SUSTAINABILITY

THE SEED PROJECT

Any worthwhile endeavor must seek to become sustainable by all those who participate. To sustain the work we are doing in Haiti, we have undertaken a project to plant and grow over 10,000 Moringa trees on the island. These trees are considered miracle plants and “are rich in vitamins A, B, C, D and E," are estimated to contain twice the protein and calcium content of milk, several times the potassium of bananas, more iron than spinach and several times the vitamin C of oranges. Moringa's high vitamin A content, almost four times that of carrots, is recognized as a potent micronutrient source to achieve the 2015 millennium development goal "to reduce child mortality by two-thirds.”  In one sense, moringa truly is the tree of life, as all its parts can be used and help provide, not only nutrition for our students, but products to sell to others, so they may also have an abundant life.

The uses for Moringa are enormous. The Moringa oleifera leaf, fresh or processed into dried powder, can be used as an every-day food item in a multitude of ways: in ready-made meals, juices, breads, pasta, fritters, condiments, and instant soup, to name just a few.  In addition to nutrition, the plant can be used for water purification, in traditional medicine, as fertilizer, to make vegetable oil and the bark can be used to make rope.

It is our goal to plant over 10,000 Moringa seeds within the next year. Each student has been given seeds to plant in their own yards so that each family will benefit from the nutritional properties of the Moringa tree.