come down to the clinic twice each year to perform surgeries on those with the greatest needs and the smallest budgets. I can't imagine waiting up to 6 months to get a surgery I really needed but couldn't afford. The onsite doctors want to become trained to perform the most frequently requested basic surgeries - circumcision, fibroids, hernia, and enlarged prostate / testicles. The clinic also has an onsite pharmacy and dentist.
Double Harvest also has a K-12 school, with a vocational training school beginning in 9th grade. There will be two ex-Purdue guys volunteering in the school this year - one who will continue teaching computer and electricity courses and the other teaching English (in a country that speaks mostly Creole, plus a little French!) There are presently around 350 students sponsored to attend the school - sponsorship includes a hot meal served each day to students and staff. For many of the students, that is their one meal a day! The Double Harvest church meets in the school and has 2 services on Sunday - the morning Creole service is the most heavily-attended and the evening English service is fairly wimpy, but worshipful, consisting of the Spalding family, a few of their full-time employees and some local kids just looking to fill their time.
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The Spalding Family, stationed out of Florida, are in charge of operations at Double Harvest. Arthur and Becky are wonderful people with a heart for God and consider Haiti their home, even though they have only lived there 3 years. Their 5 kids are a huge help as well, assisting as needed in all parts of the organization. About 80 full-time Haitian employees are currently employed at Double Harvest, plus many day workers between their agri-business, school and clinic. Double Harvest's focus is on evangelism and Christian education through the above avenues.
# posted by A*Dub @ 1:25 AM 
