The HaitiCoF project is an organic mini-farm. We are tilling approximately 1 acre of land and planning to purchase starter plants for a variety of vegetable and root crops which will serve two purposes: 1) to afford women an opportunity to work the farm, sell produce and related farm products, and thus, afford to care for their children who have been removed from abusive orphanages and 2) to subsidize the HCOF family house food costs.

We are planning to plant rotation vegetable and root crops for sale in our local community where fresh produce is NOT available. We will plant vegetable seeds and starter sets (carrots, potatoes, spinach, onions, etc), and we plan to buy goats, chickens & rooster, & rabbits to supplement our diet and meet local community needs. We are purchasing a donkey to transport our produce to market thus reducing our dependency for motor transport, and to reduce our carbon footprint(s). We are also planning to build animal shelters and a post-production shed. We are breeding all of our animals to maintain and grow our husbandry. We also plan to package and sell fresh herbs at the local grocery story in the neighboring town thus subsidizing our home food costs at the same time.Our mini-farm is a learning center for shared cultural values and farming techniques with the Haitian adults and children in our program with our visiting volunteers – whose efforts to help work the farm allow us to continue to grow, will help to expand and support the future sustainability of the mini-farm.

Funds will be used to start up the mini farm. We will purchase 2 goats, a rooster and several chickens, 4 rabbits, and a donkey. We will be building simple outbuildings for animal shelter and storage sheds and coops. We will be purchasing organic fertilizers, chicken feed, and materials for post-production packaging. We will also need a simple variety of farm hand tools, including a wheel barrow, buckets, ropes, and materials to build a small roadside stand. Funds will also be used to support local motor transportation when needed.
Our tipping point is based on the base amount of money needed to launch the first three months (phase 1) of producing and selling vegetables and animal products. Phase 2 and 3 compromise the balance of the funding and will help to assure that the venture will be on sure financial footing for the following 6 months until we begin to see a return from market sales. The idea, of course, is to strike a balance between donated funds that are invested and to provide a livable wage for the women in the program. After phase 2 and 3 are complete, the farm project will be self-sufficient.